Mary Poppins sequel - THOUGHTS

WHY?!...


If I had to choose one aspect that annoyed me when watching any particular film in recent years, it would be how Studios and especially Directors who go out of their own imaginative way, to pursue a film idea that was either a reboot of a somewhat older but popular film that everyone had already enjoyed, or a unnecessary sequel to a film that had already done well on it's own and never in the slightest, needed another story to follow on. Now don't get me wrong, there has been the odd occasion when these reboots or sequels tend to work and pay off like with Peter Jacksons 2005 film of King Kong (arguably) and with Brian De Palma's Scarface. Despite this however, it does anger and upset me when a well known film from way back when, is re-done in another film that honestly is worthless watching. It's imperative for the likes of Directors, Producers and especially the writers, to come up with a film that is original and separate from it's early counterpart. One big example of a studio doing this repeatedly in making lack-luster sequels even though they manage to get their money back, is of course Disney. Yes, back in the 90's, Disney in the animation world were the dominant force; making frequent animations nearly every year in that decade in 2-D whilst being revolutionary in 3-D animation with the likes of Toy Story and A Bug's Life. But let's not forget, what followed was a negative spiral of disappointing featurette's that honestly wouldn't be played at your typical children's birthday party. I mean, did anyone seriously watch the other Aladdin films after the first one? no I didn't think so. Yet still, this is Disney were talking about, and as I'm typing out this Blog Post, they pretty can do anything they want since in recent years they've been successful in the animation department once again and have the rights to Star Wars and Marvel. What better way for them then with all their wealth and power, to make a sequel to Mary Poppins which is arguably one of the biggest titles in film history.

According to Entertainment Weekly (EW), this live action sequel to the 1964 classic will be based on P.L. Travers' series of books and will take place 20 years after the first feature in the depression era, featuring a standalone narrative based on the remaining books in Travers' series. EW also reported that the film will be directed by Rob Marshall who directed the films of Chicago and Into The Woods in the past.
Who will take the role?...
According to bookmakers William Hill, Anne Hathaway is already favourite to land the lead role but does face some competition with the likes of Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, Carey Mulligan and Amy Adams vying the opportunity. Joe Crilly, spokesman for William Hill added that "Hollywood's leading ladies will all be vying for this role but giving her striking resemblance to Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway is the early favourite". The last tid-bit that EW reported was that Hairspray composers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman will write the the new songs for the sequel.

Now being that I'm a film student and I really shouldn't be pre-judging news that appeared a few days ago, it is big entertainment news when Mary Poppins is getting another film after 50 + odd years and is hard not to talk about it. If I'm totally honest with you all, there are mixed emotions and opinions that run through my head about this Poppins sequel. While I mainly think that this upcoming project could falter in a bad way being that it's a sequel to a film from 50 odd years ago and that long-awaited sequels/reboots don't particularly have a good track record in terms of cinematic quality, I do think that there is a silver-lining with this through the Director and the potential leading ladies who could take the role. Sure his work of Into the Woods wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but Rob Marshall's work of Chicago did earn some praise and looking at those particular works that I mentioned of his, they are works that certainly have a musical motif about them which I think would suit perfectly with this Poppins sequel. My problem with Into the Woods was that it was a film that focused on several different characters which affected the musical performances. Marshall I think going into Poppins can be a good move since he can only focus on the one character rather than several others, and he already has a somewhat 'good' relationship with Disney already. As for the leading ladies, sure enough it is going to be hard to pick out the names that I've just mentioned. However, I think for the sake of this project being successful with it's musical numbers, then I would personally go for Emily Blunt to command the role. Blunt is an actress who has already worked with Marshall in the recent past with Into the Woods which provides the good chemistry and the fact that she also looks vaguely similar to Julie Andrews than Anne Hathaway does. Trying to be patriotic though by siding with a British lady, all of the options for the leading role are good and it will be a tough decision. Anna Kendrick is also a good shout due to her music experience with not only with Marshall, but also in Pitch Perfect. As much as I like the actress and the work that she has already done, I think casting Carey Mulligan wouldn't be the best choice since she doesn't have much music experience. Although, she does definitely have the posh accent to pull the performance off. My biggest gripe that I have with this project, despite just praising it just now, is why didn't Disney do the sequel to Mary Poppins all those years ago? Surely, it would have made more sense for Disney to release a sequel to Poppins near the time of the original film rather than now. I guess one issue could have been the wishes of the author from forbidding Walt Disney to do another one. Looking at it at a slightly different way as well, you can't really blame Disney I guess if they wanted to do another film now since they are propelling themselves into a positive spiral with the recent successes they've had in the animation front. The doubt still remains however as to the fact that, can Marshall re-create that classic magic that the original film had whilst also adopting things that are new and that work? I think at this moment in time, every film fan has their concerns and worries, but I guess we'll have to see. At least for the better, I hope I'm wrong and that the sequel does offer something new and nostalgic.

Right, and on that note, it's time to end as I could have gone on and on with this for all eternity. As always, thank you for all those who have read my recent Film News piece on the Mary Poppins sequel news. What would be great to see are YOUR views on this matter and whether you like the idea of this sequel or not. It's certainly a topic that has already gotten a few film theorists and critics talking. Like with most of my Film News Posts, if anything new news pops up regarding this Mary Poppins sequel, then I will let you guys know as soon as I can get to it. Once again, thank you to everyone for reading this latest Post. CHEERIO!!!

Alex Rabbitte.





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