Mary Poppins Returns development hell since the release of the 1964 film. Walt Disney attempted to produce a sequel a year subsequent to the film's release, but was rejected by author P. L. Travers, who had openly dismissed Disney's film adaptation. In the late 1980s, then-chairman of Walt Disney Studios Jeffrey Katzenberg and vice-president of live-action production Martin Kaplan approached Travers with the idea of a sequel set years after the first film, with the Banks children now as adults and an older Mary Poppins with Julie Andrews reprising the role. Travers again rejected the proposed concept with the exception of Andrews' return.
Mary Poppins Returns Returns" shows it has the power to leave you deliriously happy". Will Gompertz of the BBC gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, saying, "It looks fantastic, the special effects are special, and a great deal of money has clearly been spent in the hope of making it supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. All of which is great. Except the movie – unlike the eponymous super nanny – never quite takes off." Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" stated negatively that "the movie ratchets up more than the family’s existential stakes" and ""Mary Poppins Returns" looks, feels and sounds like a sales