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 (film) of the Travers–Disney correspondence is part of the Travers collection of papers in the Mitchell Library of New South Wales, Australia. The relationship between Travers and Disney is detailed in "Mary Poppins She Wrote", a biography of Travers, by Valerie Lawson. The biography is the basis for two documentaries on Travers, "The Real Mary Poppins", and Lisa Matthews' "The Shadow of Mary Poppins". Their relationship during the development of the film was also dramatized in the 2013 film "Saving Mr. Banks". Julie Andrews, who was making her feature film acting debut after a successful stage career, got the prime role