Mary Poppins undergoes major censorship change nearly 60 years after release

Mary Poppins, starring Julie Andrews, was recently shifted from universal to a PG, parental guidance, raising the age rating after 60 years.

The 1964 classic film has been reclassified due to discriminatory language.

As the film rests on the idea of derogatory terms, originally used by white Europeans about nomadic people in southern Africa, referring to "soot-faced chimney sweeps."

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) broke silence on the subject, claiming that this "exceeds our guidelines for U films."

Their spokesperson commented on the film being reclassified with a revised age-rating, noting: "Most recently, the film was resubmitted to us in February 2024 for another theatrical re-release, and we reclassified it PG for discriminatory language."

"Mary Poppins (1964) includes two uses of the discriminatory term 'hottentots'."

They talked about the film, exceeding the guidelines for acceptable language, adding: "While Mary Poppins has a historical context, the use of discriminatory language is not condemned, and ultimately exceeds our guidelines for acceptable language at U. We therefore classified the film PG for discriminatory language."

The film that is set in London in 1910, showcases a magical nanny, played by Dame Julie.

The nanny is responsible to look after a family’s children with the help of a chimney-sweep, played by Dick Van Dyke.

The film won five Oscars in 1965, bagging best actress and best song awards at the time.