

At 130 minutes, it might be a tad too long to stop the littlest kids from fidgeting, but then Mary Poppins was even longer, and that never hurt its popularity.

All that should make this a winning family entry for the holidays and a repeat-viewing favorite for years to come.

Its old-fashioned, honest sentimentality plasters a smile across your face and plants a tear in your eye, often simultaneously. Whether it’s exploding into large-scale production numbers or closing in on intimate scenes of a family in crisis, the sequel captivates by adopting a time-honored Disney formula that combines the joy and imagination of childhood with an underlay of melancholy.
