Find out why Pamela Lyndon Travers denied Mary Poppins becoming a feature film for twenty years
A great Disney classic, “Marry Poppins” hit theaters in 1964. The plot, which follows a nanny who appears from the skies with her umbrella to help a troubled family and bring about several memorable adventures, completes this Sunday, the 27th, exactly 59 years since it became adored by several generations.
Directed by Robert Stevensonthe film that won 5 Oscars is an adaptation of the work of the same name written by Pamela Lyndon Traverswhich was originally published in 1934, in London, becoming the first in a series of eight children’s books released by the author.
Even so, what few can imagine is that the Travers he did not like the film starring Julie Andrews, and for decades he resisted the idea of letting his work be transformed into a cinematographic product, although for many, the idea of having his story adapted by Mickey Mouse is a great dream. “But why did this happen?”
The Screenrant portal states that Travers thought Disney’s version of Mary Poppins was too cool. In addition, the fact that the film brings musical elements together with the plot told in live-action and animation made the writer even more uncomfortable.
The revelation of these topics was granted by the composer Richard Shermanremembering that he and his brother, robertnext to the writer Don DaGradihad to negotiate with Travers for two weeks in 1961 until the plot met the requirements made by the Australian writer.
Mrs. Travers was very, very difficult,” Richard recalled to Variety. “I’ve never had so many problems,” says Sherman. “It was a joy to work with after we finally got the rights. It was a dream cast. But those two weeks I would hate to go through again.”
He also detailed how the songwriting process was, revealing that “she [Travers] hated everything”. The author even asked Richard not to invent words, like Bert, the chimney sweep, rhyming “responsible” with “constable”. “She said, ‘Undo it.’ Oh God, it killed us,” Sherman said.
Although the negotiation between the composers and Travers difficult, this was just the tip of the iceberg. That’s because, the very walt disney tried to get her to grant the rights to Mary Poppings for 20 years.
The businessman, producer, animator and screenwriter had a personal interest in the story getting off the ground and going to the big screen, since his daughter had fallen in love with the book and he promised her that he would turn it into a film.
His insistence paid off two decades later, just because, mary poppins was no longer selling as before in bookstores, which made Travers give in to the request of waltzas he needed the money, according to Screenrant.
As a result, the film was a success, and yielded a sequel in 2018 under the title “Mary Poppins Returns”, in addition to the derivative film “Walt Behind the Scenes of Mary Poppins”, released in 2014, where the story of the negotiation between Travers and Disney is told.
Despite the two subsequent films, Screerant claims that the author would not approve of such titles, since, in the will of Traversshe included a clause requesting that none of her work be adapted by Disney again.
Source: Recreio
