Disney Are Making A New ‘Mary Poppins’ Film, Set 20 Years After The Original

Disney are planning to make a new Mary Poppins film. The upcoming film will not be a remake of the much beloved original but will take place 20 years later when the magical nanny has a new set of children to take care of. Like the original, the film will be set in London.

Julie Andrews starred in the original Mary Poppins. Photographed here at the 2015 TCM Classic Film Festival in L.A. in March 2015.

Rob Marshall, the director who recently took on Into the Woods for Disney, is set to direct the new film. As Variety reports, two other members of the Into the Woods team are also involved in the Mary Poppins film: John DeLuca and Marc Platt will be producing.

The original Mary Poppins was released in 1964. It starred Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins and Dick Van Dyke as Bert the Chimney Sweep (and Mr. Dawes Sr.). The film included such classic songs as ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’ and ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’. Set just before the First World War, Mary Poppins centres on a magical nanny who comes to care for two children who are unhappy as their father, Mr. Banks, is effectively workaholic and their mother remains distant and (in the film) campaigning for votes for women.

Mary Poppins remains a much loved film for children of all ages. Interest in the film has remained high over the course of the last four decades. Most recently attention has been drawn to the author of the books on which the film is based, P.L. Travers, with the release of the film Saving Mr. Banks in 2013.

According to reports, the upcoming film will use storylines with Travers’ children’s books. Travers’ books centre entirely on the Banks household but it is uncertain if the upcoming film will feature the Banks family (perhaps when the Banks children have children of their own) or if she will visit a new family.

Disney have been looking back at their archive for ideas for ‘new’ films. Their latest drive appears to be towards live-action remakes of such classic animations as Beauty and the Beast, Pinocchio and The Jungle Book. The success of live-action remakes of Maleficent, Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella appears to be the motivation behind Disney’s decision to revamp some of our old favourites and, over the next few years, they’ll come in quick succession. The first in the wave of the live-action remakes will be The Jungle Book, starring Scarlett Johannsson, Lupita Nyong’o and Bill Murray. The film is due to be released in April 2016.

Watch Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins Singing ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’: