We’ve all watched the 1964 classic Mary Poppins, and we’ve all wished we could jump into sidewalk chalk drawings since the first time we saw the film. The masterpiece was nominated for thirteen Oscars and won five. What you may not know is that prior to the fame and glory of the movie was a long struggle between Walt Disney and the author of the Mary Poppins children’s book series, P.L. Travers. The story of this conflict may soon become a movie in itself.
The movie Mary Poppins was created as an adapted screenplay from a series of children’s books of the same title. For fourteen years, Disney sought the filming rights of Travers’ books. Travers was very uncertain to give Disney permission, but she eventually yielded to his request. Fifty years later, writer Kelly Marcel turned that fourteen year toil into a screenplay of her own. The script was black listed in 2011, but /Film reports that Disney is nearing a deal to create Marcel’s Saving Mr. Banks.
Current reports rumor Tom Hanks to star as Walt Disney and Meryl Streep as P.L. Travers.
Marcel’s fact-based script centers around Travers’ deeply personal connection to her books. Mary Poppins contained elements of Travers’ own real-life hardships and her relationship with her father, who passed away when she was a child. Travers was therefore reluctant to hand over the rights, fearing that Disney couldn’t do her story justice, but eventully gave in after years of wheedling. Unfortunately, although the finished product was well regarded by critics and audiences alike, Travers herself hated the film, particularly the animated sequences. She subsequently refused to sell any more of her works to Disney.
In some respects, Disney seems like the perfect home for Marcel’s screenplay. They hold the rights to the actual film, and are able to bring their own knowledge of the real-life Disney to the project. On the other, it’s possible that the studio could get shy about showing its founder in any less than flattering light.
What do you think of this black listed script? If it does become a movie, how would Walt Disney be portrayed?