“ I would describe Walt Disney as a ‘ twinkly person .’ He had a kind of cheerful merriment in his eyes . He didn ’ t roar with laughter or anything like that , but there was a kind of bubbliness about him .”
- Julie Andrews
MARY POPPINS ’ WORLD : When a woman descends from the sky on an umbrella , you should listen to what she has to say .
Walt Disney World is not a subtle place . The whole experience screams happiness . Every detail , down to the leg hair on an Audio-Animatronic pirate , is designed for us to escape the real world .
Walt Disney created this magical world , so it would be easy to assume that Walt himself would have been a loud , boisterous , not-so-subtle person . He built this idyllic place that many of us wish was reality , after all . Despite that , Walt is often described as a serious worker , driven , and even complicated . So what did Julie Andrews see that inspired her to call him … twinkly ?
In 1938 , Walt read the book , Mary Poppins , to his daughters . Diane and Sharon must have responded to the book with glee , as Disney later decided to make this story into a film .
The author of Mary Poppins , P . L . Travers , wasn ’ t so sure . Just as Walt created WDW , Travers created Mary Poppins . This story was her world . She needed to know that Walt Disney was about more than just eye-popping entertainment — that he would be a good steward of her story .