By Jessica Wedemeyer
8:43am PST, Dec 17, 2018
"Mary Poppins Returns" opens in theaters on Dec. 19, 2018. But how does it stack up against the original? Wonderwall.com is here to clue you in! Keep reading to check out all the ways the sequel — which is set 20 years later and is chock-full of parallels to the original — compares and contrasts to 1964's "Mary Poppins," starting with the obvious…
RELATED: A guide to the cast of "Mary Poppins Returns"
Julie Andrews stars as the title character in 1964's "Mary Poppins." She won an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for her work as "The Perfect Nanny," which includes singing the ballad "Stay Awake" to help the Banks children fall asleep.
RELATED: "Mary Poppins" cast: Where are they now?
Speaking of awards… "Mary Poppins" cleaned up during the 1965 Academy Awards. In addition to Julie Andrews' Oscar for best actress, the film won the awards for best editing, best special visual effects, best original song for "Chim Chim Cher-ee" and best original score. It also earned nominations for best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay, best cinematography, best art decoration-set decoration for a film in color, best costume design for a film in color, best sound and best adapted music. As for the Golden Globes, in addition to Julie's win for best actress, the film earned nominations for best comedy or musical film, best actor in a comedy or musical for Dick Van Dyke and best original score. It also won two Grammys: best original score for a movie or TV show and best recording for children.
It's too soon to say how many awards Emily Blunt and her co-workers will take home next year for "Mary Poppins Returns" — and Oscar nominations won't be announced until January 2019 — but the movie has already racked up a slew of major nominations, including four Golden Globes (best lead actress in a comedy or musical film for Emily, best lead actor in a comedy or musical film for Lin-Manuel Miranda, best original score and best comedy or musical film), nine Critics' Choice Awards (best picture, best actress, best actress in a comedy, best production design, best costume design, best visual effects, best song for "The Place Where Lost Things Go," best song for for "Trip a Little Light Fantastic" and best score), the SAG Award for best lead actress and four Annie Awards, which honor animated films.
Dick Van Dyke stars as Mary Poppins' pal, chimney sweep Bert, in 1964's "Mary Poppins." He earned a Golden Globe nomination for his efforts, which include leading the film's biggest song and dance number: "Step in Time." He also sings the movie's ode to working-class London, "Chim Chim Cher-ee."
Bert doesn't appear in "Mary Poppins Returns," so Lin-Manuel Miranda's Jack, a streetlamp lighter who worked with Bert when he was a boy, fills in as Mary Poppins' resident adult pal. Like Dick Van Dyke, he earned a Golden Globe nomination for his efforts, which include leading the film's biggest song and dance number: "Trip a Little Light Fantastic." This time, Mary and the Banks children dance their way through London with the city's streetlamp lighters rather than chimneysweeps. Jack also sings the movie's ode to working-class London, "(Underneath the) Lovely London Sky" — its version of "Chim Chim Cher-ee."
Dick Van Dyke didn't just portray Bert in 1964's "Mary Poppins." He also donned age makeup to portray Mr. Dawes Sr., the elderly director of the bank where Mr. Banks works. (The curmudgeon memorably dies from laughing at the end of the movie.) In "Mary Poppins Returns," Dick is back as Mr. Dawes Jr. (originally portrayed by Arthur Malet), the chairman of the bank where an adult Michael Banks now works, who's maintained a relationship with the Banks family over the years.
Which brings us to the Banks children… In 1964's "Mary Poppins," the title character looks after Matthew Garber's Michael and Karen Dotrice's Jane. (Karen has a very brief cameo in "Mary Poppins Returns.")
Karen Dotrice, who's now 63, actually has a very brief cameo in "Mary Poppins Returns," by the way! She's pictured here at the film's Los Angeles premiere on Nov. 29, 2018.
In "Mary Poppins Returns," which is set 20 years after "Mary Poppins," the title character is charged with looking after Michael's three children: Joel Dawson's Georgie, Pixie Davies' Annabel and Nathanael Saleh's John. (Jane, who develops a flirtation with Jack, is not married and does not have children in the sequel.)
In "Mary Poppins Returns," "Skyfall" actor Ben Whishaw is Michael Banks, an artist working as a bank teller and struggling to provide for his three children financially and emotionally in the wake of his wife's death. Aside from his job at the bank, Michael has little in common with his own father…
David Tomlinson portrayed George Banks, the stern and disciplined patriarch of the Banks family, in 1964's "Mary Poppins." While his big musical number, "The Life I Lead," is about how a British home needs tradition and rules, Michael's big number in "Mary Poppins Returns" is "A Conversation," a waterworks-inducing ode to his late wife.
Meanwhile, in "Mary Poppins Returns," "The Newsroom" actress Emily Mortimer is Jane Banks, who now works as a union organizer. Her vocation is actually a callback to the original "Mary Poppins"…
Activism clearly runs in the Banks family! In "Mary Poppins," Jane and Michael's mother, Winifred Banks, is a member of the Votes for Women suffragette movement. (She leads the first musical number in the film: "Sister Suffragette.") Here, she's pictured with the Banks family's housekeeper, Ellen (Hermione Baddeley).
Julie Walters takes over the role of Banks family housekeeper Ellen from Hermione Baddeley's in "Mary Poppins Returns."
While we're on the subject of housekeeping… In 1964's "Mary Poppins," Julie Andrews' Mary bonds with the Banks children by using her magic to help them clean their room while singing "A Spoonful of Sugar."
In "Mary Poppins Returns," Emily Blunt's Mary bonds with the three new Banks children by using her magic to help them wash up (and have an underwater adventure) while singing "Can You Imagine That?"
But that's not where Mary's magic ends… It's one of the most iconic moments in movie history: In 1964's "Mary Poppins," Julie Andrews' Mary uses her magic to transport Bert and the Banks children into a chalk drawing, where they sing "Jolly Holiday" and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" while accompanied by a menagerie of animated characters.
"Mary Poppins Returns" also has a partially animated sequence! But this time, Emily Blunt's Mary transports Jack and the Banks children into the images painted onto a porcelain bowl, where they sing "The Royal Doulton Music Hall" and "A Cover is Not the Book," the most fast-paced and playful song in the film — its version of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."
In 1964's "Mary Poppins," Julie Andrews' Mary takes Bert and the Banks children to visit her wacky Uncle Albert (Ed Wynn), who's afflicted with a condition that causes him to float to the ceiling when he laughs. While visiting, they sing "I Love to Laugh."
In "Mary Poppins Returns," Emily Blunt's Mary takes Jack and the Banks children to visit her Cousin Topsy (Meryl Streep), who fills in for Uncle Albert in the "wacky relative role." While Uncle Albert has a condition that makes him float to the ceiling when he laughs, Cousin Topsy's "whole world goes flippity flop" every second Wednesday of the month. She sings the song "Turning Turtle" — which is about going upside down — to explain her predicament.
