Mary Poppins Returns Non-Spoiler Review - Practically Perfect In Every Way

Mary Poppins Returns is practically perfect in every way. And just like the Banks family, I had no idea how much I needed Mary Poppins back in my life until I watched Mary Poppins Returns. This will be a non-spoiler review.

Now when this sequel was first announced I was concerned. Would it live up to the original? Would Emily Blunt be able to fill Julie Andrews shoes? Rest assured, the classic Disney magic is back and Mary Poppins Returns is a warm hug to the original. 

The story picks up in Depresssion-era London where we find Michael Banks, a father of three children. The family is struggling to cope with the loss of Michael's wife. His sister Jane tries to help as much as she can. Fortunately, Mary Poppins appears once again to try to bring love, laughter and life back into the house on 17 Cherry Tree Lane.

Emily Blunt is simply perfect to play Mary Poppins. She creates her own version of the character, who seems stern and quite reserved on the outside, while being warm-hearted and childlike on the inside. Emily brings both of these sides of Mary to life with warmth and sophistication. Next to Mary is a new character, Jack, played by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Jack is a lamplighter and he brings light, literally and metaphorically, when it is needed most.

Ben Whishaw plays Michael Banks and brilliantly conveys his sense of struggle and loss. Jane Banks is played by Emily Mortimer and brings a sense of family love and balance into Michael's life. Ellen the housekeeper is played by Julie Walters. Ellen has been a part of the Banks household since Michael and Jane were children. Colin Firth plays William Weatherall Wilkins the head of Fidelity Fiduciary. Meryl Streep plays Mary's cousin Topsy.

Pixie Davies plays Annabel, the precocious and strong-willed daughter of Michael. Nathanael Saleh plays John, the thoughtful and oldest son. Joel Dawson plays Georgie, the energetic and youngest son. All three children are brilliant and they had to be, for they carry a good portion of the movie on their shoulders.

Rounding up the cast are Disney Legends Angela Lansbury and Dick Van Dyke. Angela plays the balloon lady, a treasured character from the books. Dick Van Dyke plays Mr. Dawes Jr., the retired chairman of the bank and the son of the character he played in the original movie.

The music of Mary Poppins Returns is purely magical. The team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman channeled their inner Sherman Brothers to create music and lyrics that fit not only into this sequel but sound like they could have been in the original. The team created nine original songs and every single song moves to advance the story. From lullabies to showstoppers, the songs are a pure joy to hear and to see on the big screen. 

The hand-drawn animation, yes, hand-drawn animation in the film is spectacular and made me miss this art form even more when I saw it on the big screen.

Director Rob Marshall and his team took the very challenging idea of creating a sequel to one of the most beloved Disney films of all-time and created something special. Mary Poppins Returns feels both fresh and nostalgic at the same time. The performances of Emily Blunt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, and the Banks children are powerful and emotional. The music and songs will make you dance, sing and at times even cry. You will leave the theater, not only with a huge smile on your face, but feeling like everything is possible, even the impossible. The world right now needs some hope. Mary Poppins is the person who can remind you that there is hope and wonder in the world.

Mary Poppins Returns opens in theaters December 19th.

Mary Poppins Returns | Special Look

Watch a new special look at the music and magic of Mary Poppins Returns, and see the film in theatres December 19! In Disney’s “Mary Poppins Returns,” an all new original musical and sequel, Mary Poppins is back to help the next generation of the Banks family find the joy and wonder missing in their lives following a personal loss. Emily Blunt stars as the practically-perfect nanny with unique magical skills who can turn any ordinary task into an unforgettable, fantastic adventure and Lin-Manuel Miranda plays her friend Jack, an optimistic street lamplighter who helps bring light—and life—to the streets of London. “Mary Poppins Returns” is directed by Rob Marshall. The screenplay is by David Magee and the screen story is by Magee & Rob Marshall & John DeLuca based upon the Mary Poppins Stories by PL Travers. The producers are John DeLuca, p.g.a., Rob Marshall, p.g.a. and Marc Platt, p.g.a. with Callum McDougall serving as executive producer. The music score is by Marc Shaiman and the film features all new original songs with music by Shaiman and lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman. The film also stars Ben Whishaw as Michael Banks; Emily Mortimer as Jane Banks; Julie Walters as the Banks’ housekeeper Ellen; Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh and introducing Joel Dawson as the Banks’ children, with Colin Firth as Fidelity Fiduciary Bank’s William Weatherall Wilkins; and Meryl Streep as Mary’s eccentric cousin, Topsy. Angela Lansbury appears as the Balloon Lady, a treasured character from the PL Travers books and Dick Van Dyke is Mr. Dawes, Jr., the retired chairman of the bank now run by Firth’s character.

NEW TRAILER AND POSTER FROM DISNEY'S "MARY POPPINS RETURNS"

In Disney’s “Mary Poppins Returns,” an all new original musical and sequel, Mary Poppins is back to help the next generation of the Banks family find the joy and wonder missing in their lives following a personal loss. Emily Blunt stars as the practically-perfect nanny with unique magical skills who can turn any ordinary task into an unforgettable, fantastic adventure and Lin-Manuel Miranda plays her friend Jack, an optimistic street lamplighter who helps bring light—and life—to the streets of London.

“Mary Poppins Returns” is directed by Rob Marshall. The screenplay is by David Magee and the screen story is by Magee & Rob Marshall & John DeLuca based upon the Mary Poppins Stories by PL Travers. The producers are John DeLuca, p.g.a., Rob Marshall, p.g.a. and Marc Platt, p.g.a. with Callum McDougall serving as executive producer. The music score is by Marc Shaiman and the film features all new original songs with music by Shaiman and lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman. The film also stars Ben Whishaw as Michael Banks; Emily Mortimer as Jane Banks; Julie Walters as the Banks’ housekeeper Ellen; Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh and introducing Joel Dawson as the Banks’ children, with Colin Firth as Fidelity Fiduciary Bank’s William Weatherall Wilkins; and Meryl Streep as Mary’s eccentric cousin, Topsy. Angela Lansbury appears as the Balloon Lady, a treasured character from the PL Travers books and Dick Van Dyke is Mr. Dawes, Jr., the retired chairman of the bank now run by Firth’s character.

Mary Poppins Returns Official Teaser Trailer

This Christmas, a new story begins. Here’s your first look at Mary Poppins Returns.

"Mary Poppins Returns" Begins Production

PRODUCTION BEGINS ON “MARY POPPINS RETURNS,”

THE SEQUEL TO THE STUDIO’S 1964 FILM STARRING

EMILY BLUNT AND LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA

AND DIRECTED BY ROB MARSHALL

BURBANK, Calif. (February 9, 2017) – Production on “Mary Poppins Returns,” the all new sequel to Disney’s 1964 film “Mary Poppins,” has commenced at Shepperton Studios. The film, which stars Golden Globe® winner Emily Blunt (“The Girl on the Train,” “Into the Woods”) and Emmy®, GRAMMY® and Tony Award® winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton,” “Moana”) and is directed and produced by Oscar® nominee, Emmy® and DGA Award winner Rob Marshall (“Into the Woods,” “Chicago”), is scheduled for release December 25, 2018.

The film also stars: Ben Whishaw (“Spectre”), Emily Mortimer (“Hugo”) and Julie Walters (“Harry Potter” films) with Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”) and Meryl Streep (“Florence Foster Jenkins”). In addition, Dick Van Dyke plays Mr. Dawes Jr., the chairman of Fidelity Fiduciary Bank, which is now run by William Weatherall Wilkins (Firth).

“Mary Poppins Returns” introduces three new Banks children, played by Pixie Davies (“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”), Nathanael Saleh (“Game of Thrones”) and newcomer Joel Dawson.

The film is produced by Marshall, Emmy® winner and Golden Globe® nominee John DeLuca (“Chicago”) and Oscar® and Tony® nominee and Emmy and Golden Globe winner Marc Platt (“La La Land”). The screenplay is by Oscar nominee David Magee (“Life of Pi”) based on The Mary Poppins Stories by PL Travers with Oscar nominee and Tony winner Marc Shaiman (“Hairspray”) and Emmy nominee and Tony winner Scott Wittman (“Hairspray”) writing all new songs with Shaiman composing an original score.

Amongst Marshall’s award-winning creative team are Oscar®-winning director of photography Dion Beebe, ASC ACS (“Memoirs of a Geisha”); two-time Oscar-winning production designer John Myhre (“Memoirs of a Geisha,” “Chicago”); three-time Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell (“The Young Victoria,” “The Aviator,” “Shakespeare in Love”); Oscar-winning hair and make-up designer Peter Swords King (“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”); Oscar-winning set decorator Gordon Sim (“Chicago”); Oscar-winning production sound mixer Simon Hayes (“Les Misérables”); and Emmy® nominated editor Wyatt Smith (“Doctor Strange,” “Into the Woods”). The film is choreographed by Marshall and DeLuca with Joey Pizzi (“Chicago”) serving as co-choreographer.

“Mary Poppins Returns” is set in 1930s depression-era London (the time period of the original novels) and is drawn from the wealth of material in PL Travers’ additional seven books. In the story, Michael (Whishaw) and Jane (Mortimer) are now grown up, with Michael, his three children and their housekeeper, Ellen (Walters), living on Cherry Tree Lane. After Michael suffers a personal loss, the enigmatic nanny Mary Poppins (Blunt) re-enters the lives of the Banks family, and, along with the optimistic street lamplighter Jack (Miranda), uses her unique magical skills to help the family rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives. Mary Poppins also introduces the children to a new assortment of colorful and whimsical characters, including her eccentric cousin, Topsy (Streep).

PL Travers first introduced the world to the no-nonsense nanny in her 1934 book “Mary Poppins,” which Disney adapted for the screen and released in August, 1964. The film, which was directed by Robert Stevenson and starred Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, was the top-grossing film of that year and nominated for 13 Academy Awards®, winning five. However, the subsequent adventures of Mary Poppins remained only on the pages of PL Travers’ seven additional books, which she published between 1935 and 1988.

About Walt Disney Studios:

For over 90 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company was built. Today, the Studio brings quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under the following banners: Disney, including Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios; Disneynature; Marvel Studios; Lucasfilm; and Touchstone Pictures, the banner under which live-action films from DreamWorks Studios are distributed. The Disney Music Group encompasses the Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records labels, as well as Disney Music Publishing. The Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Disney on Broadway, Disney On Ice and Disney Live!.

Blu-Ray Review: Mary Poppins 50th Anniversary Edition!

As we approach the 50th Anniversary of the release of Mary Poppins we get the beautifully restored blu-ray!

Mary Poppins is the most awarded film in the history of The Walt Disney Company. Many, including myself, consider it to be Walt's crowning achievement! Everything that Walt had learned over the decades culminated in a near perfect combination of story, actors, music and of course Disney Magic!

The film earned thirteen Academy Award nominations, among them Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Writing in the Adapted Screenplay category. Julie Andrews won her first and only Best Actress Oscar, and the studios took home statues for Best Editing, Best Original Score, Best Song ("Chim Chim Cher-ee") and Best Visual Effects.

 

Video Quality:
Just as Disney has established itself as the leader in restoration of their animated classics, we get a look at what they could do with their live-action classic slate! Colors are vibrant and skin colors looks natural. The entire palette is stunning as if the film was just recently created. Wait until you see the animated sequences. They have been cleaned up to make it appear as if the ink had just dried on the cells! Another high quality restoration from Disney and now please bring out the rest of your live-action films! Make 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea your next blu-ray release!

Audio Quality:
I think the inclusion of a 7.1 Surround track is going to confuse people into thinking that the sound is going to create this completely immersive experience but it does not since the audio track is mostly front channel only. With that being said, the dialogue is crisp and clear coming from the front channels. The music of The Sherman Brothers has never sounded better!

Bonus Features:

• Becoming Mr. Sherman (HD, 14 minutes): The only brand new feature on the blu-ray and it provides a great look at not only the early music for Mary Poppins but also a sneak peek into Saving Mr. Banks which is the untold story about the making of Mary Poppins. It is hosted by actor Jason Schwartzman and Richard M. Sherman. Schwartzman portrays Sherman in Saving Mr. Banks.
• Mary-Oke (HD, Dolby Digital stereo, 8 minutes): Sing along with the music of Mary Poppins. This karaoke-style extra features the songs "A Spoonful of Sugar," "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," "Step in Time" and "Chim Chim Cher-ee".
• Classic DVD Bonus Features: The Blu-ray edition of Mary Poppins also includes most every previously released bit of supplemental content from past releases. Extras include:
  
  
  • Audio Commentary: Composers/lyricists Richard and Robert Sherman and actors Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins), Dick Van Dyke (Bert/Mr. Dawes Sr.) and Karen Dotrice (Jane Banks) share their memories about the making of the film.
  • Disney on Broadway (SD, 55 minutes): This is a 48-minute documentary giving you an overview of the film's Broadway adaptation with producer/President Disney Theatrical Productions Thomas Schumacher and performers Ashley Brown (Mary Poppins) and Gavin Lee (Bert) -- and a 7-minute featurette, "Step in Time," with Broadway composer George Stiles.
  • Backstage Disney (SD, 113 minutes): You will find eight features here including: a 51-minute documentary "The Making of Mary Poppins," vintage red carpet featurettes "The Gala World Premiere" and "The Gala World Premiere Party," kid-friendly special effects mini-doc "Movie Magic," two "Deconstruction of a Scene" featurettes ("Jolly Holiday" and "Step in Time"), a "Dick Van Dyke Make-Up Test" and a "Publicity" roundup with original trailers, re-issue trailers and TV spots.
  • Music & More (HD/SD, 52 minutes): Four music-themed extras: 17-minute retrospective "A Magical Musical Reunion Featuring Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and Richard Sherman" (SD), deleted song "Chimpanzoo" (SD), a "Disney Song Selection" suite (HD, DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1), and a "Movie Sing-Along" track.
  • The Cat that Looked at a King (SD, 10 minutes): In this 2004 live-action/animated short, Julie Andrews leads two children into a chalk drawing and tells them the story of a talking cat, a knowledge-obsessed king and the arrogant ruler's neglected queen.

Overall Recommendation:
If you are a fan of Disney movies this is the one you have been waiting for! A gorgeous restoration that is filled with incredible bonus material! Disney did not let me down for one of my favorite films of all-time! A must buy for the Holidays for you and your family to enjoy for many years to come!

Saving Mr. Banks Premiere Photos at The Walt Disney Studios!

 

 

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SAVING MR. BANKS opens in theaters limited on December 13, 2013 and opens wide on December 20, 2013!

Mary Poppins 50th Anniversary Red Carpet and Screening! (11/9/13)

With Press Credentials in hand, Lil Oishi and I are ready to cover the 50th Anniversary Red Carpet and Screening of Mary Poppins! This was an amazing opportunity to celebrate one of my favorite films of all-time at the same theatre where Mary Poppins premiered!

Before photographer Kevin and I found our spot on the  red carpet we went to find a couple of Hollywood Stars on The Walk of Fame! Of course we had to find Julie's Star!

Then we went to find Dick Van Dyke's Star!

The historic Mann's Chinese Theatre now called the TCL Chinese Theatre was the setting for the event!

 Lil Oishi feels right at home on the red carpet!

Disney Legend Floyd Norman stopped by to talk with me! He shared with me that he had worked on all of the animated sequences in Mary Poppins and that the animated sequence in Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious was his favorite!

Super adorable Rowan Blanchard is going to play Riley Matthews in the highly anticipated TV Show Girl Meets World, a spin-off to the highly acclaimed Boy Meets World! She stopped by to talk with me and we talked about her upcoming show! I am a huge fan of Boy Meets World and cannot wait to see Girl Meets World!

 Rowan was kind enough to take a quick photo with me!

Mallory Lewis and Lamb Chop stopped by to say hi! Mallory is the daughter of Shari Lewis who created Lamb Chop. Mallory took over the role after her mother passed away. They were both an unexpected surprise on the red carpet!

The stunning Victoria Summer stopped by to talk with me! She plays Julie Andrews in Saving Mr. Banks! I asked her how she got her role. She told me that she did not even have to audition. As she knows the story, the producers and director picked her head shot because she looked the most like Julie Andrews at the time Mary Poppins was being filmed. That is straight out of a Hollywood story! Her idol is Julie Andrews and Mary Poppins is one of her favorite movies!

 Victoria was kind enough to pose for a quick photo with me!

The always charming and sweet Kathryn Beaumont stopped by to say hello as well! She is best known as the voices of both Alice in Alice In Wonderland and Wendy in Peter Pan!

Karen Dotrice who played Jane Banks in Mary Poppins stopped by to answer a question or two. I asked her what it was like here 50 years ago. She said it looks the same but the streets are cleaner today! I also asked her how did she feel to be here 50 years later! She responded that now she got to share this with her family and that is what makes this truly special!

 Karen was kind enough to take a quick photo with me!

Disney Legend Richard Sherman also came by to answer a few questions! I asked him how he felt walking the red carpet 50 years ago. He said that as a much younger man he was very nervous because he didn't know if people were going to embrace the music or the movie. Now 50 years later, to be here now is magical. Walt would have been proud!

 With ticket in hand it was time to go in and to take our seats!

Before the movie started Dick Van Dyke took the stage to talk about the film!

Then it was time for the film to begin! To see the film in the same venue that it debuted nearly 50 years earlier was truly special! The newly restored digital print of the film shined! The film looked better than ever and showed how truly timeless the movie is!

On the way out we each got a poster and a keychain to celebrate the upcoming blu-ray release of Mary Poppins!

This was a truly magical night! To be able to be a part of the this amazing celebration was an honor! To share it my experience with all of you is a dream come true! To be surrounded with stars from the film, Disney Legends and an enthusiastic crowd of fans in the very same venue that the film premiered was a one of a kind experience that I will never forget!