Editing P. L. Travers (section)

== ''Mary Poppins'' ==
In 1926, Travers published a short story, "Mary Poppins and the Match Man", which introduced the nanny character of Mary Poppins and Bert the street artist.<ref>Valerie Lawson, ''Mary Poppins, She Wrote: The Life of P. L. Travers'', 2005, p. 100.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.marypoppinsandthematchman.com/|title=Portfolio - Webflow HTML website template|website=www.marypoppinsandthematchman.com}}</ref> Published in London in 1934, the children's book ''Mary Poppins'' was Travers' first literary success. Seven sequels followed, the last in 1988, when Travers was 89.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Cullinan|first1=Bernice E|title=Encyclopedia of Children's Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0LyutQg6mroC&pg=PA784|page=784|date=2005|publisher=Continuum|isbn=978-0-82641778-7|access-date=9 November 2012|last2=Person|first2=Diane Goetz}}</ref>

While appearing as a guest on [[BBC Radio 4]]'s radio programme ''[[Desert Island Discs]]'' in May 1977, Travers revealed that the name "M. Poppins" originated from childhood stories that she contrived for her sisters, and that she was still in possession of a book from that era with this name inscribed within.<ref name="desisldisc">{{cite web|date=21 May 1977|title=P L Travers <!-- |first=Roy|last=Plomley -->|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/8f6bfcfc|work=Desert Island Discs|publisher=[[BBC Radio 4]]}} Audio recording of the episode featuring Travers with Roy Plumley.</ref> Travers's great-aunt, Helen Morehead, who lived in [[Woollahra]], [[Sydney]], and used to say "Spit spot, into bed," is a likely inspiration for the character.<ref>{{cite news|last=McDonald|first=Shae|date=18 December 2013|title=PL Travers biographer Valerie Lawson says the real Mary Poppins lived in Woollahra|newspaper=Wentworth Courier|publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)]] [dailytelegraph.com.au]|location=Sydney|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/city-east/pl-travers-biographer-valerie-lawson-says-the-real-mary-poppins-lived-in-woollahra/story-fngr8h22-1226785728393}}</ref><ref name="nance">{{cite news|last=Nance|first=Kevin|date=20 December 2013|title=Valerie Lawson talks ''Mary Poppins, She Wrote'' and P.L Travers: Biography reveals original character's sharp edge|page=2|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/12/20/valerie-lawson-talks-mary-poppins-she-wrote-and-pl-travers/|access-date=12 January 2014}} <!--content identical to another with different title and date 19 December; see TALK#ref name=nance --></ref>

=== Disney version ===
{{main|Mary Poppins (film)}}
The [[Musical film|musical]] [[film adaptation]] ''Mary Poppins'' was released by [[Walt Disney Pictures]] in 1964. Primarily based on the original 1934 novel of the same name, it also lifted elements from the 1935 sequel ''Mary Poppins Comes Back''. The novels were loved by Disney's daughters when they were children, and Disney spent 20 years trying to purchase the film rights to ''Mary Poppins'', which included visits to Travers at her home in London.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/saving-mr-banks-true-story-walt-disneys-battle-make-mary-poppins/ "Saving Mr Banks: the true story of Walt Disney's battle to make Mary Poppins"]. ''The Telegraph''. Retrieved 17 May 2017</ref> In 1961, Travers arrived in Los Angeles on a flight from London, her first-class ticket having been paid for by Disney, and finally agreed to sell the rights, in no small part because she was financially in dire straits.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/dec/07/pl-travers-saving-mr-banks-original-mary-poppins "What Saving Mr Banks tells us about the original Mary Poppins"]. ''The Guardian''. Retrieved 17 May 2017</ref> Travers was an adviser in the production, but she disapproved of the Poppins character in its Disney version; with harsher aspects diluted, she felt ambivalent about the music and she so hated the use of animation that she ruled out any further adaptations of the series.<ref name="newman">{{cite news|last=Newman|first=Melinda|date=7 November 2013|title=''Poppins'' Author a Pill No Spoonful of Sugar Could Sweeten: Tunesmith Richard Sherman recalls studio's battles with Travers to bring Disney classic to life|newspaper=Variety|url=https://variety.com/2013/music/features/poppins-author-a-pill-no-spoonful-of-sugar-could-sweeten-1200802019|access-date=7 November 2013}}</ref> She received no invitation to the film's star-studded premiere until she "embarrassed a Disney executive into extending one". At the after-party, she said loudly, "Well. The first thing that has to go is the animation sequence." Disney replied, "Pamela, the ship has sailed."

Travers so disliked the Disney adaptation and the way she felt she had been treated during the production that when producer [[Cameron Mackintosh]] approached her years later about making the [[Mary Poppins (musical)|British stage musical]], she acquiesced only on conditions that British writers alone and no one from the original film production were to be directly involved.<ref name="ouzounian">{{cite news|last=Ouzounian|first=Richard|date=13 December 2013|title=P L Travers might have liked Mary Poppins onstage|newspaper=The Toronto Star|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/2013/12/13/pl_travers_might_have_liked_mary_poppins_onstage.html|access-date=6 March 2014}}</ref><ref name="rainey">{{cite news|last=Rainey|first=Sarah|date=29 November 2013|title=Saving Mr Banks: The true story of PL Travers|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10483126/Saving-Mr-Banks-The-true-story-of-PL-Travers.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10483126/Saving-Mr-Banks-The-true-story-of-PL-Travers.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |access-date=14 May 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> That specifically excluded the [[Sherman Brothers]] from writing additional songs for the production. However, original songs and other aspects from the 1964 film were allowed to be incorporated into the production.<ref name="rochlin1">{{cite news|last=Rochlin|first=Margy|date=6 December 2013|title=A Spoonful of Sugar for a Sourpuss: Songwriter Recalls P. L. Travers, ''Mary Poppins'' Author|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/movies/songwriter-recalls-p-l-travers-mary-poppins-author.html|access-date=14 May 2015}}</ref> Those points were later stipulated in her last will and testament.<ref name="norman">{{cite news|last=Norman|first=Neil|date=14 April 2012|title=The real Mary Poppins|newspaper=Daily Express|url=http://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/314394/The-real-Mary-Poppins|access-date=14 May 2015}}</ref><ref name="erbland">{{cite web|last=Erbland|first=Kate|date=26 December 2013|title=The Dark, Deep and Dramatic True Story of ''Saving Mr. Banks''|url=http://www.film.com/movies/the-true-story-of-saving-mr-banks|access-date=14 May 2015|website=Film.com|archive-date=5 January 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160105050720/http://www.film.com/movies/the-true-story-of-saving-mr-banks}}</ref>

In the 1977 interview on the BBC's ''Desert Island Discs'', Travers remarked about the film, "I've seen it once or twice, and I've learned to live with it. It's glamorous and it's a good film on its own level, but I don't think it is very like my books."<ref>{{cite web|title=Saving Mr Banks (2013): Did the real P L Travers weep at the Mary Poppins movie premiere?|url=http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/saving-mr-banks.php|access-date=1 March 2020|publisher=History vs Hollywood}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009mzp2|title=Desert Island Discs: P L Travers|date=23 May 1977|time=17:02|access-date=1 March 2020|work=BBC Radio 4}}</ref>

=== Later films ===
The 2013 film ''[[Saving Mr. Banks]]'' is a dramatised retelling of both the working process during the planning of ''Mary Poppins'' and of Travers's early life, drawing parallels with ''Mary Poppins'' and that of the author's childhood. The film stars [[Emma Thompson]] as {{nowrap|P. L. Travers}} and [[Tom Hanks]] as [[Walt Disney]]. Thompson considered it the most challenging of her career because she had "never really played anyone quite so contradictory or difficult before,"<ref>{{cite interview|last=Thompson|first=Emma|interviewer=Dave Davies|url=https://www.npr.org/2014/01/09/261044820/not-so-cheery-disposition-emma-thompson-on-poppins-cranky-creator|title=Not-So-Cheery Disposition: Emma Thompson on Poppins' Cranky Creator|work=Fresh Air|publisher=NPR|date=9 January 2014|access-date=16 April 2021|archive-date=16 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416033506/https://www.npr.org/2014/01/09/261044820/not-so-cheery-disposition-emma-thompson-on-poppins-cranky-creator|url-status=live}}</ref> but found the complicated character "a blissful joy to embody."<ref>Thompson, Emma (24 November 2014). [http://static.bafta.org/files/emma-thompson-a-life-in-pictures-transcript-195-piccadilly-24-november-2013-2101.pdf Interview with Boyd Hilton] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305074533/http://static.bafta.org/files/emma-thompson-a-life-in-pictures-transcript-195-piccadilly-24-november-2013-2101.pdf |date=5 March 2016 }}. London. A Life in Pictures. BAFTA</ref>

In 2018, 54 years after the release of the original Mary Poppins film, a sequel was released titled ''[[Mary Poppins Returns]]'', with [[Emily Blunt]] starring as Mary Poppins. The film, in which Mary Poppins returns to help Jane and Michael one year after a family tragedy, is set 25 years after the events of the first film.