Movie Review: Saving
Mr. Banks
For many Disney fans, they remember the childhood memory of growing up and watching the popular Disney film, “Mary Poppins”, which starred Julie Andrews. Now, the story behind Mary Poppins is being told through Disney, in the film, “Saving Mr. Banks” but what makes this film even more unique is actor Tom Hanks, portraying the man behind the Disney magic, Walt Disney.
The story focuses on Disney working on negotiations for a film portrayal of Mary Poppins after promising his children that he would. This task is not as simple as it seems when the author of Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers, played by Emma Thompson, is very protective of her work and having rules regarding the production of the film, which includes it not being a musical, not starring Dick Van Dyke, no use of the color red; no made-up words and no animation. We later see the inspiration behind how Mary Poppins came to be, particularly the character of Mr. Banks as we see flashbacks of Travers’s childhood (where she went by her real name Helen Lyndon Goff and her close relationship with her father. Travers’s childhood was not as practically perfect like her character of Poppins, as her father, played by Colin Farrell was ill and drinking excessively to relieve the pain while her mother suffered some sort of depression, leading her to try and commit suicide.
Seeing Travers’s childhood is interesting because it is a complete difference to who her character is as an adult. While Disney still seems to have his inner child, Travers seems to have lost hers. She is more pessimistic and serious as an adult whereas as a child, she was innocent, carefree and a very imaginative dreamer, until tragedy happens when she loses her father. We still see glimpses of her inner child desperately trying to come out as she works on the film production of Mary Poppins, eventually agreeing to musical songs. However, when Disney tries to add in animated penguins, Travers claims the contract has been breached, causing the film adaptation of Mary Poppins to be temporarily put on hold.
Disney eventually heads to London to discuss the matter with Travers, revealing that he understands that Travers is so protective of her story because the character of Mr.Banks is based on her father. Disney promises that everything will be ok with the film and asks Travers to trust him. This scene is a pivotal moment in the film because Travers learns that despite his childlike faith, Disney’s childhood was not perfect either, as he was abused and that there wasn’t a day that went by where he didn’t think about it.
The score for this film is very moving and complements the scenes very well. The costumes are very decade-appropriate and the plot and character development is well-done, especially with the friendship that develops between Travers and her chauffer. The film brings emotion to many scenes, especially during the last scene between Travers and her father, along with the scene where Travers gets emotional while at the premiere of the film.
There is an exceptional cast along with Thompson, Farrell and Hanks, which includes Kathy Baker, Melanie Paxson, Ruth Wilson; Bradley Whitford, Jason Schwartzman and Ronan Vibert. The only issue is the film is a little inaccurate as it depicts that Travers appreciates the changes made to the film, when in reality, she did not approve of the changes and refused to do any more movie adaptations of the Mary Poppins series ever again. To conclude though, Disney brought this film to life with its emotional story of Travers’s life and work with Disney for Mary Poppins, one of the most beloved literary characters of all time.
The story focuses on Disney working on negotiations for a film portrayal of Mary Poppins after promising his children that he would. This task is not as simple as it seems when the author of Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers, played by Emma Thompson, is very protective of her work and having rules regarding the production of the film, which includes it not being a musical, not starring Dick Van Dyke, no use of the color red; no made-up words and no animation. We later see the inspiration behind how Mary Poppins came to be, particularly the character of Mr. Banks as we see flashbacks of Travers’s childhood (where she went by her real name Helen Lyndon Goff and her close relationship with her father. Travers’s childhood was not as practically perfect like her character of Poppins, as her father, played by Colin Farrell was ill and drinking excessively to relieve the pain while her mother suffered some sort of depression, leading her to try and commit suicide.
Seeing Travers’s childhood is interesting because it is a complete difference to who her character is as an adult. While Disney still seems to have his inner child, Travers seems to have lost hers. She is more pessimistic and serious as an adult whereas as a child, she was innocent, carefree and a very imaginative dreamer, until tragedy happens when she loses her father. We still see glimpses of her inner child desperately trying to come out as she works on the film production of Mary Poppins, eventually agreeing to musical songs. However, when Disney tries to add in animated penguins, Travers claims the contract has been breached, causing the film adaptation of Mary Poppins to be temporarily put on hold.
Disney eventually heads to London to discuss the matter with Travers, revealing that he understands that Travers is so protective of her story because the character of Mr.Banks is based on her father. Disney promises that everything will be ok with the film and asks Travers to trust him. This scene is a pivotal moment in the film because Travers learns that despite his childlike faith, Disney’s childhood was not perfect either, as he was abused and that there wasn’t a day that went by where he didn’t think about it.
The score for this film is very moving and complements the scenes very well. The costumes are very decade-appropriate and the plot and character development is well-done, especially with the friendship that develops between Travers and her chauffer. The film brings emotion to many scenes, especially during the last scene between Travers and her father, along with the scene where Travers gets emotional while at the premiere of the film.
There is an exceptional cast along with Thompson, Farrell and Hanks, which includes Kathy Baker, Melanie Paxson, Ruth Wilson; Bradley Whitford, Jason Schwartzman and Ronan Vibert. The only issue is the film is a little inaccurate as it depicts that Travers appreciates the changes made to the film, when in reality, she did not approve of the changes and refused to do any more movie adaptations of the Mary Poppins series ever again. To conclude though, Disney brought this film to life with its emotional story of Travers’s life and work with Disney for Mary Poppins, one of the most beloved literary characters of all time.
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