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 (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