Summary
A sequel half a century in the works is a loving tribute to the original film without straying too far from the model. A fun cast and some gorgeous animation make this a fun trip down memory lane.
The distance between sequels is growing. Blade Runner 2049 set the bar high with a 35 year gap. MARY POPPINS RETURNS, a follow-up to Disney’s 1954 musical classic, comes with an almost 55 year break between drinks. We guess Mary ignored Bert’s parting advice to not stay away too long.
The actual reason is that writer P.L. Travers had long refused further adaptations of her books following the Disney version. Yet in the two decades since since her death, Travers’ estate has allowed some flexibility with the property. Director Rob Marshall (Into the Woods) and writer David Magee (Finding Neverland) take inspiration from Travers’ later novels, as well as the Disney adaptation the author was notoriously less than pleased with.
Set in the 1930s, the now adult Michael (Ben Whishaw) and Jane Banks (Emily Mortimer) have explained the adventures of their youth as childhood fantasy. Reality really sets in when bank manager William “Weatherall” Wilkins (Colin Firth) threatens to repossess their house. With the Banks children (Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, and Joel Dawson) in dire need, a windy day and a rediscovered kite is all it takes to bring Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) back to Cherry Tree Lane.
Disney hasn’t exactly let the property sit fallow in the last half-century. A stage musical saw the House of Mouse to revisit the world, while the Saving Mr. Banks (2013) biopic gave audiences an overview of the turbulent relationship between Travers and Walt’s vision for the film. MARY POPPINS RETURNS is the first direct sequel to the Disney adaptation, and it is almost slavish to the look and feel of that highly regarded film.
Case in point is Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda), a cockney lamplighter who once apprenticed to Dick Van Dyke’s Bert. By the 1930s, the electric-powered London would have already seen the likes of Jack as a remnant of a dying industrial age. Here he serves as an avatar to the past, a deliberate anachronism that’s a bridge between classic and modern Disney.
The very look and feel of the picture is a loving tribute to the past. An extended sequence set inside a porcelain bowl recreates the vibes of the “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” section of the original. Animation by Ken Duncan and James Baxter, a Disney veteran since the 1980s, is superb. Capped by songs “The Royal Doulton Music Hall” and “A Cover Is Not the Book,” with music and lurics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, its as charming as it is gorgeously crafted – even if it goes on a bit too long.
While Julie Andrews left a mighty big hat to fill, Emily Blunt seamlessly steps into the role, throwing shade and not having any of it from the children and adults alike. Miranda’s cockney is on par with Dick Van Dyke’s (*cough*), and there’s a cameo from a certain Academy Award-winning actress that solidifies her descent into caricature.
The selection of songs aren’t anywhere near as memorable as the original Sherman Brothers works, even though Richard M. Sherman served as a musical consultant on the film. Nevertheless, they serve the story well and maintain the retro charm. “Trip a Little Light Fantastic” is a lovely successor to the award-winning “Chim Chim Cher-ee” and comes complete with its own riff-raff dance number.
Mary Poppins has grown well beyond the confines of the original books and films to become embedded in popular culture. The harder-edges of Nanny McPhee or the parody of the 1997 episode of The Simpsons (“Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious”) have ensured we will never view Mary Poppins with the same gleeful innocence we once did. Sitting somewhere between fan-fiction and follow-up, MARY POPPINS RETURNS is as much a jaunt down memory lane as it is a sequel – and for many that will mean it’s practically perfect in every way.
2018 | US | DIR: Rob Marshall | WRITERS: David Magee| CAST: Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Dick Van Dyke, Angela Lansbury, Colin Firth, Meryl Streep | RUNNING TIME: 130 minutes | DISTRIBUTOR: Disney (AUS) | RELEASE DATE: 19 December 2018 (US), 1 January 2019 (AUS)
