Mary Poppins Returns: Release Date, Cast And London Locations Of The New Mary Poppins Film

Laura Reynolds
By Laura Reynolds Last edited 75 months ago

Looks like this article is a bit old. Be aware that information may have changed since it was published.

Last Updated 24 September 2018

Mary Poppins Returns: Release Date, Cast And London Locations Of The New Mary Poppins Film

In winter 2018, we're taking a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious trip back to Cherry Tree Lane, as Disney releases a new live action Mary Poppins film. Here's everything you need to know about Mary Poppins Returns, including when it's in cinemas, and which famous faces bagged a role (conversely, here's what you shouldn't expect from the film). This article contains minor spoilers.

Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins Returns
Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins Returns

Cast: who's in the new Mary Poppins film?

Good news, Dick Van Dyke's back for Mary Poppins Returns — but don't expect him to be cavorting on London's chimneys this time round (the man's 92, for goodness sake). He's billed as playing "Mr Dawes Jr", who we can only guess is the son of Mr Dawes Sr, the director of the bank where Jane and Michael's father works in the original 1964 film (a role which Van Dyke also played, under the anagram pseudonym Nackvid Keyd).

Van Dyke's the only original cast member to appear in this new film.

Emily Blunt in Mary Poppins Returns

Emily Blunt, known for The Girl On The Train and The Devil Wears Prada, takes up Julie Andrews' mantel and plays the eponymous, umbrella-wielding, sugar-shovelling matriarch.

Emily Mortimer plays a grown-up Jane Banks, with Ben Wishaw — known for voicing Paddington — playing her brother, Michael Banks.

Other notable cast members in the new Mary Poppins film include Angela Lansbury (as the Balloon Lady), Meryl Streep (playing Mary's cousin, Topsy), Julie Walters as Michael Banks's housekeeper Ellen, and Colin Firth as William Weatherall Wilkins, the current president of Fidelity Fiduciary Bank.

So, just a few famous faces then.

When is Mary Poppins Returns released in the UK?

Disney logo in London new Mary Poppins film
The Disney logo has been transplanted to London for the trailer of Mary Poppins Returns

Mary Poppins Returns has a UK release date of 21 December 2018 — just in time for the Christmas holidays. Americans get it a couple of days before that, with a projected release date of 19 December 2018.

Was Mary Poppins 2 filmed in London? Where are the filming locations?

Posters used on the set of the film at the London Bus Museum
Posters used on the set of the film at the London Bus Museum

While much of the film has been shot in studios (Shepperton and Pinewood), some scenes were filmed on the streets of London. The area around Bank and Threadneedle Street appears in the film, as does Constitution Hill near Buckingham Palace.

In fact, when we visited the London Bus Museum in summer 2017, one of its vintage vehicles had just returned from use on the set of Mary Poppins Returns, and was still covered in fake 1930s posters — and fake mud, used to emulate a wet day in 1930s London.

Whether these are just cursory crowd-pleasing shots, or lengthy, developed scenes filmed on London's streets remains to be seen.

What's the 2018 Mary Poppins film about? Is there a trailer?

Teaser trailer of Mary Poppins Returns
The teaser trailer opens in London, Find out more about that odd-looking house here.

Disney was tight-lipped about the plot, releasing only the briefest of teaser trailers. What we do know is that it's set 25 years after the first film, in 1930s London with Mary's young charges Jane and Michael Banks now grown ups themselves.

Michael is a father to three children, and still lives in the house on Cherry Tree Lane with his offspring, and a housekeeper. At the time of the film, a personal tragedy has befallen him — *SPOILER ALERT* it's believed that this tragedy is the death of his wife.

Until mid-September that is, when a full trailer was released, giving us a bit more of a look at what to expect. As the fully-grown Michael Banks observes (earning him a sharp telling off), Mary Poppins doesn't seem to have aged a day.

It seems Burt the chimney sweep has been ousted as Mary's sidekick in favour of Jack, a street lamplighter, played by Lin Manuel-Miranda, creator of Hamilton the Musical.

What happened to the cast of the original Mary Poppins film?

Julie Andrews, now aged 82, has had a long career since Mary Poppins, not least through her role in The Sound of Music two years later.

Dick Van Dyke too appeared in many other films and TV shows, including Poppins spin-off Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, winning five Emmys, a TONY and a Grammy to date, not to mention a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Mary Poppins original cast.

Karen Dotrice, who played Jane Banks at the age of 9, retired from showbiz in the 1980s, with Mary Poppins still the biggest role to her name. Sadly, Michael Garber, who played her on screen brother Michael Banks, died at the age of 21 of pancreatitis.

How to get ready for Mary Poppins 2 in London

Watch the 1964 film, obviously. We also recommend watching Saving Mr Banks, a film in which Emma Thompson plays P.L. Travers, the author responsible for Mary Poppins, and her negotiations with Disney over film rights.

Here in London, there are two Mary Poppins themed afternoon teas going on at the moment. Kona serves us its delights — including Mary's hat, and a cake shaped like an umbrella, on a working carousel.

There's also a second Mary Poppins afternoon tea at Aqua Shard.

You could also take a wander past the eccentric north London house which inspired P L Travers, and which features in the 1964 Mary Poppins film, as well as the trailer for Mary Poppins Returns. Or, look out for the recently-added blue plaque which marks the house P. L. Travers lived in while writing Mary Poppins.


For further updates on Mary Poppins Returns, follow the official Mary Poppins Twitter account.