Most dreadful scenario


How is it in anyway close to original book? I'd say it's another brick in bloody Disney empire - no connection with original Mary Poppins as character or its moral issues. Better read the book and don't watch this Crap.

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TROLL ALERT!!












Dorothy stop that, Mr. Ha Ha`s lookin at you!!

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Hey, you, mr. Troll. Have u even read original book?

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Trolls prefer the books to the movie.

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Then you cant disagree that all that connects film with the book is the name. and thats is!

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Yes, I can. I can disagree with anything I want.

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What? It doesn't make any sence, what you are saying...sounds like "don't pee in my bucket"

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Actually,the plot of the movie is very faithful to the novels. All of the children's magical adventures come out of one or another of the books in P.L. Travers's series. The one plot point that differs from them is the most typically Disney part, the moral lesson about the relationship of the Banks parents with their children. In the era when Travers first began writing these books, it wouldn't have occurred to anyone that a father should go flying kites with his children. That was what nannies were for. As for Mr. Banks's job, all we hear about it in the books is that the children knew he made money, which presumably meant sitting in his office all day drawing pound notes and cutting out pennies and shillings.

The way in which the movie most drastically departs from the book is in softening and warming up Mary Poppins's character. In the novel, she was a rather terrifying authority figure, and when she scolded the children they trembled. That, again, was as people thought it should be post-Victorian England: children had to learn to obey adults, and one of the things that made Mary Poppins such an ideal nanny was that she could keep the children under control. From the point of view of the children, Mary Poppins was both the wicked witch and the magical fairy godmother, and they understood that although she could do wonderful things, they didn't dare cross her. That wouldn't have gone over well with mid-20th century American families, and so Disney grafted a more American concept of happy family life onto a story about upper-middle-class Britain of the early 20th century. I loved the movie and the books, but can also understand why Travers wasn't happy with the way her novels had been interpreted.

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Hey projectfun,
At heart, I agree with you, though you put it more strongly than I would have.

Bluntly, the movie doesn't come close to capturing the sense of the book, and I feel I can understand P.L. Travers' frustration at the process and the changes to what she'd created. I'm very much on her side in the controversy, and I feel that the pro-Disney mythology that's sprung up about it all, and especially the slanders that are flung at Travers and the complete misrepresentation of who she was and what she was trying to stand for, simply show how incapable many people are of understanding more than a single point of view.

That said, I have to admit that in its own style, on its own merits, the movie is extraordinary. *But* ... it's certainly not Travers' Mary Poppins. Does that matter? Absolutely.

And then there's the biopic Saving Mr Banks, which is propaganda from start to finish. I'm really disgusted at how many people think that it's all true, and on the basis of it are willing to say and believe the most outrageous things about Travers. The most cogent comment I've heard is from Victoria Coren-Mitchell, in her documentary on P.L. Travers: she also touched on the Mexican stand-off with Disney, and then at the end of the documentary went to see Saving Mr Banks, and her simple comment at the end of it was, "Well, they've done it to her again."

I can only hope that the release of both films on Blu-ray might lead people to read the books, though I suspect most people won't get what they're about, because they're not like Disney's version.



You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

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I totally agree with you. Its all just sad...

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How would you know? You obviously haven't read the original Mary Poppins or you would have referred to it as bookS. Plural.

No signature required

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How would you know? You obviously haven't read the original Mary Poppins or you would have referred to it as bookS. Plural.

Not at all. Your "obviously" is solely a matter of the conclusion you've jumped to.

I have read the books — even the "Kitchen" one. I referred to the book, singular, because Disney always considered the film the first of several intended adaptations, and saw it as primarily derived from the first novel, even though he included an incident and several ideas from later books.

So: did you even have a point?



You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

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Oh my goodness, it's Mrs. Travers reincarnated.

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[deleted]

How is it in anyway close to original book?


It's not. So what. It's a film loosely based on the characters and situations. It never claimed to be a 100% faithful film version of the book. In spite of very little faithfulness to the source material (thank goodness) it became one of the finest motion pictures ever made.

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All of this "not like the books" is nonsense. The truth is that no one would be reading Mary Poppins anymore if it wasnt for the movie-end of story. Just like Pinocchio and a countless list of other stories Disney developed. The ideal result is that kids today will be inspired to read the books after they see the movies. PL Travers owes a debt to Disney-he has given her immortality.

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I read all the Mary Poppins books after I saw the movie. I was only 8 or 9 when I did.

The only thing I recall as different was Mary Poppins was not young and pretty in the books. And the movie had an overall lightness that the books didn't. Otherwise, it was not far off.

It has been awhile, though.

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To Norman-Dostal,
PL Travers was a WOMAN! You referrred to her as a man. Watch "Saving Mr. Banks". That should clear it up for you.






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Umm, what are you talking about, Juliesef?? I don't see Norman-Dostal's post referring to Travers as a man...

Is this what you are talking about:
PL Travers owes a debt to Disney-he has given her immortality. ??

Then, the "he" in this sentence is referring to DISNEY not Travers. The "her" in this sentence is referring to Travers.

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He meant "Disney", you jackass, not Travers. Go and clean off your glasses.

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I have read the book and while the movie differs drastically from the book. In many ways it holds faithful. If the movie was darker than it would be similar to the book. The biggest difference I see is the warmth of Mary Poppins in the movie. In the book she is cold and unfeeling.

To call this movie "crap" is extreme. In fact, you calling this movie "crap" is poor judgment on your part. This is a great movie, one of the best. Just because it differs from the book does not make it "crap". By your logic, every movie made based off of a book is then "crap".

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it isn't, but to be fair, the books as they are are not really suitable to make a film. they are a series of unrelated episodes, there is no plot on which to base a film. And mRy Poppins in the books is so cold and severe and sometimes downright frightening, it is easy to understand why Disney felt the need to soften her character.

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