![]() ![]() The original books are filled with "wonderful self-contained short stories," he says, as well as wacky antics and characters, like Mary's eccentric cousin Topsy, played by Meryl Streep-a gender-swapped version of a character from the second book, Mary Poppins Comes Back. Magee, known for writing 'Life of Pi' and 'Finding Neverland,' calls the Poppins sequel "one of the happiest collaborations of my life." Photo Courtesy of Jennifer Altman "That said, maybe a penguin or two slipped in." "We wanted to reach certain touchstones without replicating them, to make you feel like you're on the same adventure with a different story," says Magee of the lamplighters instead of chimney sweeps, balloons instead of kites and, of course, an animated sequence. The songs, from composer Marc Shaiman and lyricist Scott Wittman (Tony winners for Hairspray), are, like the story, all new, with a few nods to the original Oscar-winning score by the Sherman brothers. His unmarried sister, Jane, helps with the children between organizing labor protests and being courted by Jack ( Hamilton 's Lin-Manuel Miranda), a former apprentice to Bert (Van Dyke has a cameo as the son of the banker he played in the first film). Michael-a recent widower and single father to Anabel, John and Georgie-is an aspiring artist forced to take a job at his late father's bank to save the family home. The new filmmakers therefore aged the Banks children, Michael (Ben Whishaw) and Jane (Emily Mortimer), 20-some years. But we liked as a starting place more than a rich family who doesn't appreciate all they have." "The first film was moved back to the turn of the century because didn't want it to feel sad. Travers's books "were set during the Depression-the Banks home is described as the shabbiest house on the street," says Magee. To answer that question, he, Marshall and producer John DeLuca returned again to the source. The biggest challenge for this film was figuring out why, "if Mary did the job we all believe she did in the first film, the Banks family would need her again," says Magee. Jay Maidment / Walt Disney Motion Pictures Travers would have thought of that phrase."įROM LEFT: Emily Mortimer and Ben Whishaw as a grown-up Jane and Michael Banks, Nathanael Sale and Joel Dawson as Michael's children John and Georgie Banks, and Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins. ![]() One of his favorites-"Polishing the keyhole?"-is Mary's reaction to the Banks family's maid spying through the front door. "I like that about the books too." While reading them, he kept a running list of Poppins quips. (The Golden Globes nominators were enchanted enough to put the film up for four awards, including best musical or comedy and best actress for Blunt.) The actress, best known for her work in grittier adult fare, like A Quiet Place and Sicario-was a fan of the books' Mary, who is "a little more of a taskmaster, a little more willing to deny was happening," says Mary Poppins Returns screenwriter David Magee. While it's impossible to say if Travers would approve this time, she'd likely find this Mary, played by Emily Blunt, more appealing. At 54 years, it's the longest gap between sequels for a live-action, theatrical release on record. With the family's approval, the celebrated nanny-hat on, umbrella in hand-will blow into London again, this time at the end of a kite, in Mary Poppins Returns. "As far as I am aware, the rights passed to her son, Camillus, and after his death, to his wife and children." It was never produced: Julie Andrews wouldn't commit, and there were department changes at the studio, so "the project foundered," Sibley tells Newsweek. Emily Blunt, who embodies Mary Poppins 54 years after Julie Andrews debuted the magical nanny on screen, plays a character closer to the one in P.T Travers’s novels-“a little more of a taskmaster.” courtesy of Disneyĭisney pestered Travers for a sequel, and the author did eventually cave, writing a second film in the late '80s, with writer Brian Sibley. ![]()
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