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{{trope}}{{Needs Image}}
A '''Magical Nanny''' is [[Always Female|a woman]] who is hired [[Parental Substitute|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 [[Royal Brat|children who have scared off a number of previous nannies]] can be tamed by a Magical Nanny.
Magical Nannies come in two flavors:
# A [[Blithe Spirit|free spirited]] nanny will often be seen in households with strict parents, who are [[Parental Abandonment|often cold and neglectful]] toward [[Lonely Rich Kid|the children]]. She will encourage them to [[Be Yourself|be themselves]] and talk about [[The Power of Love]]. Eventually this message will spread to the parents, drawing the family together. This type of Magical Nanny is often musically talented.
# A sensible nanny will usually work for [[Parental Abandonment|aloof]] or [[Doting Parent|ineffectual]] parents with [[Spoiled Brat|rambunctious children]]. She will be strict
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 [[But Now I Must Go|their work here is done]] or they will stay and marry the head of the household. (Note that they ''never'' become the [[Wicked Stepmother]].) The latter is particularly common in the [[Romance Novel]]; indeed, the heroine may become the stepmother first and still fulfill the role of Magical Nanny.
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
== [[Fanfic]] ==▼
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* Emily in ''[[
* Subverted in ''[[The Addams Family
▲* Subverted in ''[[The Addams Family (TV)|Addams Family Values]]''; the family finally finds a nanny who will put up with the children because she wants to marry Fester, then kill him, for his money.
** Being the Addams Family, they consider this a very respectable lifestyle and are mainly irritated with her choice of Pastels as a color palette.
* 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.
* The two [[Ur Example
** ''[[The Sound of Music]]'': Maria Von Trapp of is the guitar playing free spirit who ends up marrying the head of the household.
** ''[[Mary Poppins]]'': Poppins is the no-nonsense nanny with magic powers who draws the family closer together, tames the unruly children, then vanishes into the sky.
* Weebo from ''[[Flubber]]''. Unusually, Weebo is a robot.
* The nanny in ''[[Harriet the Spy]]'' isn't magic, but is amazing.
* ''[[
* ''[[Nanny McPhee]]'': Similar to Mary Poppins.
* Random from ''Out Of The Blue'' (1979).▼
* ''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.
* ''[[Adventures in Babysitting]]'' could perhaps be considered a one-night-only version of this, as some life lessons were learned and it's a miracle neither the babysitter nor her charges got themselves killed.
* Subverted in ''[[Bedknobs and Broomsticks]]'', as its
** By the end, the kids and the witch will stay together, while the con man goes off to war.
* ''[[Big
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* ''Nurse Matilda'': Nurse Matila herself was a sensible nanny with magic powers, which tended to be more disturbing than in the movies.
* ''[[Discworld]]'': Susan Sto Helit is naturally sensible and, upon leaving school, does a brief stint as a
* Polgara the Sorceress in ''Polgara the Sorceress'', ''[[The Belgariad]]'', and ''[[The Malloreon]]'' is a powerful sorceress that is well recognized as such when she isn't tending to more than two thousand years of little boys as their "Aunt Pol" who cooks, cleans and manages their lives for the better. Like Mary Poppins, she isn't necessarily free spirited, but is an extremely competent and magical nanny.
* ''[[Mrs. Piggle
* ''[[Jane Eyre]]'': Jane is a sensible nanny who ends up falling for the head of the household.
* Subverted in [[Saki (
* In [[Gene Stratton Porter]]'s ''Michael O'Halloran'', a magical tutor straightens out two violent [[Royal Brats]] in about a day.
* [[Mary Poppins]], although perhaps not so much as her film counterpart.
▲== Live Action TV ==
* The female lead in ''Free Spirit'', an American [[
▲* Phoebe Figallily in ''[[Nanny and The Professor]]''.
▲* The female lead in ''Free Spirit'', an American [[Sit Com]] which has faded into obscurity, was a Magical Nanny.
* ''[[The Nanny]]'': Fran Descher's character, who ended up marrying the father.
** Not in the slightest bit magical, but she's able to connect with the kids in a way they'd be missing, and she specifically helps neurotic youngest child Grace.
* An episode of ''[[Amazing Stories (TV series)|Amazing Stories]]'' had one of these from Jamaica who managed to be a [[Magical Negro]] as well.
* ''[[Supernanny]]'': [[Truth in Television]]: the appearance of a sensible
* ''[[My Wife and Kids]]'' spoofs this in one episode with a [[Parody Sue]] nanny (played by the always awesome [[Betty White]]) who evokes a mystified "Wow..." from everyone around her.
* Mentioned briefly in the ''[[
{{quote|
'''Kazran''': No.
'''Doctor''': [[Dissimile|Good, 'cause that comparison would have been rubbish]]. }}
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[
==
* Parodied in the ''[[
▲* ''[[Girl Genius (Webcomic)|Girl Genius]]'': Von Pinn is a Type 2, at least according to the children in her care. She's also an ultraviolent battle-cyborg in a dominatrix dress.
▲* Parodied in the ''[[Animaniacs (Animation)|Animaniacs]]'' segment "The Sound of Warners". The siblings pay 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.
* Parodied in ''[[South Park]]'' 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.
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation|The Simpsons]]'' 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.
{{quote|
''But you're all a bunch of apes,
''And so I must be leaving yoooou!
* ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'': Dr. Henry Killinger could be considered a
* Invoked by Blastus in ''[[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 ''[[Sabrina the Animated Series]]'' Uncle Quigley leaves the girls and tells them he's hired a nanny to look after them. They assume it'll be a
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Mentors]]
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Always Female]]
[[Category:Romance Novel Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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