Female
# 3: There are rarely any real mother figures in these films. Extended family (stepmothers, sometimes grandmothers, etc) are usually considered evil. While the real mother is usually dead, sometimes 'substitutes' are put in place.
Mary Poppins is one of the most famous movies that combined live-action with animation. It is about a nanny, Mary Poppins, who is able to control children the other nannies could not. She takes the children, Michael and Jane, into drawings, on magical merry-go-rounds, for tea on the ceiling, and much more. She even manages to turn their stuffy father into someone who actually cares about his children instead of ruling his house with an iron fist. There isn't a great diversity of characters, but there isn't much of a diversity in their character either. In this case I am just going to analyze the female vs. male roles instead of every character's gender role.
Female
Jane and Michael's only real parent is Mary Poppins. She seems to not go along with everyone else. 
When the children are having fun, she is being serious, and when they are being serious, she tells them to cheer up and have fun. With this seriousness she carries out her womanly tasks: primping herself before she arrives at the house, cleaning up the nursery before she can start anything, and taking care of the children. She assumes the role of mother (see below) and therefore has to do everything a mother would do. Everyone loves her, especially the children who think she's magical. The mother isn't dead, and no one else has stepped in on behalf of the father to assume the role (like a stepmother), so Mary Poppins is not considered evil. She is the perfect replacement for a mother figure.
In this case, Jane and Michael do have a mother, but she's out all day protesting for a woman's right to vote. Mrs. Banks serves Mr. Banks, including apologizing for herself when he is upset.
Both the maid and the cook are female. They perform the typical Disney female role of housework such as cleaning and cooking for the household.
Jane is the older sibling. She isn't an angel, but she always begs 'Oh, please!' when trying to get something she wants. Michael, the youngest, rather makes demands than saying please or thank you.
Male
The only character who doesn't seem to have any fun (or want to) is male. Mr. Banks works at a bank and is very, very serious in his manner. He ignores his children and thinks they just get in the way. Mr. Banks demands that his house needs order and that he rules it like a lord. However, when Mary Poppins comes into the household, he is slowly changed. When she suggests that he take Jane and Michael to his work, he doesn't protest. Its not because she is stronger or was able to persuade him (she's still female in the aspect that she can't 'beat' a man), but rather put the thought in his head just by talking to him.
Michael is the youngest of the Banks children. While Jane asks politely, he usually says something sarcastic and is not reprimanded for it because he's a boy. He commonly pulls funny faces or speaks out of turn, something Jane would never do because of how she's been taught. Michael's impatience compliments Jane's politeness.
Bert, the male version of Mary Poppins, 
is the goofy character who annoys Mary by having fun with the children just when she doesn't want him to. Every day he assumes a different role. He lives on the street performing different acts daily to try to earn some money. He accompanies Mary Poppins and the children on all of their trips, and is definitely more light-hearted than Mary at times. This is because he is not responsible for the children (as a male) and therefore doesn't have to worry about them either.
Mary Poppins was made in 1964, but is supposed to take place in the early 20th century. Nonetheless, besides the suffragette mother, there were not many changes in the Disney tradition of the female role. While the real mother in almost all Disney films is usually dead (Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan, The Little Mermaid, Snow White, et al) Disney managed to keep Mary Poppins 'good' because she is not some form of extended family. This is just another aspect of Walt's vision of the perfect future - the white nuclear family chasing the American dream.
Part IV: If Jasmine can't have him, she'll die trying
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