Everyone knows Mary Poppins, but it’s unlikely that everyone knows the story of its long and bumpy road into production. It seems Disney plans to rectify that with Saving Mr. Banks, the upcoming drama that stars Tom Hanks as Walt Disney and Emma Thompson as ‘Mary Poppins’ author P.L. Travers. Walt Disney tried to adapt ‘Mary Poppins’ for the screen as early as 1938, but it took more than twenty years for its reluctant author to finally relent. The film follows Disney’s journey in obtaining the rights and bringing Mary Poppins to life (with lots of resistance from Travers in both cases), as well as a look back into Travers’ childhood.
You can check out the trailer here:
It’s hard to deny Saving Mr. Banks’ innate Disney charm, and a look back into how the studio (and Disneyland!) functioned in the 1960s is sure to be fascinating. Hanks’ turn as Walt Disney is also the first-ever big-screen portrayal of the animation icon, which in itself is probably worth a watch. But the trailer makes one serious error- it gives far too much away. Yes, the film is based on a true story, so anyone could potentially look up the exact how’s, where’s and why’s of the story, but even biographical trailers might want to leave a little bit to the imagination.
Saving Mr. Banks opens December 20, 2014, and stars Hanks and Thompson as well as Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzman and B. J. Novak.
