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Thread: PL Travers - Wrote Mary Poppins

  1. #1
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    PL Travers - Wrote Mary Poppins

    Her real name was Helen Goff and she was born in Australia in 8/09/1899. (DOD : 4/23/1996 although good writers never really die.)

    She and her sisters had a turbulent childhood due to her father's alcoholism, her family moving several times after he was demoted from bank manager to clerk, then fired. Eventually, he died of tuberculosis and Helen's mother moved the children to South Wales.

    Helen attended boarding school and began publishing her poems as a teen. She also wrote for newspapers. The pseudonym PL Travers comes not from writing but acting in plays until she emigrated to England in the 20's.

    She began writing Mary Poppins in 1933 and her first publisher was Peter Llewelyn Davies who was widely known to be the model for Peter Pan in his father's books. Ironic as Helen admired his those books greatly.

    The inspiration for Mary Poppins was an aunt who used to say to her and her sisters at night, "Spit, spot, into bed".

    Making the movie Mary Poppins became a huge tug of war between Mrs. Travers and Walt Disney. (She still owned the rights.) Working closely with Disney and his production company, she would challenge just about everything they proposed. They finally reached a compromise and the film was released. She was however, not invited to the premiere. She had to ask Walt Disney for permission. Everyone knew this was due to him worried there might be some public disagreement between them. There was disagreement but not loudly or blatantly in front of the public at the premiere.

    Mrs. Travers didn't like some aspects of the film. Most noteably, the animated penguins. Walt Disney replied quietly, "Mrs. Travers, that ship has sailed". She'd also required there be no color red in the film. Ofcourse there was it being set in England, lol.

    Seriously, this request came due to childhood trauma she suffered seeing blood everywhere at her beloved father's death bed. She loved her father, his wild imagination and whimsy until he died.

    Over the years Mrs. Travers (never married but people called her Mrs.) refused to work with Disney again. Although she later aquiessed to a Disney production of one of her novels on the grounds that it be produced in England with an English production crew, writers, musicians, et al. Surprisingly, later in life and in her last will and testament, she did allow a British stage production to use songs and other bits from the Disney adaptation.

    She wrote many more books than just Mary Poppins. And I'm sure all of that info is available on wikimawhosits. I'm only familiar with this story and portion of her life.

    She also adopted a son who I've heard has an interesting backstory of his own. But I don't know his name. No doubt that's on wikimawhosits too.
    .

  2. #2
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    Here's some info about the adoption of her son. http://www.irishexaminer.com/lifesty...ew-251767.html

    She was a very complicated woman, no doubt about it. Though I think "Saving Mr. Banks" made her image a little nicer than it actually was. She also wouldn't allow anyone 'American' to adapt the movie/books into a musical. In "Saving Mr. Banks" it shows her very mistily watching "Mary Poppins" at the end. It is a very moving sequence (I cried), but in reality she was NOT happy...

    "In the end, of the five Academy Awards won by “Mary Poppins,” two of them — for best original song and best score — went to the Shermans. But in 1993, when Travers agreed to the “Mary Poppins” stage musical eventually produced by Cameron Mackintosh, the brothers learned what she really thought of her time in Hollywood. In the contract for the London stage rights, she stipulated that no American would be allowed to participate in its making.
    Although the brothers were credited for the music and lyrics, officially “we couldn’t touch it,” Mr. Sherman said with a shrug."


    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/mo...thor.html?_r=0
    Last edited by Dulcinea; 06-30-2015 at 06:45 AM.


  3. #3
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    Yep and thanks for the info about her adopted son.

    Irony certainly was abundant in her life.
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