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Mary Poppins Returns: (Marc Shaiman) Among Walt
Disney's most personally rewarding projects, 1964's
Mary Poppins
remains a unique triumph in the children's fantasy genre. Its adaptation
from the P.L. Travers books brilliantly combined live-action and
animated technologies and featured lasting musical numbers by the famed
Sherman brothers (Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman) for lead
performances by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. The concept remains so
memorable in the next century because of its buoyant charm, witty
lyrics, and the distinct era of London life it represents. Disney has
avidly sought to develop a sequel to
Mary Poppins through the
years, as there was plenty of material in the Travers books with which
to gain inspiration. As the project congealed in the 2010's, attention
turned to the undeniably formidable challenge the production was
destined to face: How do you meet the excellent standards of the 1964
classic, including its airy optimism despite character distress, without
losing the magical spirit of the original, the outstanding performance
standards, and the formula of dance, animation, and musical required for
the concept? The 2018 answer is director Rob Marshall's
Mary Poppins
Returns, a perfect blend of sequel and remake that manages to
achieve the near-impossible, joining its predecessor as an equal meant
to remind yet another generation to appreciate the positives in life
regardless of hardship. Every character, concept, and song in the sequel
is meant to be a variation of a similar equivalent from
Mary
Poppins, and such familiarity did bother some critics. But the
formula still works wonders, and the production intelligently balances
its clever reverence to the 1964 film, including hand-drawn animation,
with splashes of new color sure to please concept loyalists. Thirty
years after the prior film, the titular nanny once again teaches the
Banks family, this time the children of those she had nannied before,
how to love and persevere, with a Cockney lamplighter serving as the
working-class representation of Dick Van Dyke's chimney sweep. They
meander through imaginative worlds, meet quirky characters, and deal
with the same bank as before, stopping to dance and sing along the way.
The soundtrack once again plays a pivotal role in the success of the
final product.
Among the composers active at the time, few choices to
helm the weighty expectations of
Mary Poppins Returns were better
positioned than Marc Shaiman. While known in the film score world for
several impactful and popular scores of the 1990's, Shaiman is also an
accomplished songwriter for musicals on the stage. Most importantly, his
effervescent style of writing perfectly suits the sound of the Sherman
Brothers and arranger Irwin Kostal's score for the original. Shaiman is
also one of the industry's most infectiously positive personalities, his
outrageous sense of humor mingling with that of lyricist Scott Wittman
for the songs of
Mary Poppins Returns. There is a level of wit in
the songs for this film that is so brilliant at times that even ten
listens to the same song won't illuminate all the pithy connections
and connotations. Kids will gloss over many of the lyrics, as the
performances often explode at breakneck speed, but they are an
intellectual joy for the adults to behold. Shaiman and Wittman worked in
absolute terror that they would disrespect the original inspiration, but
Richard M. Sherman did provide consultation to the team, and the end
product is as respectful as anyone could possibly have made the sequel
score. Interestingly, Sherman reportedly did not suggest any changes to
Shaiman's work along the way, offering his support in full to the new
material. The vocal talent is also critical to the credibility of
Mary Poppins Returns, and leads Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel
Miranda perform admirably in their singing roles. There will never be
another Julie Andrews (who, incidentally, refused a cameo role in this
movie), but if you accept that certainty, then Blunt's interpretation is
about as accomplished as pragmatically possible. The character in the
books is more sarcastic and narcissistic than most know, and Blunt's
performance reflects that oddly endearing attitude better than Andrews
did. There's a lack of obvious auto-tuning evident in the performances,
and her natural inflection of key words is often outstanding. Miranda,
meanwhile, is a consummate professional in this arena, and his
"Hamilton" sensibilities prepare him well to adopt his role, even down
to the intentionally awkward Cockney accent, a lasting but lovable
criticism of Van Dyke from the first film. Miranda is not quite as
flamboyant as Van Dyke in his facial mannerisms, but from a musical
standpoint, his vocals function just as well.
The secondary singing talent in
Mary Poppins
Returns is generally well handled, the one exception being Meryl
Streep's comparatively weak contribution. Even Van Dyke returns with
appreciable zeal to perform a role related to his lesser-known one as a
banker in the original. A cameo for Angel Lansbury offers the venerable
actress the opportunity to perform a few grandmotherly lines that will
warm the hearts of any Disney fan. As for the music itself, one can
hardly separate the song melodies from the surrounding underscore and
the Sherman Brothers references that exist throughout both. While all
the new songs for
Mary Poppins Returns feature fresh melodies,
Shaiman constantly utilizes common progressions from the 1964 songs and
occasionally intersperses direct references as needed. In fact, nearly
every Sherman song melody receives a quotation in some fashion in this
sequel, timed perfectly and lasting just long enough to make the
required connections without overstaying their welcome. Kudos must be
given to the fantastic orchestrations and enthusiastic performances by
London musicians for the recording. Likewise, the mix of the symphonic
elements is gorgeous, lush and engaging at all times while also allowing
individual percussion soloists, among others, the opportunity to shine
when needed. A somewhat wet mix generates a soundscape appropriate for a
stage musical, and choral interludes are surprisingly impactful. Between
the larger-than-life orchestrations and general major-key exuberance
that prevails in nearly every corner of this work, you receive a
distinctly Golden Age musical atmosphere that you simply don't hear in
the 21st century. It doesn't hurt to have constant thematic development,
of course, and this review will analyze each of the melodies in
Mary
Poppins Returns before extending that discussion to the surrounding
underscore. In some cases, the songs and underscore are inextricable,
just as the interpolations of the Sherman themes flow in and out with
ease. The Disney awards promo for Shaiman's score is a bit humorous in
these regards, because countless of his cues had to be truncated or cut
apart to remove these Sherman references in order to showcase his
original material. During the discussion of the score in this review,
that digital-only promotional release will be analyzed as well; all
claims that the original commercial album is complete are woefully
erroneous.
The songs in
Mary Poppins Returns open with
Miranda's "(Underneath the) Lovely London Sky," which offers a snippet
of "The Life I Lead" from
Mary Poppins but is otherwise a new
love long to the London location and the story as a whole. Miranda's
character of Jack is, like his mentor, Bert, from the original, the
somewhat omnipotent narrator privy to Poppins and clearly remembering
his own encounter with her as a youth. The melody from this song
accompanies many of the London-specific location shots in the movie and
doubles as a fair-like identity for the exterior play scenes and offers
a snare-tapping rhythm doubling for the industrial element and Jack's
bicycle. Miranda's performance is attractive and contains a bit of flair
in how he handles the melody's closing descending phrases. These three
notes are among the many structural connections to the Sherman Brothers'
work, in this case emulating the descending "most delightful way" phrase
from "A Spoonful of Sugar." This song receives two reprises as Jack
narrates the story, including an interlude in a score track, "Kite Takes
Off," and the formal reprise to close out the film. The next song is one
variant of a pair of ideas for loss that Shaiman composes for the Banks
family; the songs "A Conversation" and "The Place Where Lost Things Go"
share a common musical vocabulary, with "A Conversation" dwelling in the
sadness while "The Place Where Lost Things Go" answering it with a
slightly more upbeat sense of resolution, courtesy Mary and the Banks
children. Unfortunately, "A Conversation" is somewhat lost in the entire
equation, its source-like music box presence reprised only twice
formally in the score and the song's vocals by Ben Whishaw as Michael
Banks broken as an intentionally (and quite successful) tear-jerking
technique. Disney collectors will hear a touch of Alan Menken melancholy
in this song, especially during the interlude sequence ("Winter has
gone..."). Fortunately, with the arrival of Mary, listeners get "Can You
Imagine That?," this soundtrack's version of "A Spoonful of Sugar" that
likewise translates into the Shaiman's dominant theme for the entire
score. The concluding six notes of the melody (representing the title of
the song) is everywhere in the soundtrack and supplies much of the
overflowing optimism along the way. The song itself combines stately
percussive rhythms with flowing harp figures for the watery element of
the wonderous bathtub experience. The big band exposition in this song
is so refreshing that you fail to notice that Blunt speaks many of her
lines rather than singing them outright.
As Mary continues her adventures with the Banks children,
she introduces the location of "The Royal Doulton Music Hall" with a
dynamic performance that truly highlights Blunt's vocal capabilities.
Her phenomenally crisp contributions in the first 90 seconds are truly
Andrews-like, overshadowing Miranda's counterpoint performance with her
outrageously accomplished emphasis on certain words like "ceramical"
(0:40), "incorrigible" (0:55), and "music" (0:57), the last of which
actually makes an animated canine exclaim, "That one tickled my tail!" It
doesn't really matter if this performance had to be pieced together; the
end result is phenomenal. The song shifts to pure Broadway sensibility
as animated animals take over the performance. The album includes the
mostly dialogue passage "Introducing Mary Poppins" that relies upon the
"Can You Imagine That?" melody as Mary takes the stage at Jack's
insistence. The singing chemistry between Mary and Jack flourishes in "A
Cover is Not the Book," a riotous comedy romp extending the
personality of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and highlighting
Miranda's talents to a great degree (outside of Blunt's shift to her own
Cockney attitude, which induces a smile). It's not only a rowdy love
song to books in general but it offers lyrics so explosively breakneck
that you absolutely need to read the lyrics to appreciate Miranda's
performance. The outstanding, larger-than-life brass orchestrations (the
muted trumpets really flourish here) and humorous percussive flair
combine with the animation to yield a mind-bogglingly fun experience.
After the Banks children return home to their beds, Mary offers the
structural reprise to "A Conversation" with "The Place Where Lost Things
Go," reminiscent of the Sherman Brothers' "Feed the Birds" and "Stay
Awake" songs and channeling the sensitive side of Mary's wisdom to
encourage the children to overcome their grief. The song allows Blunt
the opportunity to convey a few redemptive whole notes, and it is here
that she cannot match Andrew's depth of resonance, but she is
nevertheless effective. The string and woodwind melody to this song
accompanies four or five cues in the score as relating the children,
though these passages are largely absent from the main album. This
soundtrack's reinvention of "Love to Laugh" is "Turning Turtle," a
Jewish-inspired comedy piece that highlights Eastern European
instrumental accents as Mary's cousin, played by Streep, belts out her
own awkward gypsy impressions. The pacing of the song will thrill your
kids, but expect to loosen your own girdle to survive its
whirlwind.
The main dance piece in
Mary Poppins Returns
belongs to "Trip a Little Light Fantastic," replacing the chimney sweeps
of "Chim Chim Cher-ee" and "Step in Time" with Leeries (lightkeepers on
bikes) who entertain audiences with not only exemplary dancing but
stunts on their bikes as well. It's a lengthy, big band number for
Miranda and the lightkeeper cast, containing a humorous "Leerie speak"
interlude for rhyming comedy. It's another Broadway bonanza in its
frantic arrangements that will either inspire the listener to get up and
groove or hasten some dormant insanity. Maybe both, actually. The Banks
children perform the reprise to "The Place Where Lost Things Go" with
appreciative tenderness, transitioning to a guilty pleasure moment in
the soundtrack: Dick Van Dyke singing the reprise to "Trip a Little
Light Fantastic." Still in good health, Van Dyke handles his brief cameo
as the son of the banker he also played in the 1964 film with great
spirit, though the enthusiastic Leerie speak interruption by the Banks
children is a bit intolerable. The soundtrack's closing appeal to airy
cheer matches "Let's Go Fly a Kite" with its close sibling, "Nowhere to
Go But Up," in which most of the cast finally assembles for a victorious
exclamation of belief in Poppin's magic via their own imagination. It's
the funniest scene in the film, and the song provides Whishaw (the
father Banks) the opportunity to finally sing fully. The presence of
Lansbury, replacing an intended role for Andrews here, is heartening to
the extreme. Shaiman's emulation of progressions from "Let's Go Fly a
Kite" in this song finally evolve into an instrumental performance of
that melody outright, joined by "A Spoonful of Sugar" as Mary admires
herself ("perfect in every way...") and her handiwork. Never far away in
the score is the melody for "(Underneath the) Lovely London Sky,"
Miranda offered a fragment of it within "Nowhere to Go But Up," and
Shaiman appropriately affording the movie one bookending passage from
the song in its formal reprise as Jack watches Mary depart. The "Can You
Imagine That?" melody mingles extensively in this closing song, flowing
chimes representing Mary as she ascends. The songs, all together, are
masterfully woven in a structural narrative that is as airtight as one
of the magical balloons, with the exception of the distracting diversion
for "Turning Turtle." All the necessary reprises are appropriately
placed, each expressing a distinct instrumental personality that can
allude to the songs without their lyrics needing expressed vocally.
Perhaps none of these identities is as vital as the working-class,
era-specific style of "(Underneath the) Lovely London Sky."
Shaiman's instrumental score material for
Mary Poppins
Returns is so intertwined with the songs that it's a shame to
separate it for this discussion, but there are ideas unique to the major
score sequences. Listeners not particularly interested in the songs may
still appreciate the score's action passages especially as a standalone
success. The commercial album does not contain all the highlights of the
score, though it does present the cues most memorably placed at the
front of the mix in the film. Disney provided a badly lossy digital
download awards promo online for
Mary Poppins Returns that
contains the balance of the score and exposes the clear need for a
chronological, two-CD presentation of the full soundtrack for future
release. The composer devises several suite-like presentations of themes
that together form the end credits sequence. The "Overture" and "End
Title Suite" cues are beautifully arranged summaries of the songs'
melodies, all of them revolving around the central figures of "Can You
Imagine That?" as being what Shaiman clearly identifies as the primary
idea for the work. The "Overture" intersperses pieces of "A Spoonful of
Sugar" at its outset before following the "Can You Imagine That?" theme
with Shaiman's second-most quoted theme, the redemptive identity of "The
Place Where Lost Things Go." A lively interlude for "Trip a Little Light
Fantastic" leads directly back to "Can You Imagine That?" at the end,
with a trailing piece of "(Underneath the) Lovely London Sky" closing
out that suite. On the other hand, "Theme from Mary Poppins" is a
dedicated, calming exploration of the "Can You Imagine That?" melody
written early enough to be used in the trailer, though Shaiman can't
resist another boisterous crescendo for the theme at the end of that
arrangement. The "End Title Suite" owes much to "Nowhere to Go But Up,"
developing the idea for two minutes before the ensemble cast returns for
another vocal interlude, the only one heard in the credits. From there,
"End Title Suite" blasts through "Turning Turtle" and "Trip a Little
Light Fantastic" in one fluid motion before taking respite in the
loveliness of "The Place Where Lost Things Go." Shaiman then returns to
full form with "Can You Imagine That?" to close the suite. With his
trademark humor, the composer ends the entire affair with the
soundtrack's lone quote of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" at 5:03
into the cue, a fantastic way to send listeners off. It's a bit of a
shame, though, that the melodies for the two songs that take place in
the Doulton Bowl aren't represented in any of these suites, especially
given Shaiman's talent for quick movement between his melodies.
The score within the narrative of
Mary Poppins
Returns fleshes out the song melodies and develops a few new ideas
and other tributes to Sherman Brothers motifs not contained within the
songs. Shaiman's action motif is a duo of five-note and six-note
descending figures meant to augment the film's three main chase
sequences. These phrases are introduced at 0:47 into "Kite Takes Off"
and will later expand their presence in "Rescuing Georgie" and "Race to
Big Ben." The faux-suspenseful "Kite Takes Off" offers foreshadowing of
the "Can You Imagine That?" main theme and a passage of "Lovely London
Sky" (with a brief Miranda vocal reprise) as well. Not included on the
album is the preceding trio of "Money Woes," "To the Park," and "Out
With the Trash," each of them developing the "The Place Where Lost
Things Go" melody to support its downtrodden variation in "A
Conversation." The theme's bright performances in "To the Park" are
quite lovely, conveying that the Banks children already possess the
optimism to persevere that Mary simply needs to unlock. A straight,
non-music box instrumental for "A Conversation" exists in "Out With the
Trash;" this melody is so heartbreaking that it's disappointing this
form of it could never have played a more major role in the movie. In
"Mary Poppins Arrives" (alternately titled "Mary Takes Charge" on the
promo), "Can You Imagine That?" prominently prances to the forefront
before Mary's revelation to the Banks adults is afforded a lush
performance of "A Spoonful of Sugar." The promo version of the cue
splits Shaiman's original material in two around this Sherman Brothers
reference. The same splitting occurs on the promo for the "Up the
Bannister" and "Magic Papers," for former not commercially released and
continuing the light "Can You Imagine That?" humor. In "Magic Papers,"
Shaiman's promo must remove the first of two prominent placements of the
"Fidelity Fiduciary Bank" theme from the Sherman Brothers, which comes
at 1:10 after the score's only other direct tribute to the "A
Conversation" melody, albeit brief. The "Banks in the Bank" and "Jane to
Wilkins" cues are identical light chase sequences that both utilize the
"Fidelity Fiduciary Bank" motif as the basis, though the promo removes
the most prominent of these performances at the start. The short,
promo-only cue for "Two Faced Wilkins" appropriately previews the
material for the wolf in the Doulton Bowl. Likewise unreleased
commercially is the lighthearted "Nursery Plans" cue, a surprisingly
unique entry that hails back to Shaiman's light fare from the 1990's
more than
Mary Poppins.
It's a shame the "Nursery Plans" could not be included on
the commercial album for
Mary Poppins Returns, because it has
much to offer in the development of this soundtrack's themes in its
latter half. The "Can You Imagine That?" and "Lovely London Sky"
melodies are followed here by a brief allusion to "A Conversation"
before elegantly introducing "The Royal Doulton Music Hall" and even a
hint of the coming rescue cue in the final minute. The commercial album
picks up at "Into the Royal Doulton Bowl" with the transition from the
"Can You Imagine That?" melody to extended treatment of "The Royal
Doulton Music Hall," but the promo illuminates an extra, unreleased 30
seconds of a travel variation of the latter melody that is percussively
vital. Also unreleased is "Outside the Tent," which accompanies Mary's
conjuring of the tent with a great fantasy variation of the "The Royal
Doulton Music Hall" followed by a takeover of the theme by the
attractive muted brass personality of "A Cover is Not the Book." The
"Rescuing Georgie" and "Royal Doulton Chase" cues are identical on their
albums and further develop the action motif heard in "Kite Takes Off,"
clanging metallic percussion a highlight. The depth is mature, and it
references fragments of "The Royal Doulton Music Hall" without losing
focus on the fright of the moment. That melody is intelligently
dissolved in the final 30 seconds of the cue as the children fall
outside of the bowl. The "Off to Topsy's" cues on the two releases are
not identical, the promo's split of the cue necessary to remove a
reference from the Sherman Brothers' "The Perfect Nanny." The promo does
reinsert the pretty accordion performance of "Lovely London Sky" at the
outset of "Off to Topsy's;" it, along with some of the "Can You Imagine
That?" melody fragments, are unavailable on the commercial product. The
cue does present a preview of "Turning Turtle" in both instances. You
have to love how Shaiman inserts a fragment of the "The Royal Doulton
Music Hall" at the end of "Off to Topsy's" as a reminder of why the gang
is seeking Topsy in the first place. The somewhat generic "Kids Sneak
Off" follows on the promo only, offering light suspense rhythms without
any obvious melodic development. The tone becomes more frantic in "Chase
Through the Bank" (or "Kids Burst in Chase" in identical promo form) as
the action theme, alternately for Wilkins and the wolf, is presented in
lighter shades. The "Lost in a Fog" cue is also identical on both
releases and is extremely impactful in the film, as its percussive
tapping, choral shades, and subtle action theme phrasing are perfectly
tailored for the eeriness of the scene.
The gorgeous, piano-led "When Did You All Get So
Clever" on the awards promo for
Mary Poppins Returns, also
containing a few choice woodwind solos, is largely contained under the
dialogue in the second half of the song, "The Place Where Lost Things Go
(Reprise)," though an extension of the "Can You Imagine That?" melody is
unique to just the promo edit. The "GoodBye Old Friend" cue contains
arguably the most romantic warmth of any moment in the score on screen,
the opening piano rendition of "Lovely London Sky" accompanying a scene
change of the city skyline with immense but solemn grace. Shaiman pivots
to "Can You Imagine That?" on dramatic strings and solo woodwinds for
much of the remainder of that cue. The promo version of the cue appends
more than one additional minute dedicated to soft woodwind renditions of
"The Place Where Lost Things Go" not to be missed. The "Race to Big Ben"
cue is easily the most ambitious moment in the score, opening with a
touch of Alan Silvestri
Back to the Future mannerisms amid its
"Can You Imagine That?" references and proceeding to provide all the
best action and choral expressions in
Mary Poppins Returns. The
commercial album contains a five-minute version of this cue whereas the
promo presents it at its fuller nine-minute length. The cue was cut
extensively to form the commercial album's variation, and some of the
better moments were unfortunately jettisoned. Missing from the shorter
version is one of the cue's most magnificent choral crescendos and some
of the biggest Wilkins/wolf rhythmic passages representing the villains'
association with the score's main action motif. The dizzying heights of
Big Ben in this cue are addressed by Shaiman much like Danny Elfman did
for the cathedral scenes of
Batman, the accentuated harp leading
a feeling of vertigo. There is fantastic percussion and brass writing in
the cue, more muscular, ironically, than much of what Shaiman has
written for non-children's films before, so be sure to appreciate the
longer promo version despite its poor audio quality. The promo adds
three short cues in between this scene and the conclusion of the film,
beginning with the incidental relief of "Missing Signatures," an
intriguingly melody-less diversion highlighted by a suspenseful hit at
its end. Both "Cherry Tree Lane" and "Mary Exits" present the "Lovely
London Sky" melody in its various guises, the former for the lightly
jazzy fair arrival and the latter an extended version of the opening of
"(Underneath the) Lovely London Sky (Reprise)" without the
dialogue.
Again, it's unfair to parse the score from the songs
and even the Sherman Brothers references in
Mary Poppins Returns
for the purposes of this review, as this soundtrack is a definite
instance in which the whole product is so successfully seamless that one
really can't separate the parts. Disney's awards promo's attempt to do
just that reveals it to be a somewhat ridiculous endeavor. Still, that
promo reveals that there is indeed twenty minutes, if not more, of great
music that really needed to be included in proper placement with the
songs and Sherman Brothers melodies on the main album. Regardless of any
ill will towards the otherwise sufficient commercial product for the
masses, listeners must consider all the ways in which the soundtrack for
Mary Poppins Returns could have been a shameless disaster. The
fact that Richard M. Sherman had no substantive corrective feedback for
Shaiman and Wittman during the process speaks volumes to the triumph
heard in this sequel. These men are masters of not only the musical
language, but of English as well, and the lyrics to the songs are
exemplary throughout, especially in the two rowdy Doulton Bowl songs.
The quirkiness of "Turning Turtle," while the weak point of the work
overall, will likely enamor your kids, and "A Cover is Not the Book"
contains so many funny asides that the adults will uniquely appreciate
it. Shaiman and Wittman did incredible research into the Sherman
Brothers and Travers collective canon for the concept and emerged with
repeatedly delightful lyrics and clever musical structures that continue
to reveal additional intelligence with each listen. The Sherman Brothers
interpolations are perfectly handled, with every wink and nod
satisfyingly placed without inhibiting the new melodies. The performers
may not rise to the legendary stature of Julie Andrews, but Blunt
acquits herself very well and Miranda is a joy as always. While some
listeners may reserve some praise for the overall package because the
balloon lady role conveyed by Lansbury was destined for Andrews instead,
the end result is still more than adequate. As mentioned before, the mix
of the soundtrack is exquisitely handled for the film and commercial
product, the orchestrations vibrant and engaging throughout. There
simply is no significant detriment to this incredible sequel soundtrack,
qualifying it for a place among the masterpieces of the children's
musical genre. No doubt, it is the consistently charming pinnacle of
Shaiman long career. There are film music collectors who will reject
Mary Poppins Returns outright because of its inherently lofty,
retro personality; let them retreat to their brooding seriousness
commonplace to 2010's film scores while the rest of us enjoy our most
delightful spoonful of sugar.
***** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Marc Shaiman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.33
(in 12 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.15
(in 19,613 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The insert includes lyrics to every song and several notes about the score and film
from the director and composer/lyricists. A Target exclusive version of the album also
contains two collectible trading cards related to the film.
