Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down…
You totally sang that line, didn’t you?In case you’re one of the few people who have no idea who the world’s favourite nanny is, that line came from none other than the iconic character with eccentric supernatural abilities - Mary Poppins!
Fun Fact #1: Did you know that it has been more than 50 years since the original Mary Poppins movie?
After it first hit theatres in 1964, the film smashed records, became one of the most cherished pictures of all time and taught us the word “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”.
Fun Fact #2: Did you know that “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” is actually a real word in the Oxford Dictionary?
Thanks to the magical story starring the amazing Julie Andrews, many of us dreamed of having a nanny who has the ability to fly through the clouds, a bag that never run out of space and a voice that knocks every Broadway musical actress out of their game.
It has been decades since Mary Poppins and the Banks family burst into the scene and they have remained in our hearts ever since.
But guess what?
She’s coming back!
Mary Poppins Returns is currently in the works and it is well on its way to becoming one of the most high-profile sequels ever produced.
The original Mary Poppins was based on the first two books by P.L. Travers which tells the story of how the nanny united a father and his two children simply with a dash of magic.
There were six more volumes to the story written by Travers with more characters and magical plots waiting to be translated into film.
And that’s exactly what Disney is doing.
Mary Poppins Returns, directed by Rob Marshall from Into the Woods, is set 25 years after the first film when London was experiencing a mid-1930s economic slump.
Picking up from the film’s perfect legacy, creators of the sequel sure have big shoes to fill.
“The bar is so high for this,” Marshall told Entertainment Weekly.
“But to be able to walk in the footsteps of this beautiful story about a woman who brings magic to this family that’s looking for wonder and hope and joy in their lives… I feel a great responsibility and reverence every day. We all feel it. We’re just lifting it up to get there with the right intentions behind it.”
The filmmakers are devoted to staying true to the original classic as much as possible while still creating a fresh new family musical at the same time.
But the most important question is, who’s going to play the new Mary Poppins?
The elegant and peculiar nanny will be played by Emily Blunt who has been a lifelong fan of the story.
She actually got the blessings from Julie Andrews herself to play the character long before the production began! If only we get to see Andrews in the new film as well.
Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton musical fame will play Jack, a lamplighter who is the former apprentice of Dick Van Dyke’s beloved chimney sweep character, Bert.
We don’t know about you but we're supercalifragilisticexpialidocious-ly excited to see the return of Mary Poppins and the Banks family at Number 17 Cherry Tree Lane!
Mary Poppins Returns hits cinemas in December 2018.