I NEVER thought I would see Mary Poppins again.”
Those were the words of Michael and Jane Banks, but they were also my words when the film about the return of the most magical (and that is not saying much) nanny in the world started to play onscreen.
I was in grade school when I first watched Mary Poppins. There were no movie guides then. I doubt if parents were conscious about what we watched and what we should not watch. If there were rules, they were a bit muddled and not clear to our child’s mind. Perhaps, there were some rules: I remember now how I was not allowed to go with my aunt to watch Moment to Moment with Jean Seberg. But I was already in high school then.
I recall Mary Poppins was shown in this art-deco moviehouse called Alex Theatre in Naga City. Owned by the Bicharas, the movie house was dedicated to screening films on gladiators and strong heroes, like Hercules, Maciste, etc. However violent those films were, they were, I believe, deemed good for children, as they taught heroism and evil deeds separated clearly in black and white. Now, what was more appropriate for children and young viewers than a story about a nanny, the perfect one with a perfect voice no less!
Musicals were not new in our dear old city. But I did not know Julie Andrews then. I do not know if the parents who went to see Mary Poppins were aware of this actress, too. It was in 1966 or 1967—a full year or two years after its release in the US—when The Sound of Music came to our city. That was the film that made us all aware of this Julie Andrews.
As Julie Andrews sang her way perfectly to our memories, Mary Poppins and “Maria” became part of our lovely collective memory.
It was therefore with much trepidation when I learned about the release of Mary Poppins Returns. The prognostic in me worried how that film would be a failure; the sentimental in me got anxious at the thought that my memory would be robbed of its golden quality—with this film turning out be a dismal failure compared to the original. And then I looked again: it is Mary Poppins returning. This is not a remake but a sequel.
The film will dare to tell us what happened when Mary Poppins returned to the life of the two Banks children. But more than that, the film and its story will dare tamper with our dearest memory. It is easy to do the first; it is murder to accomplish the second.
And so there I was, with the strongest desire not to like the film. Some 20 minutes or so into the film, I found myself, however, in a fixed happy grin. I was liking the film. I was not hating Emily Blunt. I was loving her the way I loved the notion of a nanny whose psychosis was in creating magic and enchantment in one’s childhood.
There was no time to wallow in tropes and metaphors. The film was charming and it did not demand unconditional love. The setting is the mid 1930s. Michael, the boy in the first Mary Poppins, lives alone with his three children—Annabel, John and Georgie—and a nanny. His sister Jane helps him raise the children. Michael has borrowed a loan from the Fidelity Fiduciary Bank. And the film opens with two representatives of the bank telling Michael that if he is not able to settle the debt within Friday, till midnight of that day, then he will lose his home. Michael looks for a way out of the debt. In the end, of course, Michael and his children will not leave their home.
It is Mary Poppins who will leave again as she left the Banks children in the first story.
But I really did not care about the meanness of the bank and the debt and the future sufferings of Michael. I was caring about the songs and the persons who will play Mary Poppins and the lamplighter.
If there was one unforgettable character in the original Mary Poppins (other than Mary), it was the lamplighter and chimney sweeper. Played by Dick van Dyke, Bert was this character who was lovable because he seemed to be the key to the person of Mary Poppins. Bert could stand to Mary Poppins and her charm. But Bert was also this man who sang “Chim Chim Cher-ee” with such unexpected poignancy. But if we are ready to forget for awhile the actress who played Mary Poppins, then we are also disposed to embrace the apprentice of Bert. In the person of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jack, the lamplighter, gets to sing and swing to the sharp music of the new narrative. Miranda’s Jack has the face of a dreamboat, the ease of one who sees the bright side of things always. In the voice of Miranda, Jack soars with the songs not about chimneys but about skies and hope.
For people asking who is this Jack, then documents available online will tell us of a great actor, playwright and composer and many more noted for his works In the Heights and Hamilton. At a young age, he was recognized in 2018 in The Kennedy Center Honors plum.
Directed by Rob Marshall, Mary Poppins Returns surprises us with wonderful cameos of Angela Lansbury and Dick van Dyke himself playing the owner of Fidelity Fiduciary Bank. A showstopper is the song sung by Mary Poppins’ cousin, Topsy, played by a flamboyant and totally engaging Meryl Streep.
But where Mary Poppins Returns is expected to fail, it rises full to the occasion with the actress brave enough to step into the huge, gilded, royal shoes of Julie Andrews. Emily Blunt may not have the legendary four-octave range of Dame Andrews, but she surely has the voice, the drama to hold that voice, and the ability to sing and act the role that we thought will never be played again. At certain points, Emily Blunt’s voice and inflection remind us of Julie Andrews in her prime, with a speaking voice that was interchangeable with the singing voice. Emily Blunt, like Julie Andrews, could talk and make it sound as if she is singing.
Time will tell whether the songs sung by Emily Blunt and the other characters in the film will last for many decades. What we are certain right now, as the songs still echo in our ears and hearts, that the songs were the right songs to carry the new story. We also know that the dance are so updated, we feel the young audience will understand the story better. Forget nostalgia for that will appeal to the older generations. Think of myths and remember we get to know them in different forms in altered media. There is hope in this world for stories about hope and goodness, and about women who fly using only umbrellas into our dreams and our childhood. Mary Poppins hopes we never forget the good we learned as small children. That is one spoonful of advice that can go down in the most delightful way anytime, anywhere.