<P> The film received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture with Julie Andrews winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Mary Poppins . The film won an additional four Oscars for Best Original Song ("Chim Chim Cher - ee"), Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects and Best Original Score . The movie takes place in the year 1910 . </P> <P> In 1983, the story was adapted by the Soviet Union's Mosfilm studios into the Russian - language TV musical film Мэри Поппинс, до свидания! (Mary Poppins, Goodbye), starring Natalya Andreychenko (acting) and Tatyana Voronina (singing) as Mary Poppins, Albert Filozov as George Banks and Oleg Tabakov as Miss Andrew . </P> <P> Author P.L. Travers resisted selling the stage rights to the Mary Poppins stories for many years, as a result of her dislike of the 1964 film version, and her perception of being treated discourteously by Walt Disney at the film's premiere . </P> <P> Travers eventually agreed to sell the stage rights after being approached by London theatre producer Cameron Mackintosh . She acquiesced on the condition (expressed in her will) that only English - born writers--and no Americans, particularly anyone involved with the film production--were to be directly involved in the creative process of the stage musical . Despite her deep seated antipathy for the film, Travers would also eventually acquiesce to Mackintosh's insistence that the stage production be allowed to utilize the iconic Sherman Brothers' songs from the 1964 film . </P>

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