By Stephen Schochet
When you are in business every person you hire gets paid
before you do and it may take years, even decades before
you see a payoff. That was certainly the case with Walt
Disney who spent his whole working career dealing with
tough-minded bankers, demanding stockholders and difficult
employees, not that Walt himself was always a ball of
sunshine. But through his travails when Disney had a dream
he understood the perserverance needed to carry it through.
In 1944, Walt Disney went to his daughter's bedside to tuck
her in when he saw a book called Mary Poppins. "What's
this?" He asked her. "You should read it Daddy, it could be
a movie." Walt took her advice and was enthralled by the
idea of a Flying Nanny on the screen. However there was a
huge obstacle to his plans, the author Pamela Travers. She
wanted Mary Poppins to have nothing to do with Hollywood,
let alone a cartoon-maker.
Over the next few years when Walt would travel to England to
make films like Treasure Island, he would pay visits to Mrs.
Travers charming her with his personality and telling her
about his inspiring ideas for Mary Poppins if it ever was
made into a film. Finally after 16 years the author gave in
to him.
The next question was who should play Mary who was kind of a
frumpy character like her creator. Walt wanted Betty Davis
but she was unavailable, so he decided to change direction
with a younger, more attractive actress. His secretary
suggested the Broadway star of My Fair Lady, Julie Andrews.
Walt chose her after watching her performance in Camelot and
being impressed by her
loud clear whistle. She chose Walt after Jack Warner
rejected her for the My Fair Lady movie, claiming the
actress was unphotogenic.
After years of being more personally involved with
Disneyland and less on movies, Walt's personal touch was
involved with every aspect of Mary Poppins. Ever since
filming Treasure Island there he fallen in love with London,
to Mary Poppins he added the sidewalk painting fantasy
sequence, the one-man band and the amazing chimney sweep
dance over the rooftops. Most important, Walt was the model
for the character of the father, an impatient man with a
gruff exterior
who sometimes could not see past his own problems but was a
nice guy underneath it all, and had big
problem's with banks.
Walt Disney's long perseverance paid off, critically and
financially Mary Poppins was the greatest success of his
life. This was in 1964, 20 years after he read the book and
two years before he passed away. Julie Andrews even
received Jack Warner's vote towards her academy award for
best actress! The stockolders, bankers and employees were
almost as thrilled as Walt himself.
Stephen Schochet is the author and narrator of two highly
acclaimed audiobooks "Fascinating Walt Disney" and "Tales Of
Hollywood". Hear RealAudio samples at of these inspiring
and entertaining productions at
www.hollywoodstories.com.