MARY POPPINS RETURNS
US, 2018, 129 minutes, Colour.
Emily Blunt, Lin- Manual Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Colin Firth, Meryl Streep, Dick Van Dyke, David Warner, Jim Carter,
Directed by Rob Marshall.
Although Julie Andrews first appeared as Mary Poppins in 1964, even winning a Best Actress Oscar for her performance and engaging presence, it is not as if Mary Poppins has been absent for half a century or more. With videos, then DVDs, and always with continuous repeats on television, especially on the Disney Channel, Mary Poppins seems always to be with us. She has been no stranger to succeeding generations. Clearly, there are millions who welcome her return, and who have high expectations.
So, what is Disney to do? Well, there has to be a new Mary, in the tradition of Julie Andrews, also being distinctive. Fortunately, they are in a sound position with Emily Blunt. Some commentators mentioned that Julie Andrews was rather sweet and that Emily Blunt is less sweet – this reviewer’s memories of Mary Poppins right from the 1960s is that she was a very sharp, sometimes severe character, her song reference especially to medicine going down (with a spoonful of sugar). Emily Blunt looks somewhat the same, sounds somewhat the same, is always looking in the mirror and touching her hair, tells us that she is “practically perfect�.
Many audiences poked a bit of fun at Dick Van Dyke’s accent in the original. The setting is now 1935, the Ban’s children have grown up and there are children of the younger generation. And there are no more chimneys to sweep. Composers Lin -Manuel Miranda steps in as Jack, a lamplighter in London, with a whole group of fellow-lighters who can join in song and dance routines like those chimney-sweeps of the past.
And, never fear, Dick Van Dyke was the owner of the bank long ago so, at 92, and able to shake a leg in a dance routine, he turns up as a pleasant bonus towards the end of the film. There is no bird lady at St Paul’s Cathedral this time but, at the end, in the park in summer, there is an old lady, cheerful, who sells balloons – Angela Lansbury at 93!
Actually, the plot outline parallels the original. The oldies are in some financial trouble, Michael has lost his wife, is to work in the bank, is about to lose the family home. Jane on the other hand, like her mother, is very much socially involved, this time with the poor in the Depression-era. There is still the maid at home, this time played by Julie Waters with plenty of energy and some sharp repartee. The admiral is still next-door, this time David Warner, firing his canon on the hour (but now five minutes late).
In fact, the songs are much in the same vein as in the original, with Richard Sherman as a music advisor here. And most have a chance to sing! And, despite P.L.Travers not liking animation in her stories, the children go into their bath and go down into an underwater fantasy and, later, when the children break a Royal Doulton vase which could be sold to pay debts, the characters on the vase come alive and their is an elaborate fantasy, including a Music Hall routine (so, was that Mary Poppins previous career!), with Mary and Jack and some strange creatures who kidnap one of the children. The voice of the main villain in the fantasy is that of Colin Firth who is now the manager of the bank, avaricious, double-dealing, ready to take back the Banks’ home.
Next they take the vase to Mary Poppins’ most eccentric cousin, Topsy (of all people, Meryl Streep, East European accent, her house turning upside down, everybody joining in an athletic song and dance routine).
With the impending disaster, a solution is found at the last minute – and, with time running out to pay the debt, Jack and co climb Big Ben to try to push back the hand to gain more time – but, Mary Poppins, hoisting her umbrella, rises to the occasion and puts back the clock (and the admiral delighted that at last Big Ben has caught up with him!).
As hoped for, pleasing Mary Poppins’ entertainment.
1. The popularity of the books? Julie Andrews in the film? Audiences continued viewings on television over the decades? Expectations for the return?
2. Mary Poppins as an icon, her dress, manner, umbrella? Her bag? As an icon? From Julie Andrews to Emily Blunt? Practically perfect!
3. 30 years on from the original, 1935, the city of London, Cherry Tree Lane, the house and facade, the interiors? The Admiral and his assistant with the cannon on the roof? The lamp lights and Jack’s work? The bank, the offices? The visit to Topsy’s house? The fair and the balloons? Big Ben, the wall, the clockface? The parks?
4. The world of animation, the children in the bath, the underwater fantasy? The live-action moving to the Music Hall, the animals, the performance, Georgie kidnapped, the pursuit, the crash? The delight of the animation?
5. The score, the range of songs, paralleling those in the original? The echoes of melodies from the original? The lyrics, the choreography? The range of dances and performance, Jack and the Lamplighters?
6. Mary Poppins, her appearance, delete in the sky, her clothes, ageless, her clipped speech, with the children, her motives, her denying to the children that there was magic?
7. The plot parallels with the original film? The family, their worries? The children? The housekeeper? The bank and finance? Memories of the suffragettes, contemporary 1930s social concerns of the poor? The admiral and his assistant on the roof? The difference in time with Big Ben? The lamplighters instead of the chimney sweeps? Jack and his fellow workers?
8. The introduction, Jack and his song, London, the London sky, the lamps? His introduction to the Bank’s house, and the admiral firing his cannon?
9. Michael Banks, forgetting his past, his marriage, the death of his wife, the three children and his concerns, the artist but his having to work at the bank? Grieving his wife, breaking down? Jane, her social work and concern, outgoing for the poor, rallies and protests? Helping Michael? The visit from the lawyers and the bank, one nasty, one sympathetic? The news about the house? The memory of the shares, the extensive search everywhere for the documents, unable to find them? Michael going to see Mr Wilkins, his pleasant manner, his extending the deadline? His hypocrisy, the destruction of the documents? The later visit of the children, their overhearing the truth, Georgie intervening, Wilkins’ complaint and Michael apologising and reprimanding the children?
10. The kite, the children in the park, Georgie and his being lost, the arrival of Mary Poppins, her demeanour, dress, hat, umbrella? With the children? Coming to the house, as if nothing had happened? Ellen greeting her? Jane welcoming her, Michael accepting her? In the house, the magic touch with her luggage, the children amazed? The bath, reluctance, going into the bath, the underwater fantasy and delight?
11. The children concerned, the Royal Doulton vase? The fight, the vase breaking? The fantasy with all the characters from the vase, the animation, the range of characters, the broken pieces? The Music Hall? Jack and his asking Mary Poppins to sing and dance? Reluctance, then entering into everything with vigour? Going in, the animals, the sinister plot, kidnapping Georgie, the pursuit, the crash? The children and their experience of this as a dream?
12. The visit to Topsy, Meryl Streep and her appearance, accent, skills, the Wednesdays, the house turning upside down? The song and dance routine? Her willingness to mend the vase?
13. Jack, his help in the house, friendship, Jane attracted? The children lost in the fog, his friends in the song and dance routine?
14. The deadline, the family losing the house, Jack and his friends helping with moving the furniture? The empty house and the sadness? The kite, the discovery of the documents mending the kite? The excitement?
15. The timetable, the hurry to the office? Wilkins and his waiting? The severe lawyer, the benign lawyer and his willingness to help the family? The possibility of going back in time? The realistic solution, Jack and his friends, riding his bike and balancing? The ladders, climbing and Big Ben, the dangers, getting into the space under the clock, his not being able to reach? Mary Poppins deciding to act, floating through the air, putting back the clock hand? The happy that at last cab big Ben was on time!
16. Wilkins, waiting, his watch, the five minutes, Michael and the family arriving? Memories of Mr Dawes in the past? Dick Van Dyke’s appearance, the dance routine, tired, feet on the desk, their having to be lifted off? His explanation of the shares, of the investing of the tuppence (and the theme of “Feed the birds�)? Everything solved?
17. Going to the park, the cherry blossoms in bloom, Angela Lansbury as the old lady with the balloons, everybody choosing their own balloon, Wilkins and his choice – a lead balloon? Everybody up in the air, happy, time for Mary Poppins to leave – and everybody thanking her, her going into the sky, turning and smiling? Another return?
