She flies in with her umbrella, points out your poor etiquette and gets your kids in line. No, we’re not talking about Belkys, though that does sound like her. We’re talking about Miss Mary Poppins. Deco’s nanny with an umbrella who cannot sign, Chris Van Vliet, is here with the story.
The original “Mary Poppins” came out in 1964, and while it’s been 54 years since we last saw her, it seems that not much has changed. I picked out my finest umbrella and flew to New York City to talk to the cast of “Mary Poppins Returns.”
Ben Whishaw (as Michael Banks): “Mary…”
Emily Mortimer (as Jane Banks): “Poppins. You came back.”
Emily Blunt fills the shoes as the umbrella-flying nanny, Mary Poppins, a role that when she got it, had her feeling like…
Emily Blunt: “I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ Like it was just so exciting and flattering and thrilling and scary.”
Ben Whishaw (as Michael Banks): “It is wonderful to see you again.”
Emily Blunt (as Mary Poppins): “Yes it is, isn’t it?”
The movie is centered around the Banks family, the same family from the original movie, but it’s years later now and Michael has three kids of his own. He’s also fallen on tough times — his house will be repossessed in five days unless he can pay back a loan. Mary Poppins arrives to save the day and take everyone on a fun-filled adventure as only she can.
Chris Van Vliet: “If you’re describing Mary Poppins to someone for the first time, how do you do it? She can fly, she can somehow do magic, is she an alien?”
Emily Mortimer: “Or a witch or an angel. Any of the above or God.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda plays a singing lamp lighter named Jack.
Lin-Manuel Miranda: “Which is a now extinct job, which was to light the lamps and turn them off in the morning.”
Chris Van Vliet: “Which you’ve done here.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda: “Yeah, this is my little tiny reminder of what I did in the movie.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda (as Jack): “It’s a good thing you came along when you did, Mary Poppins.”
Chris Van Vliet: “I love how in the film it’s always Mary Poppins, it’s never Mary or Miss Poppins.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda: “Mary Poppins.”
Chris Van Vliet: “In your life, who calls you Lin-Manuel Miranda?”
Lin-Manuel Miranda: “Oh that’s a good question. My parents when they’re mad at me, and I think that’s it. Everyone else is either Lin or Lin-Manuel.”
The movie is a direct sequel to the first one and has all of the singing and magic you’d want.
Emily Blunt: “Such a throwback to those old movies where you don’t have a lot of CGI. I think we barely had any green screen except for the animation sequence.”
Emily Blunt (singing as Mary Poppins): “Nothing’s gone forever, only out of place.”
Chris Van Vliet: “Why is it time for Mary Poppins to return now?”
Emily Mortimer: “I just think that there is never a time when we don’t need Mary Poppins, especially as grown ups because this film in a way is about how grown ups need her just as much as children, if not more.”
A little fun fact for you: the original “Mary Poppins” was nominated for 13 Oscars and won five. It was also the only Disney movie to be nominated for Best Picture while Walt Disney was alive.
“Mary Poppins Returns” is out in theaters now.
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