Mary Poppins

I love the movie "Mary Poppins". I love the movie "Mary Poppins Returns". I was a little surprised, because I was ready to be disappointed in the sequel. I figured they would have to make it edgy in some way. The musical numbers would include rap music - That kind of thing. And I also figured the new Mary would be a poor comparison to Julie Andrews. Turns out, they're both great.

I was a little surprised how much the sequel was like the original. On the down side they were kind of the same - if that kind of thing bugs you. Scenes, characters, story lines got duplicated. You pretty much knew where things were going. However, that was fine with me.

I'll tell what it wasn't like - The Mary Poppins books. She was a lot harsher. The books were written by a P.L. Travers. She was no prize herself. They made a movie about her and how Walt Disney tried to get the movie rights from her. Pretty much nothing pleased her. I think she liked Julie alright, but who wouldn't like Julie Andrews. It had Tom Hanks as Walt, which I thought would be laughably weird, but Tom did a nice job.

I have the book. I flipped through it and found this example:

"You'll never leave us will you?", he called anxiously. Mary Poppins's head came out of the top of the nightgown. She looked very fierce. "One word more from that direction," she said threateningly, "and I'll call the Policeman." Whoa. Ease up Mary. It was just a question. Movie Mary wouldn't say stuff like that.

Reading the book is interesting. In fact, Travers wrote four Mary Poppins books. They're hard to find. I've seen it one time in a bookstore and I bought it. It seems like they would try selling the book now that there is a movie out. Maybe they didn't want to frighten the children. Anyway, it is interesting to read if you are a fan. Just don't expect the very same Mary as in the movies.