A Mary Poppins TV series is in the works but this won’t be the Disney version you remember

We met Mary Poppins on screen in the 1964 Disney film Mary Poppins, starring Julie Andrews as the titular character. The film was based on the novel series of the same name by P. L. Travers. However, Travers wasn't happy with the adaptation and had a fallout with Disney.

The sequel to the 1964 film, Mary Poppins Returns, came out much later in 2018, starring Emily Blunt in the titular role. Now, a Mary Poppins series is reportedly in development.

Everything we know about the Mary Poppins series so far

P. L. Travers wasn't a fan of the 1964 film because she felt that it had portrayed Mary to be a soft and always-caring woman, which she wasn't. As Deadline reports, a new Mary Poppins series is in development, and it won't be like the Disney version most of us remember.

While the 1964 film is well-loved, it isn't an accurate portrayal of Mary as Travers wrote her. In the books, Mary is stern and vain and isn't someone who is unnecessarily nice. Travers felt the film made her too pretty, sweet, and warm.

Moreover, Travers also did not like the blend of live-action and animation sequences and had requested Walt Disney to remove them, but he refused. She believed the film traded the sharp and subtle magic of the books for Hollywood sentimentality and musical numbers. Additionally, Travers was strictly against plot additions like turning Mrs. Banks into a suffragette and making up nonsensical words or rhyming slang.

As Deadline reports, Tom Winchester, who is known for producing Shōgun, The Capture, and Clickbait, is developing and producing the Mary Poppins series. The series will not stick to the story the 1964 film told but will return to the eight novels for source material. It will also reportedly show us the sides of Mary the film didn't portray. Moreover, we can also expect to see adventures that aren't just magical but also scary.

Winchester is making the series with permission from the people who manage P.L. Travers’ estate. He has obtained the rights to use her work and develop it into a series. However, he has received temporary permission and hasn't bought the rights outright.

Winchester is actively looking for the right showrunner, but one is yet to be finalized. Since the series is in its early stages of development, a concrete story or cast is yet to be confirmed. Pure Fiction Television is going to produce the series, but a network is yet to pick it up. The project does not currently need Disney’s permission to use the rights. However, since Disney has previously worked on the franchise, there's hope it might decide to get involved.

So far, there is no confirmation from Disney on whether it has agreed or denied being involved in the series. The project is still in the early stages when it is getting pitched to potential partners. Thus, a release date is yet to be confirmed. Stay tuned for more information.

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