Throughout the years, Mary Poppins has been known for being practically perfect in every way, but Emily Blunt — who took on the iconic role in Mary Poppins Returns — is now proving to be almost as magical as the nanny she's portraying. Those who have seen the movie (or at the very least watched the trailer), are undoubtedly familiar with a certain bathtub scene in Mary Poppins Returns, which features Blunt's character vanishing into a tub full of bubbles. However, if you were thinking this was merely the work of impressive CGI techniques, think again. Thanks to a behind-the-scenes video of this particular moment, fans are now able to see exactly how this scene was accomplished and the result is sweeter than a spoonful of sugar.
But before we dive into all this, let's add a little context, shall we? It all starts when Mary Poppins appears out of the blue in order to look after the Banks children once again. Jane and Michael are grown up, however, Michael, a recent widower, has three young children: Annabel, John, and Georgie, who are in need of a nanny. At first the young ones are a little skeptical about this new stranger who has so quickly come into their lives, but that's nothing a little song and dance number can't cure. Enter the famous bathtub scene.
When suggesting that the children were in desperate need of a bath, Mary Poppins bursts out into song and sends the kids diving into the bubbles for adventures unknown. Finally, she herself enters the tub, like so:
Many of you may not have even given this instance a second thought, assuming it was all completely computerized. Now, thanks to the BTS footage, however, we're able to truly appreciate what had to be done to make this moment possible. It turns out that Blunt really did fall backward into a tub and slid off into an entirely different place.
See for yourself:
The water, the bubbles, the falling — it was all real. Blunt slid down an actual slide that was built directly underneath the tub. In short, this is movie magic at its finest and will make you love and appreciate this film all the more. Not to mention that it also looks like a lot of fun. No wonder Blunt looks so happy right before she submerges into the bubbly depths of the tub. It certainly seems a lot more pleasant than the other bathtub scene Blunt was involved with this past year in her other highly successful film, A Quiet Place.
So whether you head off to the theater for a second, third (or even fourth) viewing, or are simply seeing the movie for the first time, be sure to pay extra close attention to that bathtub scene now that you have a little more insight about it. Blunt doesn't need CGI to make her movies magical — she's able to accomplish that all on her own, though are we really all that surprised?
