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p l travers

First Official Trailer Plus Photos and Thoughts on Saving Mr. Banks!

11 July 2013 by Suzannah Otis 4 Comments

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I cannot properly put into words how excited I am for Saving Mr. Banks. I have been saying, wishing, hoping for years that a movie about the behind-the-scenes-history of the Walt Disney Company. I have been fascinated since I was a small child with the man himself, Walt Disney, and since learning more and more as I grew up (well, physically anyway, mentally I’m probably still about 11 when it comes to Disney), I yearned for more and more knowledge about how things were done back then. It is rare that an empire is built who’s beginnings intrigue us so. I’m sure the first years of Coca-cola and Pepsi, and certainly Apple are interesting as well, but Walt Disney’s singular determination and devotion to making people happy and his never-ending drive to create new and never-been-experienced things is just a part of what makes him so well-loved.

Since no one is tackling his complete life story in movie-form, Saving Mr. Banks is the next best thing and when I first heard of its production, I believe tiny hearts formed in my eyes. I will admit I was a bit skeptical about Tom Hanks being able to step outside himself and become Walt Disney, and after seeing the trailer below, I kind of feel the same way, but I am still okay with it as I love Tom Hanks as he is. So if anyone was to portray the beloved Uncle Walt, I feel it is him. And after seeing Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak as the Sherman brothers, I am head over heels in love. Emma Thompson of course does an amazing job of the not-so-jolly P.L. Travers and I think is another perfect fit. Let’s watch the trailer below and let me know in the comments what you think!

 


Trailer: Saving Mr. Banks on Disney Video

Thoughts? Here are some more official photos released from the movie studio as well. It was fun to hear that many of the extras cast in the film are actual Disneyland cast members. A lovely touch. More than just excitement for the actors and the film itself, the story of Saving Mr. Banks seems to be a wonderfully heartwarming look at the inner workings of P.L. Travers resistance and final agreement to give over the rights for Mary Poppins. It’s such a wonderful look behind the scenes at a film beloved by all. It’s hard to imagine it almost never was, and knowing that only because of Walt Disney’s persistence and creativity in persuasion do we have such a classic, is a wonderful monument to the man he was. Saving Mr. Banks is set to release on December 20, 2013. See you at the movies! 

 

Saving Mr. Banks
Tom Hanks channeling Uncle Walt.

 

Saving Mr. Banks
Extras in vintage 50’s attire, walk down Main Street, U.S.A. – many of them real Disneyland Cast Members!
Saving Mr. Banks
The first “official” production photo from Saving Mr. Banks was released yesterday.

 

 

P.L. Travers Saving Mr. Banks
This photo seems to be from the filming of the iconic Mary Poppins movie premier, with actors to the left and right of Emma Thompson representing Dick Van Dyke and Jule Andrews. (source: imdb.com)
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Filed Under: Disney News, Movies & Books, Top Stories Tagged With: BJ Novak, cast members, Disneyland, disneyland cast, emma thompson, jason schwartzman, mr banks, p l travers, Saving Mr. Banks, Saving Mr. Banks trailer, sherman brothers, tom hanks, Walt Disney, walt disney company

Production Begins on Saving Mr. Banks-Story of Walt Disney Making Mary Poppins

20 September 2012 by Suzannah Otis 1 Comment

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Walt-Disney-P.L.-Travers
Walt Disney with P.L. Travers and some little friends

When I first heard rumors of a film being made based on the arduous twenty-year attempt of Walt Disney to obtain the film rights and subsequently produce the Mary Poppins story, I didn’t want to get my hopes up. It is a well-known bit of history that author P.L. Travers was not too keen on signing over her rights, and quite picky about filming and production. Now that this rumor is a reality, I am beyond excited and thrilled!

While I have always had an extreme interest in all things Disney, it’s really only been since I was an adult, and really the past few years, that I developed a love of anything Disney history-related. After attending several Disney D23 fan events and hearing original Imagineers and animators speak, I have longed for a behind-the-scenes story of the Walt Disney Company’s early history and the personalities that made it what it was.

I will still hope for that Walt Disney bio pic, but understand with the restraints on the company today, we may never get an accurate film with all the juicy details Disney nerds live for. The next best thing would be a film covering a certain aspect of company history, and Saving Mr. Banks seems to fit that bill. Tom Hanks will be a perfect Walt Disney and I cannot wait to see how he does Uncle Walt justice. The film is shooting in Los Angeles and at the actual locations of much of the original history, which also makes me ridiculously excited.

Here is the official press release detailing the production and those behind it:

Two-time Academy Award®-winner Tom Hanks (“Philadelphia,” “Forrest Gump”) will essay the role of the legendary Disney (the first time the entrepreneur has ever been depicted in a dramatic film) alongside fellow double Oscar®-winner Emma Thompson (“Howard’s End,” “Sense and Sensibility”) in the role of the prickly novelist.  Before actually signing away the book’s rights, Travers’ demands for contractual script and character control circumvent not only Disney’s vision for the film adaptation, but also those of the creative team of screenwriter Don DaGradi and sibling composers Richard and Robert Sherman, whose original score and song (Chim-Chim-Cher-ee) would go on to win Oscars® at the 1965 ceremonies (the film won five awards of its thirteen nominations).

          When Travers travels from London to Hollywood in 1961 to finally discuss Disney’s desire to bring her beloved character to the motion picture screen (a quest he began in the 1940s as a promise to his two daughters), Disney meets a prim, uncompromising sexagenarian not only suspect of the impresario’s concept for the film, but a woman struggling with her own past.  During her stay in California, Travers’ reflects back on her childhood in 1906 Australia, a trying time for her family which not only molded her aspirations to write, but one that also inspired the characters in her 1934 book.

            None more so than the one person whom she loved and admired more than any other—her caring father, Travers Goff, a tormented banker who, before his untimely death that same year, instills the youngster with both affection and enlightenment (and would be the muse for the story’s patriarch, Mr. Banks, the sole character that the famous nanny comes to aide).  While reluctant to grant Disney the film rights, Travers comes to realize that the acclaimed Hollywood storyteller has his own motives for wanting to make the film—which, like the author, hints at the relationship he shared with his own father in the early 20th Century Midwest.

walt-disney-pl-travers
Julie Andrews, Walt Disney and P.L. Travers

            Colin Farrell (“Minority Report,” “Total Recall”) co-stars as Travers’ doting dad, Goff, along with British actress Ruth Wilson (the forthcoming films “The Lone Ranger” and “Anna Karenina”) as his long-suffering wife, Margaret; Oscar® and Emmy® nominee Rachel Griffiths (“Six Feet Under,” “Hilary and Jackie,” “The Rookie”) as Margaret’s sister, Aunt Ellie (who inspired the title character of Travers’ novel); and a screen newcomer—11-year-old Aussie native Annie Buckley as the young, blossoming writer, nicknamed “Ginty” in the flashback sequences.

            The cast also includes Emmy® winner Bradley Whitford (“The West Wing,” “The Cabin in the Woods”) as screenwriter Don DaGradi; Jason Schwartzman (“Rushmore,” “Moonrise Kingdom”) and B.J. Novak (“NBC’s “The Office,” “Inglourious Basterds”) as the songwriting Sherman Brothers (Richard and Robert, respectively); Oscar® nominee and Emmy winner Paul Giamatti (“Sideways,” “Cinderella Man,” HBO’s “John Adams”) as Ralph, the kindly limousine driver who escorts Travers during her two-week stay in Hollywood; and multi-Emmy winner Kathy Baker (“Picket Fences,” “Edward Scissorhands”) as Tommie, one of Disney’s trusted studio associates.

            “Saving Mr. Banks” will be directed by John Lee Hancock (“The Blind Side,” “The Rookie”) based on a screenplay by Kelly Marcel (creator of FOX-TV’s “Terra Nova”), from a story by Sue Smith (“Brides of Christ,” “Bastard Boys”) and Kelly Marcel.  The film is being produced by Alison Owen of Ruby Films (the Oscar®-nominated “Elizabeth,” HBO’s Emmy®-winning “Temple Grandin”), Ian Collie of Essential Media (the Aussie TV documentary “The Shadow of Mary Poppins,” DirecTV’s “Rake”) and longtime Hancock collaborator Philip Steuer (“The Rookie,” “The Chronicles of Narnia” trilogy).  The film’s executive producers are Ruby Films’ Paul Trijbits (“Lay the Favorite,” “Jane Eyre”), Hopscotch Features’ Andrew Mason (“The Matrix” trilogy, “Dark City”) and Troy Lum (“Mao’s Last Dancer,” “I, Frankenstein”) and BBC Films’ Christine Langan (Oscar® nominee for “The Queen,” “We Need to Talk About Kevin”).

            Hancock’s filmmaking team includes a trio of artists with whom he worked on his 2009 Best Picture Oscar® nominee, “The Blind Side”—two-time Oscar® nominated production designer Michael Corenblith (“How The Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Apollo 13”), Emmy®-winning costume designer Daniel Orlandi (HBO’s “Game Change,” “Frost/Nixon”) and film editor Mark Livolsi, A.C.E. (“Wedding Crashers” “The Devil Wears Prada”).  Hancock also reunites with Academy Award®-nominated cinematographer John Schwartzman (“Seabiscuit,” “Pearl Harbor”), with whom he first worked on his inspiring 2002 sports drama, “The Rookie.”

            “Saving Mr. Banks” will film entirely in the Los Angeles area, with key locations to include Disneyland in Anaheim and the Disney Studios in Burbank.  Filming will conclude around Thanksgiving, 2012, with no specific 2013 release date yet set.

What do you think of Saving Mr. Banks? Will you be first in line with a spoonful of sugar when it’s released?

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Filed Under: Disney News, Official Disney Tagged With: Disney history, emma thompson, Mary Poppins production film, mr banks, p l travers, Saving Mr. Banks, tom hanks, Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, Walt Disney, walt disney company

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