Saving Mr. [Blank]

Many family-oriented or children’s musicals include a central narrative in which a father or father figure is “rescued,” as the 2013 film Saving Mr. Banks dramatizes in relation to Mary Poppins. This essay, through discussions of Meet Me in St. Louis, The Music Man, The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Annie, Into the Woods, The Secret Garden, Wicked, Enchanted, Matilda, and Fun Home, explores how this trope balances the need for children’s musicals to retain their appeal for adults, and how it evolves and is reconsidered over time.