Disney to revisit 'Mary Poppins'

"Mary Poppins" is set to fly back onto screens thanks to Disney, which is reportedly planning a new musical film featuring the beloved magical English nanny.

The film will be set in depression-era London, 20 years after the 1964 classic, and will draw from the P.L. Travers children's books on which the original film was based, Entertainment Weekly reported.

Director Rob Marshall, known for his work on other musicals including "Chicago" and "Into The Woods," is associated with the project.

As for the million-dollar question -- who would play Mary Poppins, portrayed 50 years ago by Julie Andrews, who won an Oscar for her work -- bettors were putting money on Anne Hathaway, according to reports.

Hathaway took home an Academy Award for a singing role -- as Fantine in the movie adaptation of "Les Miserables."

The series of eight books by Travers follows the adventures of Poppins, who enters the lives of the Banks family in London.

The original film, which won five Oscars and was nominated for eight others, is known for such songs as "A Spoonful of Sugar" and "Chim Chim Cher-ee".

The world of Mary Poppins returned to the big screen two years ago with "Saving Mr Banks" -- starring Tom Hanks as Walt Disney and Emma Thompson as Travers. It told the tale of how he convinced her to let him make the original film.
Source: AFP