History Main / MagicalNanny

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': Dr. Henry Killinger could be considered a Magical Nanny. He flies with a parasol and has a magic bag. A Magic Murder Bag, but a magic bag nonetheless.

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' segment "The Sound of Warners". As annoying as the nanny is, as [[KarmicTrickster Karmic Tricksters]] the Warners can't attack someone who hasn't hurt them first. So they pay [[ScrewballSquirrel Slappy]] to get rid of her. After meeting her, Slappy returns to the kids and tells them that this one will be on the house. Although for her trouble, the nanny gets blown into the household of a family that'll appreciate her more than the Warners did. The end of the episode has a Mary Poppins {{Expy}} arriving as her replacement -- at which the Warners run screaming "Slappy!"
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' with the various reality show nannies trying to tame ''Cartman''. It ends badly for all of them until the Dog Whisperer comes and gets Cartman to shape up. Only after he fails to marry Mrs. Cartman do things become undone.

* Invoked by Blastus in ''WesternAnimation/{{Robotomy}}'', with Blastus dressed as Mary Poppins and driving a motorcycle through Thrasher's house before jumping off as the motorcycle heads for the window. Unfortunately, this does nothing to help the kids behave.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeries'', Uncle Quigley leaves the girls and tells them he's hired a nanny to look after them. They assume it'll be a Magical Nanny but it turns out she's a DrillSergeantNasty called Frau Strudel and they resort to magic to make her nicer. They go overboard and she turns into a parody of a Magical Nanny called Rainbow where she sells all their electronics to buy gongs and a Japanese sand garden, makes them eat grass and tree bark for dinner and tye-dyes the cat before abandoning all her clothes to become a "nature child."
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Twilight Sparkle had Princess Cadance, WingedUnicorn and niece to [[GodEmperor Princess Celestia]], as her foalsitter. In fact, Twilight's fond memories of Cadance allow her to suspect that something is wrong when [[spoiler:the true Cadance gets kidnapped and replaced by an evil shapeshifter.]] The nanny in this case is literally magical and wields ThePowerOfLove.
* ''WesternAnimation/MissMoon'': Miss Moon is a literal example who isn't even from our dimension.

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' segment "The Sound of Warners". As annoying as she is, as [[KarmicTrickster Karmic Tricksters]] the Warners can't attack someone who hasn't hurt them first. So they pay [[ScrewballSquirrel Slappy]] to get rid of her. After meeting her, Slappy returns to the kids and tells them that this one will be on the house. Although for her trouble, the nanny gets blown into the household of a family that'll appreciate her more than the Warners did. The end of the episode has a Mary Poppins {{Expy}} arriving as her replacement -- to which they run screaming "Slappy!"

* A complicated and somewhat [[spoiler: at first]] literal version of this shows up in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3295767/1/Strained-Harmony Strained Harmony]]''. [[Manga/SailorMoon Setsuna]] is in the market for a nanny to raise Hotaru, and selects a young, somewhat awkward girl. Said girl happens to be [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf Ranma]], who is hiding from Nabiki and a [[DepravedBisexual Hong Kong bigwig]] the former [[SexSlave sold Ranma off to]]. Ranma’s skill in martial arts are actually what Setsuna is looking for, to help with Hotaru’s lack of stamina. What Setsuna didn’t see coming, [[spoiler: was the [[MagicalGirl Magical part becoming literal,]] as Hotaru somehow has caused Ranma to become one herself, though only with support abilities, leading Setsuna to think that Hotaru is making Ranma into a bodyguard of sorts.]] In an almost inversion of the usual version of this trope, Setsuna is working on grinding away Ranma’s social naivety and RaisedByWolves tendencies, and eventually [[MarryTheNanny proposes to Ranma.]]

* Subverted in Creator/{{Saki}}'s "The Schwartz-Metterklume Method" where Lady Carlotta behaves like a Type 1 Magical Nanny, but turns out to [[spoiler: be an imposter who has been acting outrageous simply to amuse herself.]]

* ''Literature/MsWiz'' acts as this for the children of Class Three despite her first appearance being a teacher. She shows up in all the books in some new job just when the children need help. She actually does babysit in the fourth book. [[spoiler: She ends up as a mother herself]].

** Missy, the BigBad of Series 8 (in which she creates a new army of Cybermen from the dead of humanity, posing as a kindly steward of "Heaven") and a central character in the Twelfth Doctor's MythArc, has mannerisms and an appearance that are a grotesque parody of the cinematic Mary Poppins, down to the umbrella. This is taken to its natural conclusion in the ExpandedUniverse short story "Teddy Sparkles Must Die!" (''The Missy Chronicles''): Missy becomes a "magical" nanny to a trio of siblings in the early 20th century, though most of their adventures are facilitated unwillingly by the teddy bear-esque, reality-altering alien she's kidnapped. When the now-grown kids realize they were manipulated into becoming pawns in her latest evil scheme, they and Teddy have a devil of a time trying to undo it. The punchline is that as part of setting things right, [[spoiler: Teddy rewrites reality to turn Missy into the '''inspiration''' for Mary Poppins, meaning that a crowd of humans recognizes her with delight and insists that no matter how much she may claim to be Card-Carrying Evil, she's ''really'' good at heart, leading her to leave in disgust]].

* Music/SClub7 act as this in an episode of their TV series. They encounter a kids' camp that seems more like a prep school - where the ChildProdigy campers rely too much on books and learning (one girl's dance lesson consists of her ''reading'' about various forms of dance). S Club teach the kids - and their camp head by extension - the importance of having fun while they still can.

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' segment "The Sound of Warners". As annoying as she is, as [[KarmicTrickster Karmic Tricksters]] the Warners can't attack someone who hasn't hurt them first. So they pay [[ScrewballSquirrel Slappy]] to get rid of her. After meeting her, Slappy returns to the kids and tells them that this one will be on the house. Although for her trouble, the nanny gets blown into the household of a family that'll appreciate her more than the Warners did. The end of the episode has a Mary Poppins {{Expy}} arriving as her replacement - to which they run screaming "Slappy!"

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has Shary Bobbins, an obvious parody, who comes, temporarily transforms the family, only to have them transform to their former unruly selves. She then leaves, not because she thinks her work is done, but because she realizes they're hopeless cases. The episode closes with her getting sucked into a jet engine as she flies away.

* Literature/MaryPoppins is of course the UrExample, although not so whimsical as her film counterpart.

* Random from ''Out Of The Blue'' (1979).

* MBA graduate Jennifer "Jenny" Morgan in ''Au Pair'' becomes the second type after mistaking a job opportunity as an executive assistant. She tames and befriends the two rambunctious children of their single, CEO father whose job duties prevent him from taking a more active role. She gets him to spend more time with his children and falls in love with him. Yeah, it's a Disney Original Movie, of course.

* ''Bob The Butler'': Bob; sorta. Bob's actually totally incompetent as a butler (he's actually not even a real butler, he's never had training). The only thing he manages to do is to get the kids to like him and bring their mother closer to them. They end up getting married of course.

A Magical Nanny is [[AlwaysFemale a woman]] who is hired [[ParentalSubstitute to look after children]], but ends up having a profound effect on the whole family. She may have genuine magical powers or she may just have a magical effect on the household. Even [[RoyalBrat children who have scared off a number of previous nannies]] can be tamed by a Magical Nanny.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/NannyMcPhee https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_nannymcpheeonesheet_4433.jpg]]]]

* ''Film/NannyMcPhee'': A more witch-like version of Mary Poppins, who is considerably less whimsical, but cares for her charges and becomes more beautiful as her lessons succeed.

* A complicated and somewhat [[spoiler: at first]] literal version of this shows up in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3295767/1/Strained-Harmony Strained Harmony]]''. [[Manga/SailorMoon Setsuna]] is in the market for a nanny to raise Hotaru, and selects a young, somewhat awkward girl. Said girl happens to be [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf Ranma]], who is hiding from Nabiki and a [[DepravedBisexual Hong Kong bigwig]] the former [[SexSlave sold Ranma off to]]. Ranma’s skill in martial arts are actually what Setsuna is looking for, to help with Hotaru’s [[IllGirl lack of stamina.]] What Setsuna didn’t see coming, [[spoiler: was the [[MagicalGirl Magical part becoming literal,]] as Hotaru somehow has caused Ranma to become one herself, though only with support abilities, leading Setsuna to think that Hotaru is making Ranma into a bodyguard of sorts.]] In an almost inversion of the usual version of this trope, Setsuna is working on grinding away Ranma’s social naivety and RaisedByWolves tendencies, and eventually [[MarryTheNanny proposes to Ranma.]]

* Winnie Goodwin from ''Series/FreeSpirit'', an American SitCom which has faded into obscurity, practiced witchcraft, unbeknownst to all mortals other than the children she cared for.

* Literature/MaryPoppins, although not so whimsically as her film counterpart.

** Clara Oswin Oswald is shown to be leading a double life as barmaid and nanny in ''The Snowmen'', with her nanny persona being an almost spot-on impersonation of Julie Andrews's Mary Poppins.

* ''Series/CharlesInCharge'' features a relatively rare example of a ''[[DistaffCounterpart male]]'' magical nanny.*

* Weebo from ''Film/{{Flubber}}''. Unusually, Weebo is a robot.

* A complicated and somewhat [[spoiler: at first]] literal version of this shows up in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3295767/1/Strained-Harmony Strained Harmony]]''. [[Manga/SailorMoon Setsuna]] is in the market for a nanny to raise Hotaru, and selects a young, somewhat awkward girl. Said girl happens to be [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf Ranma]], who is hiding from Nabiki and a [[DepravedBisexual Hong Kong bigwig]] the former [[SexSlave sold Ranma off to]]. Ranma’s skill in martial arts are actually what Setsuna is looking for, to help with Hotaru’s [[IllGirl lack of stamina.]] What Setsuna didn’t see coming, [[spoiler: was the [[MagicalGirl Magical part becoming literal,]] as Hotaru somehow has caused Ranma to become one herself, though only with support abilities, leading Setsuna to think that Hotaru is making Ranma into a bodyguard of sorts.]]

* ''Nurse Matilda'': Nurse Matilda herself is a sensible nanny with magic powers, which tends to be more disturbing than in the movies.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Susan Sto Helit is naturally sensible and, upon leaving school, does a brief stint as a Magical Nanny in ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}''. She is very GenreSavvy and promises herself "if she ever did find herself dancing on rooftops with chimney sweeps, she'd beat herself to death with her own umbrella." She's also significantly more violent than the average Magical Nanny. When the children complain of bogey-men in the closet or in the basement, she teaches them to face their fears... with vivid demonstrations involving a fireplace poker. If she's feeling generous, Susan just terrorizes the bogeys to the point that they won't even ''think'' about bothering her charges again.

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' segment "The Sound of Warners". As annoying as she is, as [[KarmicTrickster Karmic Tricksters]] the Warners can't attack someone who hasn't hurt them first. So they pay [[ScrewySquirrel Slappy]] to get rid of her. After meeting her, Slappy returns to the kids and tells them that this one will be on the house. Although for her trouble, the nanny gets blown into the household of a family that'll appreciate her more than the Warners did. The end of the episode has a Mary Poppins {{Expy}} arriving as her replacement - to which they run screaming "Slappy!"

** Missy, the BigBad of Series 8 and a central character in the Twelfth Doctor's MythArc, has mannerisms and an appearance that are a grotesque parody of the cinematic Mary Poppins, down to the umbrella. This is taken to its natural conclusion in the ExpandedUniverse short story "Teddy Sparkles Must Die!" (''The Missy Chronicles''): Missy becomes a "magical" nanny to a trio of siblings in the early 20th century, though most of their adventures are facilitated unwillingly by the teddy bear-esque, reality-altering alien she's kidnapped. When the now-grown kids realize they were manipulated into becoming pawns in her latest evil scheme, they and Teddy have a devil of a time trying to undo it. The punchline is that as part of setting things right, [[spoiler: Teddy rewrites reality to turn Missy into the '''inspiration''' for Mary Poppins, meaning that a crowd of humans recognizes her with delight and insists that no matter how much she may claim to be Card-Carrying Evil, she's ''really'' good at heart, leading her to leave in disgust]].

* An episode of ''Series/AmazingStories'' had one of these from Jamaica who managed to be a MagicalNegro as well.

** Missy, the BigBad of Series 8 and a central character in the Twelfth Doctor's MythArc, has mannerisms and an appearance that are a grotesque parody of the cinematic Mary Poppins, down to the umbrella. This is taken to its natural conclusion in the ExpandedUniverse short story "Teddy Sparkles Must Die!" (''The Missy Chronicles''): Missy becomes a "magical" nanny to a trio of siblings in the early 20th century, though most of their adventures are facilitated unwillingly by the teddy bear-esque, reality-altering alien she's kidnapped. When the now-grown kids realize they were manipulated into becoming pawns in her latest evil scheme, they and Teddy have a devil of a time trying to undo it. The punchline is that as part of setting things right, [[spoiler: Teddy rewrites reality to turn Missy into the '''inspiration''' for Mary Poppins, meaning that a crowd of humans "recognizes" her with delight and insists that no matter how much she may claim to be Card-Carrying Evil, she's ''really'' good at heart, leading her to leave in disgust]].

* Wildly parodied in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' expanded universe short story "Teddy Sparkles Must Die!" from ''The Missy Chronicles'', a series of VillainProtagonist stories. Missy, whose appearance and mannerisms are a grotesque parody of Mary Poppins down to the umbrella, takes on this role to a trio of siblings in the early 20th century -- though most of their adventures are facilitated unwillingly by a teddy bear-esque, reality-altering alien she's kidnapped. When the now-grown kids realize that they were manipulated into growing up to be pawns in her latest evil scheme, they and Teddy have a devil of a time trying to undo it. The punchline is that as part of setting things right, [[spoiler: Teddy rewrites reality to turn Missy into the '''inspiration''' for Mary Poppins, meaning that a crowd of humans "recognizes" her with delight and insists that no matter how much she may claim to be Card-Carrying Evil, she's ''really'' good at heart, leading her to leave in disgust]].

* ''Series/DoctorWho'':

** The Doctor becomes one in "The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe."
** Clara Oswin Oswald is shown to be leading a double life as barmaid and nanny in ''The Snowmen'', with her nanny persona being an almost spot on impersonation of Julie Andrews's Mary Poppins.

* Subverted in ''Film/BedknobsAndBroomsticks'', as its Magical Nanny is coerced into becoming one when some BlitzEvacuees are dropped off on her doorstep. By the end, the kids and the witch will stay together, while the con man goes off to war. Julie Andrews nearly played this one too.

* The nanny in ''Film/HarrietTheSpy'' isn't magic, but is amazing.

** ''Film/MaryPoppins'': Poppins is the no-nonsense nanny with magic powers who draws the family closer together, tames the unruly children, then vanishes into the sky.

A sub-flavor includes magical nannies that are ''literally'' [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Magical Nannies]]. Often they will be a parody or even {{Deconstruction}} of the UrExample, ''MaryPoppins''.

While Magical Nannies are often threatened with the sack, they are not easy to get rid of. When their employment ends, it will be on their own terms. Typically they will decide that [[ButNowIMustGo their work here is done]] or they will stay and marry the head of the household. (Note that they ''never'' become the WickedStepmother.) The latter is particularly common in the RomanceNovel; indeed, the heroine may become the stepmother first and still fulfill the role of Magical Nanny.