“Mary Poppins” is back on the big screens thanks to Walt Disney Pictures’ “Saving Mr. Banks,” so it seems appropriate that the studio’s original adaptation of P.L. Travers tale of a magical governess has been selected to be preserved by the Library of Congress.
The beloved children’s film joins 25 motion pictures in the National Film Registry. Other works deemed to be culturally, historically or aesthetically significant are more adult in nature, such as Quentin Tarantino‘s film noir pastiche “Pulp Fiction” and Mike Nichols’ blistering marital drama “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.”
The list also includes the science-fiction adventure “Forbidden Planet,” the space drama “The Right Stuff,” Michael Moore’s auto industry documentary “Roger & Me,” the silent era spoof “A Virtuous Vamp,” the Rita Hayworth star vehicle “Gilda” and the court room drama “Judgment at Nuremberg.”
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The Library’s goal is to guard against the degradation of film stock and to restore older films so they can be rediscovered by younger generations.
“The National Film Registry stands among the finest summations of more than a century of extraordinary American cinema,” the Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington, said in a statement,. “This key component of American cultural history, however, is endangered, so we must protect the nation’s matchless film heritage and cinematic creativity.”
This year’s selections bring the number of films in the registry to 625.
Films Selected for the 2013 National Film Registry
Bless Their Little Hearts (1984)
Brandy in the Wilderness (1969)
Cicero March (1966)
Daughter of Dawn (1920)
Decasia (2002)
Ella Cinders (1926)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
Gilda (1946)
The Hole (1962)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
King of Jazz (1930)
The Lunch Date (1989)
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Martha Graham Early Dance film (1931-44)
Mary Poppins (1964)
Men & Dust (1940)
Midnight (1939)
Notes on the Port of St. Francis (1951)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
The Quiet Man (1952)
The Right Stuff (1983)
Roger & Me (1989)
A Virtuous Vamp (1919)
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)
Wild Boys of the Road (1933)