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Originally Posted by Undertoad
I haven't linked to the paywalled NYT article where they back this notion up via vague references from the books.
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It's only paywalled if you've hit your monthly limit.
It does refer to a scene in the original
Mary Poppins movie where the soot-covered chimney sweeps are mistaken for hottentots by the Admiral, so the connection between soot-covered faces and blackface is explicitly made in the film. But it is made by the crazy guy who fires cannons from the roof of the house he thinks is a ship, so make of that what you will.
It spends more time on some interesting backstory about the character "Hyacinth Macaw" referred to in the recent
Mary Poppins Returns movie. A fairly explicitly (not necessarily intentionally, but at least a strong example of casual racism of the era) racist character (it's early in the month, see the article for details) from the original books was rewritten to be a bird, a hyacinth macaw. A character named Hyacinth Macaw is referred to in the new movie, a human again, nude except for feathers and a leaf, but now a wealthy widow.
It was an interesting article. Not great, but it shines next to most of the articles criticizing it.