Mary Poppins DVD out in US

Julie Andrews in a scene from Mary Poppins.

Movie animation has come a long way since Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke frolicked with cartoon penguins, sheep and carousel ponies in 1964's children's classic Mary Poppins.

Yet fresh off her voice work in the cutting-edge cartoon sequel Shrek 2, Andrews thinks the blend of live-action and animation holds up well in the musical fantasy, which gets elaborate new DVD treatment in a 40th anniversary two-disc set, out today in the United States.

"I looked at it again, and I'd just come off Shrek, and I know these days how animation has changed and how different it is - the tools they have today," said Andrews. "But you don't see a single crack in the work of Poppins, and they didn't have that technology in those days. It's brilliantly done."

For the DVD, Andrews and Van Dyke teamed up with co-composer Richard Sherman for a reunion segment to reminisce about the film.

There's also a cartoon short featuring Andrews in an adaptation of one of PL Travers' Mary Poppins stories.