PENGUINS WITH A SPRINKLING OF HOLLYWOOD STARDUST

THE scene where Dick Van Dyke as Bert tapdances with four bow-tied penguin waiters was one of the most beloved from the original movie.

Now the dapper penguins are back — named after Hollywood legends, (Fred) Astaire, (Oliver) Hardy, (Cary) Grant and (Charlie) Chaplin — to perform a music hall number with Mary and Jack.

As well as some of the favourites from the 1964 movie, the film has nine new songs written by the same team who wrote the musical Hairspray, but which are intended to sound as if they could have been written in 1964.

Though she has to match Julie Andrews’s legendary singing voice, Emily Blunt easily holds a note. Until spotted in a school production at the Edinburgh Festival, she was considering a career as a singer.