Mary Poppins & original novel

I saw MP, afew months ago and i thought it was brilliant. It was very disney. But, for those who have seen it, you know its not at all verbatim to the movie. The plot is very different. So i am asking, is the musical based on the original novel by P.L. travvers or was it an original concept by disney so it translates better onstage?

The stage version mixed the elements of the movie with the books. Most of the Disney movie is only based on the first books in the series, and the stage production changes some parts of the movie and incorporates them with elements of the book, like singing Supercal at Mrs. Corry's.

"I read somewhere that the movie strayed so far from the novel that P.L. Travers left the premier in tears."

According to a biography of Walt Disney that I just read, Travers approached him at the premiere and told him that, "It was a good first draft, that Andrews woman is ok, but Bert will have to be replaced."

According to the Disney bio "Magic Kingdom", the movie drew from seven chapters of the books. I don't know how many more the musical uses. I should really probably know since I just wrote a paper on the movie and musical and my professor for the class wrote the biography.

I know that in the books she does have more of an edge to her. And that she isn't as sweet as she comes of in the movies.

I do know that the show was trying to be a hybrid of the books and the movie.

I was at the lecture at Barns and Nobel which featured Brown and the guy that wrote the companion book to Mary Poppins. He said that they took elements from the book and had them lead into things that the audience knew and loved from the movies. An example would be Mrs. Correy and the talking shop which is from the books and have something from the movie like Supercal take place there.

The plot line about Mr. Banks almost loosing his job at the bank and all that was a story line that was created just for the musical and wasn't seen in either the books or the movie.

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I don't remember if Temper Temper completly came out of the books or it was an idea that came out of the books. I know that the general idea was to show Poppin's darker side and show the creative ways she punished kids as well as had fun with them.

I know that that is gotten more into in the books rather then the movie. As I said, I don't know if Temper Temper was a story line from the book or was based off the general idea that Poppins was more bitchy in the books then in the movie.

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I don't remember if Temper Temper completly came out of the books or it was an idea that came out of the books. I know that the general idea was to show Poppin's darker side and show the creative ways she punished kids as well as had fun with them.


Temper Temper is sorta based on a chapter in the original book called Bad Wednesday. I love the books and liked the fact that they used more of it. The Hole Jolly Holiday number is now from the book as well. I'd have to go back and check, but I think that all the ideas came from the first book.

metropolis10111, Thank you for clearing the whole thing up regarding Temper Temper.


It was said earlier in the thread that the movie was based on seven chapters of one of the books. Jolly Holiday could have easily been in one of those chapters.

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