Mary Poppins (film) Banks as a junior partner. With her work done, Mary Poppins flies away, with Bert bidding her farewell, telling her not to stay away too long. The first novel in the "Mary Poppins" series was the film's main basis. According to the 40th Anniversary DVD release of the film in 2004, Disney's daughters fell in love with the "Mary Poppins" books and made him promise to make a film based on them. Disney first attempted to purchase the film rights to "Mary Poppins" from P. L. Travers as early as 1938 but was rebuffed because Travers did not believe a
Mary Poppins Returns script. On February 18, 2016, Emily Blunt was cast in the film to play the title role in the sequel. On February 24, 2016, Lin-Manuel Miranda was cast in the film to play Jack, a lamplighter. In April 2016, Disney confirmed that the film was in development and that Blunt and Miranda had been cast in the lead roles. In May, Disney announced the film's title as "Mary Poppins Returns". By July 2016, Meryl Streep had entered negotiations to join the cast to play cousin Topsy, and in the following month, Ben Whishaw in negotiations to play the grownup Michael