Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that legendary actress Angela Lansbury is set to appear in Disney’s upcoming sequel Mary Poppins Returns.
Lansbury, who has previously worked with Disney on Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Beauty and the Beast, is set to portray the Balloon Lady, a character “who wreaks helium havoc in the park during one of Mary Poppins’ outing with the Banks children.” The character was first introduced as the Balloon Woman in the second book of author P.L. Travers’ book series, Mary Poppins Comes Back.
Mary Poppins Returns is being directed by Rob Marshall (Into the Woods) and sees Emily Blunt (The Girl on the Train) taking on the title role alongside Ben Whishaw (Spectre), Emily Mortimer (Hugo), Julie Walters (Harry Potter), Colin Firth (The King’s Speech), Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins), Pixie Davies (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children), Nathanael Saleh (Game of Thrones), Angela Lansbury (Murder, She Wrote), and newcomer Joel Dawson. Dick Van Dyke is also set to make a cameo appearance.
Mary Poppins Returns is set in 1930s depression-era London (the time period of the original novels) and is drawn from the wealth of material in PL Travers’ additional seven books. In the story, Michael (Whishaw) and Jane (Mortimer) are now grown up, with Michael, his three children and their housekeeper, Ellen (Walters), living on Cherry Tree Lane. After Michael suffers a personal loss, the enigmatic nanny Mary Poppins (Blunt) re-enters the lives of the Banks family, and, along with the optimistic street lamplighter Jack (Miranda), uses her unique magical skills to help the family rediscover the joy and wonder missing in their lives. Mary Poppins also introduces the children to a new assortment of colorful and whimsical characters, including her eccentric cousin, Topsy (Streep).
Mary Poppins Returns is set for release on Christmas Day 2018.
