Children around the world will be clamouring for a spoonful of sugar with their medicine when the sequel to the 1964 classic Mary Poppins is released.
The follow-up to the live action original, which starred Julie Andrews as magical nanny Mary Poppins and Dick Van Dyke as a Cockney chimney sweep, will be set 20 years later in Depression-era London.
The first version of the film won five Oscars including awards for best actress and best song for “Chim Chim Cher-ee”.
The film was selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Rob Marshall, who made Into the Woods, is lined up to direct the sequel. It said John DeLuca and Marc Platt will be producers.
Anne Hathaway, who starred with Andrews in The Princess Diaries series, is the bookmakers' favourite to play the lead role, with Emily Blunt and Meryl Streep also named. A spokesman for William Hill told the BBC: “Hollywood's leading ladies will all be vying for this role but given her striking resemblance to Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway is the early favourite.”
At 6/1, she is just slightly ahead of Emily Blunt at 7/1 while American stars Anna Kendrick and Meryl Streep are 8/1, along with the British actress Carey Mulligan.
Mary Poppins is based on the children's book series by PL Travers. According to the 40th Anniversary DVD release of the film in 2004, Walt Disney's daughters fell in love with the Mary Poppins books, and made him promise to make a film based on them.
Well-known songs such as “Chim Chim Cher-ee” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” have had a lasting effect on audiences of the original film. Entertainment Weekly reported that Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who composed the music for Hairspray, would be writing songs for the sequel.
In 2013, Saving Mr Banks, starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson, was released, with the plot centred on the development of the Mary Poppins film.
The Independent