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| Tom Hanks as Disney, Emma Thompson as PL Travers in Saving Mr. Banks |
Just watched the trailer (scroll below to view) and am now officially looking forward to Saving Mr. Banks. The Disney movie starring Hanks as Walt himself reveals how Disney convinced a very reluctant P.L. (Pamela) Travers to sell the screen rights to the first of her series of childrens' books about Mary Poppins. Emma Thompson is the writer terrified the movie mogul would turn her heroine into a sugar-coated Disney cartoon character. Travers' Mary Poppins character was a darker sort than the beloved version Disney and Julie Andrews gave us; she wasn't crazy about all the song and dance either. I confess to loving that colorful 1964 rendition with all my heart; so much so that I coveted and received a Mary Poppins doll of my own.
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Just watching the trailer brings back memories, not just of Mary Poppins, but of those glorious early Disney days. MLH and I both remember being enthralled as Walt introduced each episode of his television show, especially when he shared 'an exciting new upcoming attraction'at Disneyland.
Take a look at the trailer and see what you think. Does it bring back memories to any fellow boomers out there? While I remember Walt's voice having more in common with the warmer, deeper tones of another Walt (Walter Cronkite); I think Hanks captures that old Disney magic twinkle I remember from my Sunday night perch on the carpet beautifully. Of course, I was a child and completely bought into his polished folksiness. I'm
eager to see how he used his 'magic' to seduce Ms. Travers into giving in!
Ms. Thompson, pulling her lower lip in persnickitty displeasure, looks perfectly cast as the writer rightly worried about how Walt might treat her creation. I'm really excited about the film exploring that dynamic, as well as more about Travers' background. Especially the bit about Mr. Banks being Travers' father, and Mary Poppins being a real nanny. We get a glimpse of the films' cast - Colin Farrel and Ruth Wilson as Travers' parents; BJ Novak and Jason Schwartzman as Robert and Richard Sherman, the songwriters Disney relied on for many of his musicals including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Jungle Book and The Aristrocrats. Wow! The music of our young lives! Bradley Whitford is Don DaGradi, a staff writer and Disney animator who co-wrote Mary Poppins with Bill Walsh - can't find Walsh in the Saving Mr. Banks imdb listing:( Hate it when they leave real people out for the sake of drama. Anyway, the movie features a huge cast and what looks to be a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious behind the scenes look at the journey from page to screen.