Although Walt Disney built his company based on the success of his cartoons, his company also produced many live action movies during the fifties and sixties. One of their biggest hits was Mary Poppins, a movie which I also loved watching when I was growing up. Who would not want to have someone in their home who was able to do the things she does? But with every movie, there is also a story about how that movie got made and in the case of Mary Poppins it was a very difficult one. Walt Disney loved the books about the character and had contacted its writer, P. L. Travers, to allow him to turn that book into a movie. She was very protective of the character she had created and refused Disney the rights, because she thought that a film would not do the books justice. For more than 20 years Disney kept trying to convince her he could do it. In Saving Mr. Banks we see that struggle of trying to secure the rights, but also the creation of a classic Disney movie about a magical nanny. Continue reading →