Picture this, you have just entered the local video superstore in desperate need of an evening's entertainment. You gravitate toward the new release section with hopes of finding one you haven't seen twice. Starting at "12 Monkeys," you move through the a lphabetized videos, scanning the titles for that elusive never before seen flick. Your frustration builds as you walk down the row and every available title looks all too familiar. Nothing seems available, from that little independent film you heard about last week, to the summer blockbuster with 50 copies.

So now what do you do? Do you rent one of the old favorites like "Star Wars" or "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" for the millionth time? Might I offer a suggestion? You could head straight to the foreign movie section and show your culture and sophistication, o r you could venture into the mysterious realm of family movies. If you choose the family section, look down the rows till you reach the object of your search, Disney's "Mary Poppins."

Why "Mary Poppins"? There are three reasons why this film is worth your time and hard earned pennies (about 250 of them): the characters, story and visual effects.

The characters make the film more than just a whimsical romp, interrupted by sporadic bouts of singing. The film stars Julie Andrews in her film debut as the magical nanny Mary, and Dick Van Dyke as her jack-of-all-trades friend Burt. "Mary Poppins" is a complex character, who in the film is defined as "practically perfect in every way." For a child she may seem a bit boring, and at times quite stern. An adult can see her true complexities. Julie Andrews portrays Mary as something other than a typical nan ny-type. She has elements of vanity, flirtatiousness and meanness. Most surprising is her refusal to make a lasting commitment to the children. Burt is a jovial one-man-band/ sidewalk artist/ chimney sweep/ kite salesman. His antics are amusing to both ch ildren and adults, preserving the film's light tone.

Mary and Burt's interaction with the Banks children, Jane and Michael, make up the bulk of the film's action. However, the moral of the film rests not in the children's adventures with Mary, but in their dysfunctional relationship with their parents. Thei r banker father and social activist mother have no time to spare for the children. They choose instead the relegate the child-rearing responsibilities to a series of nannies, who are unable to control the children. Through the influence of Mary Poppins, M r. and Mrs. Banks learn to show their love for the children by actually spending some time with them. The adventures are the fun of the film and the framework for the great visual effects.

When Mary, Burt, Michael and Jane jump into one of Burt's sidewalk drawings, they find themselves in a visually stunning new world. This world is an amalgam of live action and Disney animation. The characters interact with animated people and animals (who talk of course). A great example of the visual wizardry in the sequence is their ride on carousel horses. The horses jump off the carousel on to the grass where their distinctive up and down motion leaves marks when their posts scrape the ground.

If these reasons don't convince you to take a break from the endless search for new releases at the video store, all I can say is, "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."

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