Saving Mr. Banks is all about the making of Disney's Mary Poppins, and the feud that arose between Walt Disney and Mary Poppins' creator P.L. Travers over the making of the film. Long story short: Travers wanted the film to some dark, faithful to her original novel, and historically accurate to the book's Edwardian setting. And Disney wanted to make, well, a Disney film. As is the way with most Hollywood biographies, it looks like the tale was whitewashed somewhat, as in real life, Travers was still bitterly disappointed with the final film and refused to allow any of her other works to be filmed.
Also briefly touched upon in the trailer is that a good deal of the film is a biography on Travers, focusing on her childhood and her relationship with her father. Her father was the basis for the character of Mr. Banks in Mary Poppins.
For the film, Disney has assembled an all-star cast. Disney is being played by Tom Hanks. Travers is being played by Emma Thompson. B.J. Novak (still best remembered as Ryan on The Office) and Wes Anderson film regular Jason Schwartzman play legendary Disney songwriters the Sherman Brothers, Paul Giamatti plays Travers' assistant Ralph, British pop star and actress Victoria Summer plays Julie Andrews, and, in flashbacks, Colin Farrell plays Travers' father. Behind the cameras, the director is John Lee Hancock, who directed The Blind Side, aka that football movie that won Sandra Bullock her Oscar.
It looks interesting. As I said, I'm curious as to how much Disney has cleaned up the tale to make it more, well, Hollywood. Plus, also, thanks to Mad Men and the like, I'm just starting to love that whole 1960s aesthetic. I'm very, very curious.
We don't have a movie poster to share yet, but we do have this first official picture from the film. Walt Disney gives P.L. Travers a personal tour of Disneyland in an attempt to win her over.
Saving Mr. Banks hits theatres on December 13.
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