I watched this over the weekend. It’s the 20 year struggle Disney had with the author Travers about making Mary Poppins into a movie. And to quote Diane Keaton it “wasn’t a pretty sight.” Travers came from a tragic childhood shown in flashbacks. Her adored father was unable to conquer his alcoholism and made his family’s life quite shaky.
She had a neurotic love for the book and couldn’t stand the idea of any changes that would happen by turning it into a movie. Disney is almost unbelievably gallant in his attempt to convince her it would still be her story. And so the struggle goes. It’s my guess that her need for money, alluded to at the beginning, was the final straw, although the movie makes it a one last ditch attempt by Disney to humanize Travers by acknowledging that her childhood was less than ideal.