Mary Poppins five books recount previously unrecorded adventures from her original three visits. As P. L. Travers explains in her introduction to "Mary Poppins in the Park", "She cannot forever arrive and depart." The books were adapted by Walt Disney into a musical film titled "Mary Poppins" (1964), starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. The film "Saving Mr. Banks" (2013) depicted the making of the 1964 film. In 2004, Disney Theatrical in collaboration with Cameron Mackintosh (who had previously acquired the stage rights from Travers) produced a stage musical also called "Mary Poppins" in London's West End theatre. The stage musical
Mary Poppins (film) film version of her books would do justice to her creation. In addition, Disney was known at the time primarily as a producer of cartoons and had yet to produce any major live-action work. For more than 20 years, Disney periodically made efforts to convince Travers to allow him to make a "Poppins" film. He finally succeeded in 1961, although Travers demanded and got script approval rights. The Sherman Brothers composed the music score and were also involved in the film's development, suggesting the setting be changed from the 1930s to the Edwardian era. Pre-production and song composition took about