MARY POPPINS RETURNS is a Long Way from 1964

MARY POPPINS RETURNS is a sequel to the classic 1964 film, MARY POPPINS, starring Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer and Julie Walters with Colin Firth and Meryl Streep. The movie will likely be the hit of the Christmas box-office, but until numbers come in, we thought it would be fun to go back in time to 1964 to see what life was like and what was popular when the original film was released 54 years ago!

In 1964:

Gas was 30 cents!

Could you imagine driving up to the gas station and leaving with a full tank of gas for under $5! Granted, cars back then weren't nearly as safe or as stylish as cars in the 60s.

Sidney Poitier became the first black actor to win the Best Actor Oscar.

This was a huge milestone for the Oscars, but as we all know, this didn't hold as strongly as we'd like, with this issue of diversity still coming up today.

"Hello Dolly," "Funny Girl," and "Fiddler on the Roof" premiered on Broadway in New York.

Three iconic musicals premiered in 1964! All three of which have been revived recently, proving how TIMELESS theses show are. Hello, Dolly! won the Tony Award for Best Musical that year, with Fiddler on the Roof winning in 1965.

The Beatles made their first appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show.

As we all know, the Beatles are a cultural phenomenon that will go down in history as one of the best bands of all time. However, in 1964, the Beatles were just beginning to make waves in America.

Hasbro launched G.I. Joe for boys to join the BARBIE Doll for Girls.

With Barbies being such a huge success, Hasbro launched it's toy COUNTERPART for boys, the G.I. Joe. Not only is it one of the most popular action figures, it even was the basis for many animated television shows and two feature films starring Channing Tatum.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was published written by Roald Dahl.

Roald Dahl didn't know it in 1964, but Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would become one of the most beloved books of all time that also gave us two films and a musical adaptation!

The computer mouse and bubble wrap were invented.

Two household items that before 1964 didn't exist were the computer mouse and bubblewrap. Could you imagine using a computer without a mouse? Well thanks to Douglas Engelbart, you didn't have to! And thanks to Marc A Chavannes your fragile items would always be protected by bubble wrap.

Celebrities we know and love that were born in 1964:

Teri Hatcher - December 8th
Keanu Reeves - September 2nd
Russell Crowe - April 7th
Lenny Kravitz - May 26th

It's crazy to think that a movie that is so dear to all of our hearts premiered half a century ago! Things were very different back then, but what remains true is the impact that the story of Mary Poppins has on it's audience, and I bet we can expect the same from MARY POPPINS RETURNS.