Beyond Words

A friend of mine recently posted this photo of Winnie the Pooh’s 100^th birthday and it got me thinking…a lot of my favorite entertainment likings celebrated some big anniversaries and commemorations in recent months. Winnie the Pooh turning 100 is just the start of it, and boy do I love Winnie the Pooh!

That has always been one of my favorite quotes and I love that Pooh’s wisdom, Tigger’s energy, Eeyore’s doubtfulness, Piglet’s shyness, Rabbit’s bossiness, along with wise ole’ Owl and sweet Kanga and Roo have entertained and influenced generations for so many years. Don’t we all have a little of each one of them in us? Raising my hand for sure.

Another entity I love and that has entertained so many for so many years is the film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” starring Audrey Hepburn. The movie, based on a Truman Copote novella, was released 65 years ago but continues to engage viewers with its naïve and eccentric socialite Holly Golightly who meets a struggling New York writer played by George Peppard.

Who can forget Hepburn’s beloved and stylish character staring into the Tiffany’s window and its classic “Moon River” song?  The dress! The pearls! The updo! The sunglasses! The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Hepburn, and put Hepburn permanently on the fashion icon map thanks in part to the Givenchy little black dress she wore and that made the LBD a classic closet staple.

A few years later in 964, Hepburn would be cast as the equally-iconic Eliza Doolittle in one of my all-time favorite films, “My Fair Lady.” That very same year, Julie Andrews was cast in “Mary Poppins” and the gossip mills had a field day with it all. It all started when Hepburn was cast as Doolittle despite Andrews originating the role on Broadway.

At the 1965 Academy Awards, Hepburn wasn’t even nominated even though “My Fair Lady” won Best Picture and her co-star Rex Harrison won Best Actor for his role as Professor Henry Higgins. And guess what? Andrews won Best Actress for her role as the beloved Banks family nanny. I actually love both films equally and my dream room is the library with mahogany shelves and rolling ladders in “My Fair Lady” but Poppins was “practically perfect in every way,” and this quote stands right up there with Pooh’s on my list of favorite quotes:

She’s not wrong!

A year later and 60 years ago this year, another Julie Andrews film would win Best Picture. “The Sound of Music” soared into the 1966 Oscars with 10 nominations and left with five wins, cementing its place in Hollywood history. I never tire of watching that movie, admire its political boldness for the times, laugh at the drapery clothing, kinda feel bad for the Baroness, and can sing every song.

All these films have beloved soundtracks that our family had in album form (see pics below) and to this day, when any song comes on, I’m singing right along. I might be at the horse race at Ascot, scaling a fountain in Austria, or jumping London rooftops as my phone’s music downloads scroll effortlessly through these favorite showtunes right before and after country, rock, and pop favorites:

“My Fair Lady.” My absolute favorite is probably “I Could Have Danced All Night” and I also cherish “On the Street Where You Live,” which was my dad’s favorite. I always think of him when I hear it. I also love “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “With a Little Bit of Luck,” “The Rain in Spain,” and “Get Me to the Church on Time.”

“Mary Poppins.” I love the empowering “Sister Suffragette” and march right along to “Step in Time.” One cannot even think about the movie without singing “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” or “A Spoonful of Sugar” but it was “Chim Chim Cher-ee” that won the Oscar for Best Original Song. Personally, I cannot help but tear up every time I hear “Feed the Birds” and especially “Let’s Go Fly a Kite.”

“Sound of Music.” The hills definitely came alive with this one but my favorite thing from it was probably “My Favorite Things” as well as “Sixteen Going on Seventeen,” “Do-Re-Mi,” and “So Long, Farewell.” I can picture the Von Trapp kids doing their little wave on stage before secretly exiting stage left while singing it. IYKYK.

About the time we were laughing, crying, and singing to all these classic films, we were also singing along with and glued to our TVs, watching two gems: “The Brady Bunch” and “The Partridge Family,” which debuted in 1969 and 1970 respectively. Now granted, Keith and Shirley Patridge’s “I Think I Love You” and “Come On Get Happy” run circles around the Brady’s “It’s a Sunshine Day,” but simply mention “It’s the story…” and you’ll have many singing one of the most famous theme songs around.

I personally adored Laurie Partridge and even cut my hair like her’s. When you think about it, what’s amazing is that the Partridges were a single mom family while the Bradys were one of the first blended families. The Partridges bus was perhaps as famous and popular as them and we can all close our eyes and envision the Brady house, right.

So famous is the actual house in L.A.’s Studio City neighborhood that it was just this year named an official historic landmark. As it should be!

So, did you enjoy this little trip back in time? Do you remember them? Do you have favorites? Did I leave anything out? I’m sure I did as the pickings from back then are anything but slim but I tried to limit mentions to those celebrating something big this year. Stay tuned. 2027 is right around the corner and I’m sure there will be plenty of commemorations then and they might actually be some more of my favorite things!