Mary Poppins Returns to Our Hearts

Nothing’s ever gone, only out of place. Or, in other words, the world never lost its most magical nanny – she’s just been waiting for us to need her again. Granted, it’s not so much that we “needed” her as “Emily Blunt was finally available for the sequel,” but the point stands. It’s been more than sixty years since we last watched Mary Poppins float down from the sky, and at one time, it was hard to imagine that we’d ever see her magic duplicated. I mean sure, there was a Broadway show, but it wasn’t the same as Julie Andrews singing to a robin and Dick Van Dyke dancing with animated penguins. There is also the elephant in the room currently being stuffed full of remakes and adaptations – just because you loved something as a child doesn’t mean that you’ll love it when you are grown up. So it is possible to love the new story of Mary Poppins as much as you loved the original? I think it is, not because the filmmakers know how to tug at your nostalgia strings (though trust me, they know how to do that too), but because like the original, Blunt’s Mary Poppins brings us the same magic and joy, which we could all use a little more of in our lives.