If you were impressed by the few seconds of screen time that Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda got in the last, frustratingly short teaser for Mary Poppins Returns, just wait until you see the full-length trailer. Disney is bringing the famous nanny back to the big screen on Dec. 19 with a sequel to Mary Poppins, and the new trailer is, thankfully, more generous with its footage—and more forthcoming about the movie’s plot. Emily Mortimer and Ben Whishaw star as Jane and Michael Banks, who are now grown up and taking care of Michael’s children after the death of their mother.
They find some unexpected assistance when Mary Poppins blows into town. Blunt looks as commanding in the title role as Julie Andrews before her, but it’s the supporting cast who steal the show here, even the ones who are little more than flashes of a name and face on screen: Angela Lansbury! Julie Walters! Colin Firth! The film also boasts the return of 92-year-old Dick Van Dyke, playing Mr. Dawes Jr., the son of the minor but memorable character he played in the original. No doubt he also had advice for Lin-Manuel Miranda about trying to nail a Cockney accent.
But it’s Meryl Streep whose appearance in the trailer is the most intriguing. She’ll play Mary Poppins’ cousin Topsy, and will be singing an original song by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. When Streep sings—well or badly—Oscar nominations tend to follow, but by this point, she’s surely used to it. It’s that ludicrous, bright-orange wig that deserves an award.
