Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Mary Poppins Returns Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 15, 2019

Everything is possible, even the impossible.

Mary Poppins Returns has almost as much in common with Christopher Robin as it does its namesake, 1964's beloved classic Mary Poppins. Both Mary Poppins Returns and Christopher Robin deal with the idea that it's never too late to regain that childhood enthusiasm for discovery, that vivid imagination, the carefree approach to life. Neither film espouses shunning responsibility, but they do advocate finding balance between work and play. Christopher Robin did it better, more dramatically, more sincerely, while Mary Poppins Returns offers a more playful and musically inclined take on the idea. Poppins, here portrayed by Emily Blunt who capably stands in Julie Andrews' shoes, opens a new world to the Banks family and the new generation of children she nannies. The film works remarkably well 50+ years after the original, though obviously not quite that much time has passed in-film.

Mary Poppins Returns.

It's been a quarter-century since Jane and Michael Banks (Emily Mortimer and Ben Whishaw) first, and last, encountered super-nanny Mary Poppins. The Banks family is still living at 17 Cherry Tree Lane, but Michael is now a grown man and the father of three children: Annabel (Pixie Davies), John (Nathanael Saleh), and Georgie (Joel Dawson). Michael’s wife and the mother of his children passed away a year ago. Jane has stepped in to help, but the siblings are in desperate need of guidance and a return to the carefree childhood the deserve to experience and enjoy. Meanwhile, Michael is set to lose his house to the bank, which has demanded he repay a loan he cannot afford in only one week’s time. When Mary Poppins surprisingly returns to the family’s life, it slowly becomes clear that she has returned not just for the sake of the children but also for Michael and Jane, who are in desperate need of recommitting to loving life rather than slumping through its hardships. Through several adventures that mirror those from the original film, Mary Poppins, the children, and a lamplighter named Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda) set out to help Michael find a way to save the family home from repossession while they all learn to embrace their inner child.

The magic of Mary Poppins may manifest in (this film's) reality, but it’s rooted in the imagination. The Banks children begin the movie as “little adults,” discussing ways to save money at the market by buying day-old bread and dealing with a plumbing crisis at the house. But when Mary Poppins enters the picture and the children enter a magical portal to an underwater world by way of the bathtub, things begin to change. It quickly becomes apparent that Poppins hasn’t arrived solely to care for the children’s physical needs but also, and more importantly, to help them rediscover their imaginations and become “children” once more. In essence, Poppins wants them to act their age. Emily Blunt rediscovers the character’s personality in a nearly perfect portrayal. It’s not a mirror image of the Julie Andrews take on the character, though; Blunt doesn’t make Poppins entirely her own, but she does find the look and spirit and timelessness remarkably well. The young actors who portray the Banks children are also well cast and behave as believable siblings who go with the flow on a remarkable journey into rediscovering their childlike wonder. Lin-Manuel Miranda carries the film forward as Jack the lamplighter and in many ways mirrors Dick Van Dyke’s performance of Bert from the original film while also shaping the character into a unique individual (Van Dyke also makes a wonderful cameo late in the film).

The sets and costumes have been carefully created and bring a seemingly authentic recreation of 1930s London to the screen. But the film is obviously about far more than its setting. Fans of the original Mary Poppins will note many tributes to the original film, from subtle cues to large-scale recreations of key places from the classic original. The animated sequence is a particular highlight. While it is in many ways a familiar sight, it’s also, at the same time, its own creation with its own experiences for the characters, and the audience. The scene springs to life by way of both costuming and animation and plenty of good cheer on the screen. Exterior views of the famous 17 Cherry Tree Lane location, and the admiral's house next door, are remarkably well done. Practical sets with CGI support are seamlessly assembled and presented, while many of the film’s more magical and whimsical moments, whether a journey down into a bathtub or characters floating away while holding on to a balloon, seamlessly grab the audience. This is the very definition of “movie magic.”

Mary Poppins Returns Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mary Poppins Returns begins on dreary London streets where shades of blue and gray dominate with only a hint of desaturated color peeking in, notably Jack's red vest. Texturally, the scene is proficient, revealing a well-rounded overview of a wet and overcast London at street level, showcasing damp pavement, brick storefronts, clothes, and faces with stable, reliable textural definition. Detailing remains of a high, but not exemplary, quality throughout. Viewers will note a firm and steady command of core elements, such as various examples of attire that reveal complex fabric definition and density with relative ease. Facial close-ups showcase fine elements such as pores and scruff with suitable definition, while several key environments, such as the well-lit but relatively warm Banks home interiors, exhibit various furnishings with crisply defined ease. The animated world is handled well in terms of color output and textural stability. Lines are clean and definition soars here, while the pastel colors jump off the screen with impressive saturation and nuance. Colors in the real world, after that dreary open, find a more stabilized appearance, offering good, neutral contrast. Clothes are the most immediately obvious beneficiary, but skin tones are flush and healthy, too. Black level depth is strong. The image does hold on to some inherent source noise but other encode or source artifacts are of no worry. This is not the most dynamic image in the world, but it's a good, stable, and steady 1080p presentation on all fronts that is bested by the companion UHD in all areas of concern.

Mary Poppins Returns Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mary Poppins Returns' DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack requires the now obligatory volume increase from calibrated reference listening levels. The track is fine, for the most part, thereafter, offering its various components in enjoyably robust and detailed working order. Surrounds are engaged with frequency, whether supporting music or effects, such as a stage-enveloping swirl of sound when the characters are pulled into an animated realm in chapter seven. Musical clarity is terrific. Beyond the well integrated and balanced front and back immersion, instrumental notes are clear and accurate while lyrics are folded in with perfectly placed and prioritized definition. The subwoofer offers some complimentary depth to various elements. It's not dominant in most any scene, but canon fire offers a healthy wallop and the resultant shaking and creaking inside the Banks house heard after the first shot makes for a fun little sonic stretch that combines the best of the subwoofer output with the finest surround immersion the track has to offer. Dialogue clarity is consistently strong with natural front-center positioning and seamless prioritization throughout the film.

Mary Poppins Returns Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Mary Poppins Returns contains a healthy allotment of extra content. A DVD copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with purchase. This release ships with an embossed slipcover. Note that a commentary track with Director Rob Marshall and Producer John DeLuca is available, but only with the digital version.

• Sing-Along Mode: Lyrics appear-on-screen during film playback. Accessible only when selecting the "Play" option from the main menu.
• Back to Cherry Tree Lane: Dick Van Dyke Returns (1080p, 5:22): Cast and crew discuss the impact of Dick Van Dyke's appearance in the film and how it shaped the production by returning an original cast member to the set.
• Practically Perfect Bloopers (1080p, 1:57): Humorous moments from the shoot.
• "Seeing Things from a Different Point of View": The Musical Numbers of Mary Poppins Returns (1080p): A collection of making-of shorts that focus on several of the film's musical numbers.
  
  
  • "Trip A Little Light Fantastic" (3:56): Cast and crew discuss the song's importance to the film, how the choreography developed as an homage to the original film, and how the cast exceeded expectations in the routine.
  • "The Royal Douton Music Hall"/"A Cover Is Not the Book" (7:05): Cast and crew discuss the fun and challenges of filming live-action sequences that show up in the animated world. The piece also explores green screen usage, costumes, and the type of historical musical numbers the filmmakers and music writers were trying to evoke with this song and dance routine.
  • "Turning Turtle" (3:01): This piece explores set design for the Topsy Turvy sequence and how the musical number came together.
  • "Can You Imagine That?" (4:03): A look at creating the magical sequence in the bathtub, including the slide used to move the characters into the underwater world, the rigging used to green screen the scene before the CGI was added, and the magic created by the sequence.
• Deleted Song - "The Anthropomorphic Zoo" (1080p, 5:04): From the disc: "The following sequence is an early concept for 'The Anthropomorphic Zoo,' a song that would have been placed where 'The Royal Douton Mucsic Hall' now appears. Please enjoy this demo recording, sung by songwriter Marc Shaiman and edited to rough story sketches."
• The Practically Perfect Making of Mary Poppins Returns (1080p, 23:38 total runtime): A four-part feature.
  
  
  • Introduction: Cast and crew discuss the timelessness of the original Mary Poppins and the challenges they faced in recreating the magic of the original film. Also discussed are choreography and filming a Broadway style musical.
  • "Underneath the Lovely London Sky": Discussions include recreating the set from the original film, the awe the actors felt while performing in a film they watched as children, and creating a new character for Mary Poppins based more on the books than Julie Andrews' classic performance.
  • "Can You Imagine That?": A closer look at Director Rob Marshall's contributions: the team he assembled, how he brought the musical film to life, filming various scenes (including Mary Poppins' introduction), and how the music came together as a defining characteristic in the film.
  • "Nowhere To Go But Up": This supplement highlights Angela Lansbury and Dick Van Dyke's work and impact on the film. It also explores the picture's theme: remembering the magic of childhood.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Included are Leaving Topsy's (0:55) and "Trip A Little Light Fantastic" (0:48).

Mary Poppins Returns Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's not an accident that the film's climactic finale involves manipulating time. That's the central idea here, both in terms of returning the children to childhood and the adults towards the whimsies and wonders of their youths. It's also about crafting a movie that is very much on point in its loving return to the simpler times when Mary Poppins dazzled audiences so many decades ago, finding an appropriate balance between respecting the original source and style and making this movie on its own terms. It's a very good return to a beloved world, and it is hands-down the best sequel ever made that's been 50-some years in the making. Disney's Blu-ray delivers a well-rounded package, offering solid video and audio presentations to go with a healthy allotment of bonus content. It's a shame that the commentary track is a digital exclusive, though. Highly recommended.