Mary Poppins in 2004, Walt 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 film version of her books would do justice to her creation and did not want an animated cartoon based on it. The books had been a favourite of Disney's daughters when they were children, and he finally succeeded in purchasing the rights in 1961, although Travers demanded and got script approval rights. The relationship between Travers and Disney is detailed in "Mary Poppins She Wrote", a biography of Travers,
Mary Poppins to go fly it outside. Though this is not the character specifically created in the books, he is represented well. Though he came across as brash and harsh and remained that way in the books, Disney felt that would be a pessimistic persona to portray. In the 1964 Disney film he is portrayed by David Tomlinson. The title of the film "Saving Mr. Banks" (as explained in dialogue at the film's climax) arises from the interpretation that Mary Poppins is actually not there to save the children, but to save their father. The film surmises that Travers wrote the Mary