"The return of Mary Poppins" is a sequel, not a remake, but the audience will always be ahead

It's not uncommon for Mary Poppins to fly in the air, but on a beautiful April 2017 day at Shepperton Studios, not far from London, Emily Blunt has a little help to cross the plateau.

The 35-year-old actress wears a cherry red dress with a half-cape jacket, blue heels with matching red laces and a royal blue hat with an embroidered robin perched on the edge.

Two men wearing page hats and men's clothes from the 1930s gracefully hoist her, of course, as she smiles and the men shout, "Join us, Mary Poppins!

It's not necessary for the iconic character to "join" the theaters, also known as street lights – the version of this iteration of the fireplace picks up, as it has already arrived. Julie Andrews is nowhere in sight, but it makes no sense for her to be in this entirely new world, despite her strong deference to her 1964 predecessor.

The song being rehearsed is one of the many novelties in the Disney Songbook, written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who clearly venerates the work of the Sherman brothers. He starred broadcaster Lin-Manuel Miranda, playing Jack, the team leader, and a former apprentice to adorable Burt (Dick Van Dyke). Despite Miranda's education in New York and his Puerto Rican roots, Jack has the same English accent as Van Dyke. Well, not the same thing. The fact that Miranda incarnates a member of the working class is much less hard with subtle accents on all good vowels. The accent, it turns out, is very important in the song being rehearsed.

It's an educational experience, focused on teaching children slang and unique cockney idioms, of which Mary Poppins is of course familiar.

The lilies dance around the imagined plot of Regents Park, swinging the central fountain and throwing streetlights like newspapers, carrying the banner. Blunt's strong singing voice outweighs the rest, giving Mary a harsher presence than Andrews.

The unadorned attitude of Mary Blunt suits this new period, in which everyone in the cast and the crew is eager to make sense is a sequel, not a remake of the original, which was created in 1910 .

"After watching the first movie, I would never think of a remake … you do not touch this movie," says director Rob Marshall at ET.

This new film, which vaguely follows another of the author P.L. Travers' eight Poppins books, takes place in London, in the era of depression. Although the scene takes place on a sound stage outside of London, much of the upcoming musical has been filmed in the streets of the English capital.

"Mary is light and Jack is a lamplighter, and that's what they bring to the world, and you'll get an idea," says producer Marc Platt at ET. "So we use London. You will feel his character very strongly. "

Just drop the name of Mary Poppins and the doors begin to open. Sites such as Buckingham Palace have been closed to allow filming and institutions like Royal Doulton China are offering their brand label on accessories.

Production designer John Myhre was even allowed to visit the interior of the Elizabeth Tower, where Big Ben is located – the very name of the bell, not the tower itself. The visit, which is not offered to members of the public, allowed him to recreate, almost exactly, the dial of this iconic monument.

The astonishing glass facade was being developed during the visit, and it will be used in a scene that will combine images taken at the actual location with the massive replica.

"It's really difficult to reproduce [Big Ben], Says Myhre to ET. "So, thank God Mary Poppins, because I think that if Michael Bay came for the Transformers movies, they would say thank you but no thanks.

Confidence in the name of Poppins is also evident in those who named Blunt to steer the ship and prescribe a spoonful of sugar to audiences around the world.

"I do not know who else could play the role other than Emily, to be quite honest," says Marshall.

Platt reflects the sentiment, adding, "As an accomplished actress and confident actress, she comes into the skin and makes her own character." He also notes that "Andrews is" a big fan of Emily Blunt & # 39; s.

At the time, Blunt described Marie's experience as "surreal," but she strove not to let the Poppins name scale reach her throughout the shoot.

"I'm just trying to approach it as I would for any other character and not be caught in the white noise of" Oh my God, you're Mary Poppins, "Blunt says. . "I think this has been my main goal, is just to approach it calmly, as I would any other character, how I would like to play it, with what I've given on the page?"

Although Andrews was not part of the shoot, Miranda received crucial help from his character's mentor. Van Dyke filmed scenes for the upcoming film, resuming his second Poppins role as Mr. Dawes Jr.

"It was a happy two days," Miranda told ET about his time with Van Dyke. "I aspire to have so much energy in my life, one day, a lot less to 91!"

I hope that he will have absorbed a lot of energy "super cali-fragile" when the film will be released in December. Miranda is anxious to know what the audience has taken, who feels slightly retarded after her years on Broadway.

"The only really essential difference [between film and theater] is that you finish the musical number and they applaud in a year and a half, which is shocking, "the Hamilton creator and star admitted.

Return of Mary Poppins will be released on December 19th.