Feed The Birds - Use and Placement

Use and Placement

In contrast to the energetic nature of most of the film's songs, "Feed the Birds" has religious overtones and is played in a reverent tempo, similar to a hymn. This most serious of songs is thus used to frame the truly important moments in a film that is mostly humorous and lighthearted. It is used in four places:

• The first appearance is an orchestral segment at the beginning of the film's overture, thus starting the overture slowly. The overture then segues into some of the faster pieces in the film's score.
• The second appearance comes when Mary Poppins sings the song to the children as a sweet lullaby on the night before their trip to the bank. It begins with Mary showing them a water-filled globe of St. Paul's, whose "snowflakes" are in the shape of the many birds flying around the cathedral. While the children sit and listen with rapt attention, scenes cut away to beautiful dreamlike imagery of the cathedral and of the bird woman, with parts of the song accompanied by an off-screen choir and orchestra.
• The third appearance is the following evening, a very short segment about half a minute before the other sweeps appear in the chimney sweep sequence.
• The fourth appearance is also during the following evening, a dramatic orchestral and choral rendition, as a sombre and thoughtful Mr. Banks walks to his place of employment, literally and figuratively alone in the streets of London, stopping by the place where the bird woman was earlier that day, only to find it vacant before continuing on to the bank to face its board of directors to be fired. It segues into a short dirge-like segment as Mr. Banks reaches the door.

The song is also referenced in the Disney film Enchanted, a tribute and parody to classic Disney movies, in the form of an old woman named Clara who sells bird feed for "two dollars a bag". Additionally, this song and bird-feeding lady described therein have also been hinted in Chris Columbus' 1992 movie Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, namely by the character known as the Pigeon Lady (interpreted by Academy-Award Winner Brenda Fricker) and John Williams' soundtrack theme.