Generally unless it’s a superhero movie, most audiences don’t pay too much attention to the end credits when they go to see a movie. But if you stayed for the credits after Mary Poppins Returns, you might have noticed a recognizable name that you were wondering why it was there. Jay Leno is thanked in the end credits, which raises the question, why? Well, Lin-Manuel Miranda did some digging to find out the answer, take a look:
Well, that's a great reason for for Jay Leno to be credited, and exactly the response you'd expect of the former host of The Tonight Show. The current host of Jay Leno’s Garage is famed for his love of automobiles and his absurd collection of exotic, historic and generally awesome cars-- including a 1994 McLaren F1, a 1969 Lamborghini Miura and a 1963 Jaguar E-Type to name a few. Apparently one of his illustrious collection was needed for Mary Poppins Returns and he provided, getting himself thanked in the credits.
This is quite the fascinating development, because it doesn’t sound like they needed to show the car at all. The filmmakers simply needed a sound it made, which could not be replicated through any other means. And because it was made from a car in the 1930s and 1930s cars aren’t readily available, Mary Poppins Returns turned to Jay Leno, who had the car they needed. Because of course he did.
While we now know the answer why Jay Leno was thanked in the end credits of Mary Poppins Returns, I only have more questions. In his tweet, Lin-Manuel Miranda does not say what car the production needed to borrow from the automobile enthusiast, and it would be awesome to know.
Jay Leno has multiple cars from the 1930s in his collection, including a 1931 Duesenberg Model J Town Car, a 1930 Bentley G400, a 1936 Cord 812 sedan and a replica of a Bugatti Type 57 Atlantic SC according to Odometer. So perhaps it was one of those vehicles.
We also don’t know what the specific sound effect the car made that Mary Poppins Returns needed. Was it just the sound of the engine or also the horn? And why couldn’t it be replicated? It’s very interesting that the production knew that this sound existed but were unable to replicate it and had to go the practical route and find the actual vehicle to recreate it. Someone must have thought ‘I bet Leno has it!’
This whole thing is kind of funny and admirable, as the film's production went to this level of trouble for a specific car sound. And Jay Leno gets a special thanks credit in the blockbuster family film, because he likes to use his millions on things that go vroom. I sincerely hope this whole Jay Leno car thing is given a dedicated special feature on the Mary Poppins Returns home video release.
Mary Poppins Returns is now playing if you want to see if you can pick out the sound of Jay Leno’s car. Check out our release schedule to see the biggest movies heading to theaters in 2019 and stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the latest in weird and delightful movie news.
