5 Things we learned about 'Mary Poppins' and 'Sound of Music' from Julie Andrews' new book

The hills are alive, again.

Julie Andrews is rehashing her Hollywood beginnings in a new memoir, "Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years" (out Tuesday and co-written with Andrews' daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton).

The book spans from her first days in Los Angeles with 1964's "Mary Poppins" roughly through 1995 – which means no tell-all tales of her more recent experiences working in the "Shrek," "Princess Diaries" or "Despicable Me" franchises.

But all the stage and screen icon's greatest hits are mentioned, including two that started it all and landed Andrews, now 84, her first Oscar win and subsequent nomination: "Mary Poppins" (for which she won best actress at the 1965 Academy Awards) and "The Sound of Music."

Here are 5 anecdotes from "Home Work" about the actress' Disney beginnings:

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1. Walt Disney was practically perfect in every way

The icon served as Andrews' first official welcoming committee into the world of Hollywood. And he didn't disappoint. Just a few days after relocating to Los Angeles with then-husband Tony Walton and a baby Emma, the couple headed to Walt Disney Studios to have lunch with the man behind the mouse.

"Walt's persona was that of a kindly uncle – twinkly-eyed, chivalrous, and genuinely proud of all he had created," Andrews recalled. "His international empire encompassed film, television, and even a theme park, yet he was modest and gracious."

2. Hollywood beginnings with 'Mary Poppins'

Dick Van Dyke was just as you'd hope he would be, too. Andrews first met the Bert to her Mary at "Poppins" dance rehearsals as they practiced the iconic, high-speed number "Step in Time." Andrews said her jaw dropped the first time she watched the chimney sweep dancers execute the full song.

"We hit it off from day one," Andrews wrote of Van Dyke. "He was dazzlingly inventive, always in a sunny mood, and he often made me roar with laughter at his antics."

And, as viewers of "Mary Poppins Returns" know, he can still nail those high-energy dance moves into his early 90s.

Though Andrews went on to win an Oscar for her role, she admitted learning to act in front of a camera, rather than onstage, made the process feel like an uphill climb. The very first scene she filmed involved saying a simple line after Van Dyke told Mary she looked pretty ("Do you really think so?") Andrews said she was incredibly nervous about speaking on film.

"If I happen to catch the film these days, I'm struck by the seeming lack of self-consciousness on my part; a freedom and ease that came from total ignorance and flying by the seat of my pants (no pun intended!)," she wrote.

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3. Executing special effects was a big undertaking

Viewers in 2019 might take for granted the 2-D animated penguins that danced around Mary and Bert in the semi-animated chalk sequence, but by 1946 standards, it was pretty groundbreaking work.

Andrews was offered a cardboard penguin for reference, but that had to be taken away once cameras started rolling, leaving her to try and focus on something midair that didn't exist. Likewise, the carousel sequence required a ton of imagination and behind-the-scenes grunt work.

"It took forever to shoot that section, because the horses had to disconnect from one track and then travel along another, much like a train changing rails," Andrews recalled. "We waited hours for the equipment to be readied, then once we got on the horses, we shot each scene many times until the technical crew was content that they had what they needed."

4. Andrews had a few hesitations about starring in 'The Sound of Music'

When Andrews and husband Tony saw the Broadway musical version of "The Sound of Music," she recalled they "weren't wildly impressed. We loved the music, but the show seemed rather saccharine to us."

Of course, she was later offered the starring role of Maria von Trapp. But the actress, who had only recently wrapped on her second film and had not yet seen one of her projects released ("Poppins" and "The Americanization of Emily" hit theaters in 1964, months before "The Sound of Music" was released), was wary of being typecast as a nanny.

But thanks to convincing from then-director Bob Wise and Hollywood agent Arthur Park, Andrews got on board.

"I'll be forever grateful for the nudge over the fence that (Arthur) and Bob gave this nervous and insecure young woman," she wrote.

5. Production of 'The Sound of Music' was met with difficulties at every turn

While most inside shots in "The Sound of Music" were filmed on a soundstage in Los Angeles, the outdoor shots were mostly on-location in Austria.

"Someone had evidently forgotten to mention to our production crew that Salzburg has Europe's seventh-highest annual rainfall," Andrews quipped.

The actress recalled struggles shooting the now iconic opening sequence: The helicopter, carrying the camera to create a wide, sweeping shot, created such a strong downdraft that Andrews was thrown to the ground, take after take.

At another point, a farmer, angry that the production crew had cut his grass after asking them not to, kicked the filmmakers off his property. Another, Andrews recalled, "accosted me with a lascivious leer and let fly a stream of obscenities" in German. And on days when they were filming atop a mountain, Andrews and the rest of the cast and crew were forced to relieve themselves in the woods.

That isn't to say Andrews didn't enjoy her "The Sound of Music" experience, though. She especially loved singing "Edelweiss" and said she's "sung it many times in the years since.

"To me, it's an anthem that speaks to one's homeland, no matter where that may be, and it moves me deeply," she wrote. "I spent so much of my early life trying to unify my need for home with my commitment to work. These days, I've come to realize that home is a feeling as much as it is a place; it is as much about loving what I do as being where I am."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Julie Andrews book: Stories from 'Mary Poppins' and 'Sound of Music'