Movie Review: Mary Poppins Returns

Movie Review: Mary Poppins Returns                                                                          6-13-25

It has been 25 years since Mary Poppins arrived at Cherry Tree Lane to help open up the heart of overworking father George Banks. His children Jane and Michael are now adults struggling to keep their home during the Great Depression. If that isn’t hard enough, Michael is now a widowed father with three kids: Georgie, Annabelle, and John. In order to save their house, Jane and Michael need to search the house for their valuable deed. Meanwhile, Michael’s children discover Mary Poppins in the park as she takes the children on misadventures involving an ocean in the bathtub, a circus with anthropomorphic animals, and visiting an upside-down antique shop. Despite all this, William Wilkins, the new chairman of the local bank, doesn’t want the Banks to pay back their debt, and he’ll do whatever it does to take their home away.

Even though the story borrows lots of elements from the original, Mary Poppins Returns makes up for it with set and costume designs that recapture 1930s England perfectly, superb acting, enjoyable albeit familiar songs, a heartfelt tone that would make Roy E Disney proud, and visual effects that are just as amazing as the original.

Did I mention that Emily Blunt is perfect as Ms. Poppins?

Another thing to point out about this movie is that, for the first time since Looney Tunes: Back in Action, hand-drawn animation is blended with live-action perfectly, even if it is for just 14 minutes.

And if you're wondering, no. WDAS didn't do the 2D animation for Mary Poppins Returns: They were busy with Ralph Breaks the Internet.

If I were to make some nitpicks, as well as the movie never explaining what Jane does for work, I don’t like how Jack, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s character in the movie, doesn’t have the same amount of screen time as Mary. Jack is meant to replace Bert, Dick Van Dyke’s character in Mary Poppins. What made that movie special was not just Mary, but also Bert. Whether it was making up a song about whoever walks by, dancing with Toon penguins, or simply having a gas with Uncle Albert, Bert was just as lively as Ms. Poppins. If Dick lives to be a hundred this December, there should be a special screening of Mary Poppins, among other noteworthy films he was featured in, to celebrate.

Nether the less, I don’t know if Walt Disney would be proud of Mary Poppins Returns, but I believe Roy E Disney would.

Rating: 3.9 stars out of 5