The Story of How Mary Poppins Came To Be!

Rating: 9/10 (19 January 2015)

In 1961, Walt Disney invited P.L Travers, the author of Mary Poppins to his California studios to negotiate the rights for her classic novel. The rest is history. Saving Mr. Banks is a movie that tells how the film adaptation came to be and the struggles that occurred during pre-production. The movie itself is charming and is an uplifting story as it is in classic Disney mode. The movie has strong acting and a wonderful score by Thomas Newman. The movie is funny and also sad. The film is also told by using flashbacks, in which the story is greatly enhanced as we see the influence of the characters in Mary Poppins.
John Lee Hancock's film tells the story how Walt Disney was able to secure the rights to Mary Poppins. But it was no easy task. P.L Travers is a very proud and proper woman. Because of dwindling book sales and financial trouble, Travers agrees to travel to L.A where she supervises the script. But she is not too easily impressed and it takes a trip down memory lane in order to inspire her heart and her mind.
The strongest suit of the film is the impressive acting. Emma Thompson delivers one of her best roles as the stern and sometimes downright mean Travers. Her on screen persona makes her character watchable, even if she is disliked. Tom Hanks takes a step back in a supporting role and I thought he did a great job. However one can wonder if he was overly nice in portraying Disney. Paul Giamatti had a touching performance as Traver's driver. Even dealing with her rudeness, he always respected and was nice to Travers. Finally, Colin Farrell gave an extraordinary performance as Traver's alcoholic father, who she has deep admiration for.
Overall, Saving Mr. Banks is an excellent family film that is essentially a two hour making-of documentary of Mary Poppins. But the film is so sweet and magical, and it is another film that is a recipient of Disney's magic. This film is better than it had every right to be. The performances, particularly Thompsons, is stellar. A end-of-the-year hidden gem. Now let's go watch some Mary Poppins! I rate this film 9/10.