Walt Disney Pictures released the first trailer yesterday for it’s upcoming film, “Saving Mr. Banks” (to premiere December, 2013) which tells the fascinating story of how Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) obtained the rights to “Mary Poppins” from the books’ irascible author P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson). Mary Poppins, the magical film as well as the books upon which the film was based, has been the favorite in our home for years and the release of “Saving Mr. Banks” has our family very excited.
Our love for “Mary Poppins” began when our eldest daughter was 4-years old and requested that our entire family dress up as the film’s characters for Halloween. This was followed by a “Mary Poppins”-themed birthday party complete with a visit from the fastidious nanny herself and a carousel cake that took me several days to bake and assemble. The two older girls’ first Broadway show came next with a practically perfect day seeing “Mary Poppins” come to life on stage.
When I first watched the trailer for “Saving Mr. Banks” I had goosebumps. In this brief glimpse into the movie it is apparent that Tom Hanks has fully embodied the adventurous and creative spirit of Walt Disney, depicted in film for the first time. Emma Thompson clearly had the greater challenge of portraying the petulant Travers as she is courted by Walt Disney and his team of magic makers in their attempts to convince her to allow them to bring her beloved nanny to the silver screen.
From the Walt Disney Pictures’ press release:
Two-time Academy Award®–winner Emma Thompson and fellow double Oscar®-winner Tom Hanks topline Disney’s “Saving Mr. Banks,” inspired by the extraordinary, untold backstory of how Disney’s classic “Mary Poppins” made it to the screen.
When Walt Disney’s daughters begged him to make a movie of their favorite book, P.L. Travers’ “Mary Poppins,” he made them a promise—one that he didn’t realize would take 20 years to keep. In his quest to obtain the rights, Walt comes up against a curmudgeonly, uncompromising writer who has absolutely no intention of letting her beloved magical nanny get mauled by the Hollywood machine. But, as the books stop selling and money grows short, Travers reluctantly agrees to go to Los Angeles to hear Disney’s plans for the adaptation.
For those two short weeks in 1961, Walt Disney pulls out all the stops. Armed with imaginative storyboards and chirpy songs from the talented Sherman brothers, Walt launches an all-out onslaught on P.L. Travers, but the prickly author doesn’t budge. He soon begins to watch helplessly as Travers becomes increasingly immovable and the rights begin to move further away from his grasp.
It is only when he reaches into his own childhood that Walt discovers the truth about the ghosts that haunt her, and together they set Mary Poppins free to ultimately make one of the most endearing films in cinematic history.
Disney presents “Saving Mr. Banks,” directed by John Lee Hancock, produced by Alison Owen, Ian Collie and Philip Steuer, and written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith. Executive producers are Paul Trijbits, Andrew Mason, Troy Lum and Christine Langan. The film will release in U.S. theaters on December 13, 2013, limited, and open wide on December 20, 2013.
Can’t wait to see this one!
And check out this fantastic piece from the Life & Letters section of the New Yorker (2005) “Becoming Mary Poppins” by Caitlin Flanagan.
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/12/19/051219fa_fact1
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