![]() ![]() In 1964, it was the shortage of love from their workaholic father here, it’s the more painful absence of their late mother. Travers stories that inspired them both, Mary Poppins blows in to tend to the Banks children in a time of need. ![]() There’s preening vanity beneath Blunt’s bossiness, but also unmistakable warmth as she marshals recently widowed Michael’s three children - precocious twins John and Annabel (Nathanael Saleh, Pixie Davies) and their more impressionable younger brother Georgie (Joel Dawson) - with brisk commands like “Pish-posh,” “Spit-spot” or “Jiggety-jog.”Īs in the earlier film and the P.L. With her crisp diction, ramrod-straight posture and no-nonsense air, she swiftly dismisses the gawping stares and bewildered questions of her former charges, the now-grown-up Banks siblings Michael ( Ben Whishaw) and Jane ( Emily Mortimer). That entrance establishes Emily Blunt right off the bat as a worthy successor to Julie Andrews. Her closest reference to the original Mary Poppins is the bright blue overcoat and traveling hat in which the enigmatic, ageless nanny descends from the sky, hitching her umbrella onto a familiar runaway kite and alighting on Cherry Tree Lane as if she’s simply stepping off a bus. ![]() The bold use of a full crayon box of colors continues in Powell’s character-enhancing costumes. Making of 'Mary Poppins Returns': How Rob Marshall Returned Disney's "Guarded Jewel" to the Big Screen The elegant integration of physical London locations with studio sets and CG elements allows for bustling markets and cobblestone streets cloaked in fog - the setting is the pre-war 1930s, during the period the Brits referred to as “The Great Slump.” And naturally, there are vibrant fantasy detours like a deep-sea bathtime frolic or an excursion into the park - one of many sequences that directly echo the earlier film - in which the flesh-and-blood characters are immersed in the gorgeous pastels of a hand-drawn, 2D animated world with talking animals. Marshall reteams with cinematographer Dion Beebe, a frequent collaborator, to give Mary Poppins Returns a sumptuous widescreen sheen, but the most indispensable craft contributions come from production designer John Myhre and costumer Sandy Powell. But there’s as much here to engage young audiences unfamiliar with the property’s history as old-timers for whom it holds a special place among childhood memories. In a classy touch that provides early evidence of how seriously the creative team takes the heritage of their source material, the opening titles unspool over oil paintings of London inspired by the work of celebrated Disney artist Peter Ellenshaw. At 130 minutes, it might be a tad too long to stop the littlest kids from fidgeting, but then Mary Poppins was even longer, and that never hurt its popularity. All that should make this a winning family entry for the holidays and a repeat-viewing favorite for years to come. Its old-fashioned, honest sentimentality plasters a smile across your face and plants a tear in your eye, often simultaneously. Whether it’s exploding into large-scale production numbers or closing in on intimate scenes of a family in crisis, the sequel captivates by adopting a time-honored Disney formula that combines the joy and imagination of childhood with an underlay of melancholy. Ideally cast from top to toe, and graced by tuneful songs from Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman that genuflect to the invaluable contributions of the Sherman Brothers on Mary Poppins, this is a charmer only cynics could resist. Sticking close to the enduring classic’s template while injecting plenty of freshness to give the follow-up its own distinct repro vitality, this lovingly crafted production delivers both nostalgia and novelty. ![]() Belated Hollywood sequels have sunk more often than soared in recent years, but Disney shrugs off those odds with Mary Poppins Returns, an enchanting movie musical that picks up the threads of the studio’s cherished original more than half a century after its 1964 release. ![]()
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