When I read that Walt Disney studios were doing another Mary Poppins film, I was dismayed, thinking that they were doing a remake of the classic original that I enjoyed and could only compare unfavorably with the original. But the new Mary Poppins Returns is not a remake but a sequel that shifts the story to 25 years later, though Poppins remains a young woman. Emily Blunt takes over the role immortalized by Julie Andrews and returns to the same house to assist the two children in the original who are now adults and dealing with their own problems. Dick Van Dyke also appears in the film, not as the chimney sweep Bert but as the son of the head of the bank and thus without the atrocious Cockney accent that he was forever being asked about. Lin-Manuel Miranda seems to be the new chimney sweep.
The trailer looks pretty promising. The film releases on December 19.
So, the trailer comes out a full three months before the release.
(Signs of our times)
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And yeah, I know promotion costs relative to production costs are not insignificant.
Another sign of our times.
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Such an original idea!
Welcome to the Mary Poppins Cinematic Universe.
(Sigh)
[PS I admit I have not watched the trailer. Still, got a full three months before it’s relevant…]
Mary Poppins The Next Generation?
Eh, better’n a remake, though it’ll probably suffer from sequelitis.
Well, the original book had sequels, though admittedly they took place in the same generation, even if over the course of years.
I’ve read the first two of the books. Mary in there tended a lot more towards the ‘good does not equal nice’ mode; she may not have been able to give Granny Weatherwax lessons, but they would have recognized each other as fellow travellers.
Not every movie has to have a sequel, but I admit this looks fun. I’ll probably wait for it on Netflix though (unless Disney’s streaming service is up and running before then).
Gonna be impossible to match the level of songs though.