Showing posts with label Mary Poppins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mary Poppins. Show all posts

Monday, December 31, 2018

Mary Poppins Returns (2018) review

Colin Firth, Meryl Streep, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Emily Mortimer, Julie Walters, Ben Whishaw, and Emily Blunt in Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

Disney’s 1964 adaptation of P.L. Travers’ classic book series Mary Poppins is a film that needs no introduction. With a lovely visual style, iconic soundtrack by the Sherman brothers, and outstanding lead performances from Julie Andrews as the titular nanny and Dick Van Dyke as her lovable sidekick Bert, Mary Poppins is quite arguably the most beloved Disney film ever made. For starters, it achieved a studio record by earning 13 nominations at the 37th annual Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and ultimately won 5, with Andrews winning the Oscar for Best Actress. And with a total box-office gross of over $102 million achieved through its initial release and additional re-releases, it’s safe to say that this is a film that has continued to stand the test of time. One person who didn’t like the film, however, was P.L. Travers. As dramatized in the 2013 film Saving Mr. Banks, the film’s pre-production mostly consisted of disagreements between Travers and Walt Disney over changes that the latter and his team were making to her story. And because of all these creative conflicts, Travers forbid Disney from ever making a sequel… that is, until 2015, when the studio got the approval from Travers’ estate to do a sequel to the original classic. Under the direction of veteran filmmaker Rob Marshall, who’s no stranger to musicals having directed the 2002 Best Picture winner Chicago and Disney’s 2014 adaptation of the popular Broadway show Into the Woods, Mary Poppins Returns is not just a remake of the original Mary Poppins as many feared it would be when it was first announced. And while this new film does ultimately share quite a few things in common with its predecessor, it still comes together nicely for a truly heartwarming family flick.

It has been twenty-five years since Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt), the magical nanny who’s ‘practically perfect in every way’, came to the Banks family and changed their lives for the better. In the years since, Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw), who still lives at 17 Cherry Tree Lane, has started a family of his own with three kids, his daughter Annabel (Pixie Davies) and his two sons John (Nathanael Saleh) and Georgie (Joel Dawson). However, since the passing of his wife Kate one year prior, the family has been dealing with serious financial troubles which have only been made worse by the onslaught of the Great Depression. And to make matters worse, Michael is notified by his lawyers that he only has a few days to pay off the loan that he made after his wife’s passing or he and his family will be forced out of their home. To try and fix the problem, Michael and his sister Jane (Emily Mortimer) try to find the certificate that verifies their father’s shares at Fidelity Fiduciary Bank while Michael’s kids attempt to earn the money on their own accord. Luckily for all of them, Mary Poppins ends up coming back into the family’s lives, agreeing to look after Annabel, John, and Georgie while Michael and Jane deal with their current predicament. And just like their father and aunt before them, the new crop of Banks children discover the full extent of Mary Poppins’ magical abilities, which she uses with the help of a friendly lamplighter named Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda) to turn their luck around.

Now let me start by saying that, while I usually try not to directly agree with popular opinion, I will admit that I do concur with one of the most common points that are being brought up about this film in that it has quite a bit in common with its predecessor. The main plot isn’t that different from the original save for a more tension-filled climax and a more pronounced villain. Heck, even the songs in this film’s soundtrack have similar set-ups to the ones from the original, from a show-stopping dance number to lighten the mood like ‘Step in Time’ to an uplifting grand finale tune a la ‘Let’s Go Fly a Kite’. And yet, despite all this, the film does a great job of maintaining the heartwarming atmosphere of the original Mary Poppins without being a direct carbon copy of it. Even with a similar plot, this new film is on par with the original when it comes to having a strong sense of emotional depth throughout via the Banks family’s current gloomy predicament and how they overcome it with the help of Mary Poppins. This is then matched nicely with all the whimsical adventures that Mary and the Banks children go on, and just like the original, this film boasts a gorgeous visual style throughout right down to the inclusion of a sequence where the characters interact with traditionally-animated characters. As for the soundtrack, courtesy of Hairspray songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, it generally matches the Sherman brothers’ soundtrack for the original film in terms of how perfectly well- balanced it is. In other words, there are just as many great emotional melodies in this (e.g. a heart-wrenching solo for Michael, ‘A Conversation’, and Mary Poppins’ big solo ‘The Place Where Lost Things Go’) as there are grandiose show-tunes (e.g. ‘Trip a Little Light Fantastic’ which, as previously mentioned, is basically this film’s version of ‘Step in Time’).

Clearly, a lot of expectations were set upon this film given the pedigree of its predecessor, and perhaps no one felt this greater than Emily Blunt when it came to her taking on the role of Mary Poppins from Julie Andrews. Luckily for Blunt, her take on the whimsical English nanny is a wonderful performance that fully allows her to make the part her own. Specifically, she gets to go off Travers’ books a bit more by having her Mary be a bit snarkier with the Banks family. However, the compassion that she has for them, AKA the one thing that made Andrews’ take on the character vastly different from the books but iconic nevertheless, is still there, providing a unique balance between book and film. And just like Andrews did with Dick Van Dyke all those years ago, Blunt works wonderfully off Lin-Manuel Miranda as this film’s ‘Bert’, Jack the lamplighter. But just like Blunt, Miranda manages to make his character more than just a copy of his predecessor, whether it’s through an opportunity for Miranda to show off his freestyle roots or a sweet little romance that forms between him and Jane. Speaking of the Banks children, both Ben Whishaw and Emily Mortimer are excellent in their respective roles, with Whishaw getting some of the most understated emotional moments in the film and Mortimer making the most out of what is basically the equivalent of Glynis Johns’ role from the original as Winifred Banks. The new Banks children are great as well thanks in large part to the strong sibling camaraderie between them that is apparent right out the gate. Lastly, just like the original, this film features some highly memorable cameos throughout, including Meryl Streep as Mary’s eccentric cousin/fix-it shop owner Topsy and even the one and only Dick Van Dyke as Fidelity Fiduciary Bank chairman Mr. Dawes Jr., a nod to his secondary role in the original as Mr. Dawes Sr.  

In short, it’s true that the new Mary Poppins has quite a lot in common with the original classic. Not only does it have a near-similar plot to its predecessor, but even its new soundtrack mirrors the original in terms of both song placement and premise. As such, the inevitable argument regarding this film’s necessity continues to be in play, especially given Disney’s current trend of revitalizing some of their classic stories for a new generation. But to be clear, this is not just a ‘remake’ of the original Mary Poppins (believe me, if it was, then it would’ve been dead in the water as soon as it was announced given how intense the internet gets about stuff like this). Yes, it feels like the original in a lot of ways, but considering how great the original Mary Poppins truly is, this isn’t such a bad thing in this instance. Under the solid direction of Rob Marshall, this film nobly follows in the footsteps of its predecessor when it comes to achieving that perfect balance of thoroughly emotional family drama and whimsical fantasy. The soundtrack by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman is quite arguably on par with the Sherman brothers’ iconic soundtrack from the original and the film maintains the same great visual style of its predecessor. And with a terrific ensemble cast headlined by Emily Blunt’s phenomenal turn as Mary Poppins, Mary Poppins Returns is easily one of the most delightful films to come out in recent years. Admittedly, I can’t say that it’s ‘better’ than the original, but it’s still very much a worthy follow-up to one of the most beloved Disney films of all-time. And to be perfectly frank, in these dark times that we’re currently facing, this is exactly the kind of film that we need right now.


Rating: 5/5!

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Mary Poppins (1964) review

Mary Poppins (1964)

In 2023, Walt Disney Pictures will celebrate its 100th year of operation, and what a century it has been. Since 1923, Disney has produced a countless array of cinematic classics. Obviously, they’re mainly known for their animated features, from the original masterpieces like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio to more recent classics like Zootopia and Frozen. But, of course, Disney’s also produced several live-action films that have been huge hits with both critics and audiences. And in 1964, Walt Disney and his team produced what is arguably the most beloved Disney film of all-time (yes, even more so than any of their animated films…), Mary Poppins. This adaptation of author P.L. Travers’ popular book series was a longtime passion project for Walt Disney after promising his daughters Diane and Sharon that he would make a film about it. However, as generally documented in the 2013 drama Saving Mr. Banks, Disney’s efforts to convince Travers to sign off on the film rights didn’t exactly go smoothly. Specifically, Travers disapproved of many of the changes that Disney and his team made to the story, including an overall dilution of the title character’s strict attitude, the music by Bob and Richard Sherman, and most notably, the big animated sequence involving dancing penguins. Nevertheless, Disney’s vision for the film ultimately won out and it went onto become a staple of the studio’s prestigious filmography, winning five Oscars out of the 13 that it was nominated for (a studio record) at that year’s ceremony. However, because Travers was so disenchanted by her experience with the studio, she forbade them from making any more sequels, a decision that stood for at least five decades. But now, 54 years after the original came out, Emily Blunt will take on the role of the nanny who’s ‘practically perfect in every way’ in the long-gestating sequel, Mary Poppins Returns. Before the new film hits theaters, however, it’s time to finally look at the original that still stands as one of the greatest films ever made.

(FUN FACT: Back in 2016, I was originally planning on including this film as a bonus review in my retrospective of Walt Disney Animation’s output from the ’60s and ’70s mostly due to its prominent animated sequence. However, I ultimately decided not to include it because Returns was already in pre-production at that point and I figured that I’d just save this for when it came out. Plus, given this film’s legacy, a full review of it felt much more appropriate instead of a smaller 1-2 paragraph review in a larger retrospective.)

At the home of the Banks family on 17 Cherry Tree Lane, things are in quite a state of disarray. With their father George (David Tomlinson) fully committed to his job as a banker and their mother Winifred (Glynis Johns) spending most of her time with the suffragette movement of the 1910’s, siblings Jane (Karen Dotrice) and Michael (Matthew Garber) constantly get into trouble due to a lack of any proper supervision. When it gets to the point where the family must find a new nanny, the two kids request one that’s more nurturing than the ones they’ve had before despite Mr. Banks being fully intent on finding a stricter nanny who will keep the two of them in line. Soon enough, their new nanny arrives in the form of the elegant (and ‘practically perfect in every way’) Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews), who matches Jane and Michael’s demands for a kinder nanny while still promising Mr. Banks that she will be firm with them when needed. And as Jane and Michael soon discover, Mary Poppins has quite a few magical tricks up her sleeve (and in her carpetbag) to help straighten them out along with the aid of Bert (Dick Van Dyke), a friendly jack-of-all-trades who they frequently interact with. Along the way, Mary’s magic even begins to rub off on Mr. Banks, who learns to find a greater appreciation for his family.  

Mary Poppins is quite arguably the very definition of a masterpiece. Under the wonderful direction of Disney mainstay Robert Stevenson, every aspect of this film is excellently crafted. Despite the issues that Travers had with the changes that Walt and his team made to her book, the film never loses sight of the heart of its story; in other words, Mary Poppins’ efforts to help revitalize the Banks family’s lives, especially in terms of the relationship that Jane and Michael have with their father. After all, as it was observed in Saving Mr. Banks, this story is arguably more about the redemption of Mr. Banks than the delightful adventures that his kids go on with their new nanny. And while the film’s cheery atmosphere was one of the most notable bits of divergence from the novel, which went about things in a more bitingly sharp manner, it just ends up making this one of the most pleasant films ever made. For starters, there are the film’s wonderful visual effects, which saw Disney and co. do everything from stop-motion animation to the art of combining live-action elements with animation that they’d already been doing marvelously for years. And then, of course, there’s the amazing soundtrack by Bob and Richard Sherman that runs the full emotional gamut when it comes to its tunes. For cheerful songs, there’s the toe-tapping ‘Step in Time’, the delightfully energetic melody that introduced audiences to the one and only word that is ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’, and the uplifting final melody ‘Let’s Go Fly a Kite’, just to name a select few. But then these tunes are perfectly balanced with some great emotional songs that are perhaps best exemplified by ‘Feed the Birds’, which is widely touted as being one of Walt’s all-time favorite songs.

As noted earlier, one of the biggest changes to Travers’ original story came via the overall characterization of her title character. Instead of the strict, no-nonsense nanny that was seen in the books, the film’s interpretation of Mary Poppins has a much warmer personality as per Jane and Michael’s request. But in this instance, the change does ultimately work because she still manages to be stern with them when the situation requires it while never once coming off as unlikable. Plus, the film still retains one of the character’s most definitive traits from the book through her consistent refusals to explain any of the magical things she does. And, of course, Julie Andrews is phenomenal in the role, exuding nothing but full charm whenever she’s on-screen. She also works wonderfully with Dick Van Dyke as the lovable Bert, and while nowadays his role in the film is arguably known more for his ‘infamous’ attempt at a cockney accent, his commitment to the role and infectious enthusiasm more than make up for it. After that, there are a wide array of memorable performances from main cast members like Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber, who perfectly convey Jane and Michael’s childhood innocence, to memorable supporting players like Ed Wynn as the jovial Uncle Albert who loves to laugh. But to reference the ideas of Saving Mr. Banks one last time, arguably the biggest unsung hero of the cast is David Tomlinson, who handles Mr. Banks’ redemption arc with the utmost class.

Really, when it comes to this film, what more is there to say about it that hasn’t already been said by all the generations of people who have grown up with it and have then passed it on to their kids? Just like many of the early Disney animated classics like Snow White and Pinocchio, this is Walt Disney and his team at the top of their game, as they come together to craft a film that quite simply has it all. The film’s gorgeous visual style is strong throughout, Bob and Richard Sherman’s songs are catchy and iconic, and the film is stacked with outstanding performances headlined by the charismatic duo of Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. And overall, the film works incredibly well even when considering all the creative conflicts that Walt Disney and P.L. Travers had during pre-production about the changes that were being made to her story. Because while Travers, of course, wasn’t too happy with the final film due to all its deviations from the source material, she would later admit that she eventually warmed up to it as time went on despite it still not being the most ideal interpretation of her work. As noted earlier, perhaps the biggest difference from the book is the film’s overall tone, as it dials back on the book’s harsher elements to create a more light-hearted affair that’s very much in line with the kind of films that Disney has always been known to make. As such, there are some out there who feel that the film is perhaps a bit ‘too’ sweet, even by Disney standards. And yet, when you have a film like this that’s so well-made and is always a delight to watch year in and year out, it’s easy to see why Mary Poppins still stands as one of the most beloved films to come from the world of Disney.  

Rating: 5/5!


Sunday, December 22, 2013

Saving Mr. Banks (2013) review


It’s interesting to note that, in the years since his death in 1966, there haven’t been any films made that center around or feature Walt Disney. After all, he was the man responsible for some of the greatest animated films of all time and one of the biggest companies in the world is named after him. With credentials like that, it makes you wonder why there hasn’t been any attempt to do something along the lines of a biopic. But with this film, the man behind arguably the world’s most famous mouse finally makes his debut on the big screen, albeit through a portrayal by Tom Hanks instead of Disney himself. But Disney’s not exactly the star of this film. Instead, ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ is the tale of ‘Mary Poppins’ author P.L. Travers and her experiences working with Walt Disney during the production of the iconic film adaptation of the novel starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. It was the film that earned thirteen Oscar nominations and ultimately five wins and is considered to be one of Disney’s best films. However, as this film shows, the production didn’t really go as smooth as one might have expected but with the help of a talented cast and the proper focus, ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ ends up being one of the best films of the year.

In 1961, P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) travels to Los Angeles to meet with Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) so that they can discuss the development for the film adaptation of her novel, Mary Poppins. Travers, who has script approval rights, is concerned about Disney turning her beloved story into one of his ‘silly’ cartoons, although Walt assures her that he will do her story justice as he made a promise to his daughters years ago that he will make Mary Poppins ‘fly off the pages of the book’. Still, as pre-production begins, Travers remains very skeptical about the project, objecting to pretty much every decision made in bringing the story to the big screen by Walt, co-writer Don DaGradi (Bradley Whitford) and the Sherman Brothers (Jason Schwartzman (Richard) and B.J. Novak (Robert)). During this time, Travers also reflects on her childhood, when she was a little girl living in Australia in 1906. More specifically, she remembers her alcoholic but loving father Travers Robert Goff (Colin Farrell), who was her inspiration for the character of Robert Banks in the story.

While the film does take a little while to get going, it offers a very interesting look at the production of what is easily one of the most famous films of all time. Sure, it may have been a big hit both critically and commercially when it came out in 1964, but that doesn’t mean that P.L. Travers was happy about it. In fact, she was so angry about what Disney did to her story that she did not allow any future movies based on her stories to be made. As this film shows, there were multiple things that she was against, like the casting of Dick Van Dyke as Bert or having animation in the film via the dancing penguins. But in the end, most of her objections ended up being overruled by Disney who stated that he had final say. As one might expect from a film like this, it is a little dramatized (that ‘final say’ plot point I just mentioned isn’t in here) but it also allows us to see two well-renowned story tellers try to work together despite the fact that they each have different ideas about how the film should be made. I also like that this film did make Travers the main character instead of Disney himself. Don’t get me wrong, I would really like to see a biopic on Walt, but at its core, this story is about P.L. Travers, which I like especially considering that this is a Disney film. The filmmakers could have just made Walt the main character, but thankfully they decided to focus on Travers more. The scenes of her childhood in Australia are well-done and, at times, are rather heartbreaking (particularly this one scene that I don’t want to spoil that involves Travers and her father).

Emma Thompson is outstanding as Travers, conveying the author’s emotions with both skill and grace; her connection with ‘Mary Poppins’ feels real and you understand her hesitation, as I bet most authors would have whenever Hollywood adapts their stories to the big screen. Tom Hanks is just as excellent here. He may not exactly look like Walt Disney, but he succeeds at embodying the spirit and showmanship that Walt himself was known for. For the record, I know that some of you are wishing that they explore some of the more ‘controversial’ aspects about his life, like his supposed anti-Semitic views, but trust me, you won’t see that here (this is his studio we’re talking about here; I’m pretty sure they would not be too keen on doing something like that. They didn’t even want to show that Walt was a smoker.). The two leads work off each other very well and what’s also great about it is that the movie doesn’t try to dishonor either of them. There is obviously a lot more to this story than what we see in the film, but both of them are portrayed in a positive light. Of course, the rest of the cast is excellent as well; Colin Farrell in particular does some of the best work of his career as Travers’ father, who might be suffering from alcoholism but it’s clear that he really loves his daughter no matter what happens.

‘Saving Mr. Banks’, despite a rather slow opening, is easily one of the best films of the year. The tale of the production of ‘Mary Poppins’ is an interesting one, mainly because of some of the conflicting ideas between P.L. Travers and Walt Disney over how it should be made. But one of the great things about this film is that while it’s clear that these two are very different, both are portrayed in a positive way. I mean, considering that this is Disney, there might have been the possibility that the filmmakers would have just been supportive of Walt the whole way through and try to vilify Travers for not agreeing with his ideas, but thankfully they decided to have the story be about Travers, as it should be. A terrific cast certainly helps this film succeed, particularly from Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks, both of whom give extremely Oscar-worthy performances. Expect this film to be a key player in this year’s awards season race. I can’t say it’s the best film this year, but it’s extremely enjoyable nevertheless. Fans of the classic movie will no doubt be interested to see how it all came together.

Rating: 4/5