CraveOnline: When Disney came on board did you get access to stuff you didn’t have before, and could you write more detail?
Kelly Marcel: I mean, it changed absolutely everything. They came on board and they literally opened up the doors and they let me see everything. There’s nothing I couldn’t have looked at.
What was the biggest change [after that]?
The biggest change came from meeting Richard Sherman, because he was actually there. He was in the room, he could tell me exactly what went on. And also the tapes. So having those and Dick Sherman, and Dick telling me about Walt’s cadences and tones and movements and the coughing, and all of that stuff went in because of Richard Sherman. So I think the biggest changes happened with Walt because of Richard.
You’re talking about a lot of added details. Was there anything you found out you were wrong about? Like he would never have said this, or…
No.
No?
No, there really wasn’t.
You’re good.
I had done my work. You know, I was dealing with real people and I wanted to be as thorough as I could, but you know, there were changes but they were not significant in terms of, like, “This completely, completely didn’t happen.” So I was pretty lucky.
So were you a fan of the books before the movie…?
I was the movie…!
You’re a movie person.
I was a movie person.
So this is just…
It’s just you. You’re the only person!
I’m the odd one out! I keep talking to people! I’m sitting at a series of tables and like, “Who’s seen Mary Poppins?” Everyone raises their hands. “Who here has read Mary Poppins?” Thunk. “Aw, man…” I don’t know, they were so magical to me.
And I’ve read them now and I love them, but I hadn’t read them prior to working on this movie, so I was a movie person.
I just think it’s interesting…
It is!
…to see that so many people have this love of Mary Poppins…
And they don’t actually know what it is.
I’m worried that P.L. Travers is getting marginalized.
Aw…
That’s what scares me. I mean, it was a joke, but Tom Hanks referred to her as “Helena Gasbag” [at the press conference]…
[Laughs]
…and it was funny, and yeah, she was being very difficult in the creative process, but it was her baby.
Oh wait, but you haven’t heard those tapes.
How bad are the tapes? Does she swear?
She is… Compared to who she is on those tapes, she’s lovely in this film. So do not worry that she is being marginalized. She is being turned into a saint. She tortured them. She tortured them.
Did it seem like she was doing it on purpose, just to be difficult? Was it strength of conviction?
She was a difficult lady. Yes, I think in certain times she was doing it on purpose, on certain times she wasn’t. She just was incredibly complicated, and like Emma [Thompson] said in the press conference, she really never knew who you were going to get with her, and she was horrible! She was… If you’ve met Dick Sherman, he’s the nicest person on this planet.
I wish I could say I’ve met Dick Sherman.
Oh my god, he’s amazing. You can’t be horrible to Dick Sherman. It’s impossible. She was horrible to Dick Sherman. So, please don’t worry about her. She comes off like a saint.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
