Mary Poppins (musical) community theatres to produce due to the popularity of the film and books. In 1993, theatrical producer Cameron Mackintosh met P.L. Travers and acquired the rights to develop a stage play adaptation of her "Mary Poppins" books. She only agreed to a stage production as long as the creators were all English, and no one who had worked on the film. She died in 1996. In 2001, Mackintosh and the head of Disney Theatrical Thomas Schumacher opened talks on a possible collaboration, so that the stage play would be able to use the songs from the Disney film. With both
Mary Poppins Returns era of superhero franchises where sequels to successful movies turn up almost instantly, Mary Poppins’s return shows that sometimes it pays to wait. Half a century on, her allure hasn’t faded at all." Owen Gleiberman of "Variety" deemed the film as a "rapturous piece of nostalgia", lauded Blunt's take on Mary Poppins and described her casting as "practically perfect", while lending his praise on Marshall's direction as well the production design, musical score, songs, and the supporting performances (particularly Miranda, Whishaw, Firth, and Streep). He also drew comparisons of the film's quality and tone to the 1960s musicals as well