The sequel to Disney’s beloved musical-fantasy “Mary Poppins” is about to hit the Malaysian cinemas on 24th December 2018.
Award-winning actress Emily Blunt is set to fill in the big shoes left by Julie Andrews as the magical nanny who once again arrived to help the Banks family.
The official synopsis reads:-
“Set in 1930s London, which is the time period of the original novels by P. L. Travers, the story follows Michael (Ben Whishaw) and Jane Banks (Emily Mortimer), who are now grown up. Michael is living with his three children (Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, and Joel Dawson) and housekeeper Ellen (Julie Walters), in the house on Cherry Tree Lane. After Michael has a personal loss, Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) comes back into the lives of the Banks family. She is joined by a street lamplighter named Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda), and an eccentric cousin named Topsy (Meryl Streep).”
Since her debut, Mary Poppins has become one of Disney’s most iconic and endearing characters, and she is also one of the few live-action Disney characters to gain the critical acclaim of icons such as Mickey Mouse and Tinker Bell.
“Mary Poppins Returns” is directed by Rob Marshall and written by David Magee, from a story by Magee, Marshall, and John DeLuca.
As we await the movie to hit the local cinemas this month, here are some interesting trivia about the new movie.
1. Takes place during the Depression Era
The sequel takes place during the Great Depression-era in 1930s, 25 years after the story from the original movie. The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that started in the United States. It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century, and it also affected the Banks family. As such, Mary Poppins returns to lend the already-grown Banks children a helping hand.
2. 9 brand new songs
The old “Mary Poppins” starring Julie Andrews has a whole lot of iconic tunes including “A Spoonful of Sugar”, “Chim Chim Cher-ee”, and of course, fans’ favourite anthem “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. The motion picture soundtrack for “Mary Poppins Returns” features 27 tracks – 9 of which are brand new songs. Songs in the new movie include “Trip a Little Light Fantastic”, “Turning Turtle”, “Can You Imagine That”, “The Place Where Lost Things Go”, “Nowhere to Go but Up”, among others.
3. Disney’s 1st live-action/traditional animated hybrid film since “Enchanted”
Like the original film, this film includes a sequence combining live-action and traditional hand-drawn animation. But did you know that it has been 11 years since Disney made such hybrid films? That’s right. Disney’s last hybrid movie was “Enchanted”, released in 2007. The animated animals in “Mary Poppins Returns” will be an updated 2D animation rather than a 3D CGI blend.
4. Returning cast
Dick Van Dyke is the only actor from “Mary Poppins” who is returning to the 2018 sequel, but he isn’t technically reprising his role. This time, he is taking on the role of his original character’s son, Mr Dawes Jr, in “Mary Poppins Returns”. In the original movie, he also played Bert, a cockney jack-of-all-trades and Mary Poppins’s closest friend. New character Jack, played by Lin-Manuel Miranda, is a protégé of Bert.
5. Ageless Mary Poppins
In the movie, it has only been 25 years since the story from the original “Mary Poppins”, but in the real world, it has been 52 years. Thus, that is the reason why Julie Andrews is unable to reprise her role. Nevertheless, the reason why Mary Poppins never age is because she lives outside of time, though it is never explained where she comes from. It is said that Julie Andrews was offered to cameo in the movie, but she turns down the offer because she wishes for Blunt to have her moment to shine.
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