Research - Directors: Robert Stevenson

Who was Robert Stevenson?
Robert Stevenson (1905-1986) was an English film writer and director. He was educated at Cambridge University. After directing some British films, he moved to Hollywood. He ended up directing a total of 19 films for Walt Disney.

Robert Stevenson

Mary Poppins (1964)
Mary Poppins won Stevenson The Blue Ribbon Award for Best Foreign Film as well as nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director and the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures.

Mary Poppins (Original Theatrical Trailer, 1964)

Walt Disney's daughters adored the book, so he promised to turn it into a film for them. Disney first attempted to purchase rights to the film in 1938, but this did not work as P.L Travers believed a film adaptation of Mary Poppins would not do her novels justice. As well as this, Walt Disney had a reputation as a producer of cartoons and had not yet made a live action movie. Disney succeeded in purchasing rights in 1961, but Travers got script approval rights. The Sherman Brothers composed the music and suggested that the movie should be set in the Edwardian Era as opposed to the 1930s. Pre production and composing the music took approximately two years.
Travers was an adviser to the production. She did not like that Mary Poppins was characterized as less harsh, and hated the animated aspects. Disney cited contract stipulations that he had final say in order to overrule her.

Julie Andrews won the main role of Mary Poppins after her successful stage career. It was her acting debut. When Disney first approached her with the role, Julie was three months pregnant and so was unsure whether to take it. He assured that the crew would be fine with waiting until she had given birth. Playing the role meant that Julie went on to win both  the Best Actress Award at the Golden Globes and the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Disney cast Dick Van Dyke for the role of Bert after seeing The Dick Van Dyke Show. It is said that Van Dyke wanted the role of Mr Dawes, the director of the bank where Mr Banks works. He was eventually also credited as Mr Dawes Sr. having played the part.

Filming occurred between May and September 1963. Post production and animation took a further 11 months.
The film was released on 27 August 1964 in the United States and 23 December 1964 in the UK. It had a budget of $6,000,000 and took $102.3 million at the box office.

Image source: Wikipedia