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Review of Mary Poppins Returns (Marc Shaiman)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you are any remote enthusiast of the classic Mary
Poppins film, this sequel splendidly conveying the same buoyant
optimism and endearing charm in Marc Shaiman's extremely intelligent
continuation of the Sherman Brothers' legacy.
Avoid it... if you were one of those kids going around pre-school telling all the others that Santa Clause isn't real, for this soundtrack should prove itself an effective repellant for cynical, unimaginative assholes worldwide.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
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. *****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 78:09
NOTES & QUOTES:
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.
Copyright ©
2019-2024, Filmtracks Publications. All rights reserved.
The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Mary Poppins Returns are Copyright © 2018, Walt Disney Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 1/10/19 (and not updated significantly since). Leerie dance scenes would be even more impressive if their entire adult cast performed them while nude. |
