I actually held my breath in excitement while waiting for the page to load with our first look at Emily Blunt as everyone’s favorite magical nanny. Mary Poppins Returns is a film that also stars my husband Lin-Manuel Miranda and Meryl Streep and—oh no. It’s too late. I’m singing “Let’s Go Fly A Kite” at my desk.
Mary Poppins Returns, which has maybe the best cast ever (Angela Lansbury, Colin Firth, Emily Mortimer, Ben Whishaw, and Dick Van Dyke are just a few more names in this production of Total Faves), is set in Depression-Era London. Mary Poppins, ostensibly, returns, to bequeath her child-rearing gifts upon Jane and Michael Banks, who are now adults with kids of their own. Lin-Manuel Miranda plays her “friend” Jack, who no doubt will assist with the musical shenanigans.
Anyway, we’re here because Emily Blunt looks freakin’ incredible as Mary:
Can we talk about this coat. And the hat. And the shoes. AND THE ENCHANTED CARPET BAG OMG. This is too much. I’m at “Feed The Birds” levels of emotion right now. If she’s holding a parrot-headed umbrella that we can’t see I’m going to cry.
Mary Poppins was my favorite movie as a child and I was initially skeptical about the idea of a new take—but the fantastic cast and the obvious care being put into the production give me hope. Director Rob Marshall (Chicago, Into the Woods, PoTC: On Stranger Tides) can be hit or miss for me, but the man clearly loves musicals, so we are now friends.
I saw Mary Poppins as an adult for the first time a few months ago, when Lin-Manuel Miranda was hosting a screening in New York (they surprised him on-stage by bringing out many dancing chimney sweeps). I still love the film, and was surprised at how radical it was in ways I never noticed before. Mrs. Banks’ suffragette song was once incomprehensible; watching it anew while Hillary Clinton ran for president made me want to strap a VOTES FOR WOMEN sash across my chest and march in the street.
While we have a long time to wait for Mary Poppins Returns (it’s slated for December 2018, ugh), it’s definitely worth revisiting Julie Andrews’ timeless turn if the sight of that carpet bag made you nostalgic.
(via Entertainment Weekly, images via Entertainment Weekly, Oh My Disney)
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