Cinema trips are often rare in my life. I know that's unusual, being that I'm a media student and all, but I also have a strong Christian faith and a lot of films produced nowadays heavily feature violence, sex and profanity, so whenever I see a film advertised, it has to be one that I really want to see and know that it will be entertaining.Saving Mr Banks was one of them. Being a fan of Disney and of course Walt Disney who I think is an absolute creative genius, I did not hesitate to go and see the film on its' opening weekend.
Saving Mr Banks is an Australian-British author P.L Travers, who is most famous for writing the Mary Poppins books. Walt Disney has been chasing after the author for 20 years, after making a promise to his daughters, who's favourite book was Mary Poppins that he would turn her creation into a film. Travers initially rejects Disney's proposal, however due to lack of money and her books not selling as well she has no choice but to go over to LA for 2 weeks to discuss the making of her book into a Disney film.
P.L Travers is played by British actress Emma Thompson and Walt Disney played by Tom Hanks. Both portray these two creative minds very well and although they have to very different views, there is a chemistry there between them, which seems to make it work very well together.
Travers meets the creative team behind Mary Poppins, including songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman (this was the first project they worked on). She is initially horrified to find out that Mary Poppins will be made into a musical and insists that "Mary Poppins does not sing." Travers also meets the screen-writer Don DaGradi and reminds him that he is co-screen writer and she will have her say in how the film is to be run. Immediately things start to go wrong for the creative team as Travers basically opposes of everything they suggest, from how the Banks' house looks to Dick Van Dyke being cast as Bert. She also almost never approves of the songs penned by the Sherman brothers. One amusing scene in the film has the Sherman Brothers play the opening song in the film and sings a line "the constable's responstable now how does that sound?", while Travers replies, "No! No! No! 'Responstable is not a word'. The Sherman Brothers gleefully say, "We made it up", as if very proud of their efforts, however Travers, unimpressed replies: "Well un-make it up." The Sherman Brothers then hide their sheet music to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Phew, now that's a word and a half to say! While she struggles with the team at Disney between having to choose between granting the rights to the film or losing her home, she thinks back to her childhood in 1906 in Australia and how the characters of Mary Poppins was based on her real life family, particularly her father Travers Goff (played by Colin Farrell) an alcoholic who kept on having to move his family around due to job and drink problems. These flashback sequences tug at the heart strings and there will not be a dry eye in the house.
Travers, after hearing about Disney's own personal childhood and his relationship with his father, Elias Disney, eventually agrees to hand her creation over to him, ensuring her that she "won't be disappointed." The film end's with the premiere taking place at the Grauman Chinese Theater in Los Angeles on August 27th 1964. Now according to online sources and through documentaries and interviews, P.L Travers called the film version of Mary Poppins 'vulgar' and 'disrespectful' and she vowed never to sign over the rights to the rest of her Mary Poppins books ever again, despite Disney making several attempts to change her mind. However at the end of this film, there is a slightly different ending, which was made probably to soften down the character of P.L Travers and not show her as this spiteful witch that she really was. An interesting fact in the film and which actually happened in real life was that Travers was not invited to the premiere of Mary Poppins (Disney must have been fed up of her by that point and quite rightly so - the whole creative team who worked on Mary Poppins hated her guts). She flies back to Los Angeles from London and turns up in his office, asking him if her invitation got lost in the post. Walt Disney couldn't actually refuse her at that point so in the end she had to come along to the premiere. Well, I suppose without her books the Mary Poppins film wouldn't have been made in the first place.
I would rate Saving Mr Banks 5 out of 5 stars - it's moving, it's funny, interesting and the characters of Travers and Disney excellently portrayed by Hanks and Thompson, who seem to grasp their character's mannerisms really well. At the end credits, you actually hear the real P.L Travers' voice recorded on tape taking with Don DaGradi and the Sherman Brothers in 1961 and Emma Thompson had just captured her down to a tee - from her accent, to her harshness and her firmness in how things were to be done her way and not their way. However the funny thing is that most of the elements she definitely DID NOT want in the film, ended up being in the film - i.e. the animation sequences when Mary, Bert, Jane and Michael jump into the chalk painting, the 'Jolly Holiday with Mary' - remember that scene?
Saving Mr Banks is in cinemas now. Mary Poppins is available to buy on DVD.
