In Review: "Saving Mr. Banks"

In Review: "Saving Mr. Banks"

There are few times when the audience is able to truly understand a filmmaker's mind and heart behind the making of a film. Why does that character look that way? How did they come up with the script and the songs? Why did they make this movie in the first place? Getting inside the head and heart of any artist is extremely difficult. It's like trying to explain why we live and breath on this earth. It is nearly impossible to truly understand, unless you talk directly to the creator.

Being a Disney fanatic means that you can put just about anything in front of me with the Disney name on it, and I will automatically fall in love with it. I will defend it tooth and nail until my very last breath. So many people have tried to get me to think badly of Walt Disney and/or Disney World for this reason or that reason, but I refuse. Disney is more than just a company for me. It's a way of life. It runs through  my very soul.

That being said, I was never a huge Mary Poppins fan. I was born around the Disney golden age full of princesses under the sea and loving hairy beasts. Anything that didn't have a damsel in distress and an attractive, singing love interest was not worth my time. The last time I watched Mary and her magical flying umbrella from beginning to end was probably before I was in high school.

The True Story 

After his blockbuster success of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and popular television show "The Wonderful World of Disney", Walt wants to take his daughters' (Diane (RIP as of Nov.) and Sharon) favorite novel, "Mary Poppins", and turn it into a full-length film. After 20 years of trying to get the author P.L. Travers to concede signing over the rights, Mrs. Travers is finally willing to try and work with Walt (mostly because she is flat broke).

The two storytellers must work together to create what we know of today as the part live-action part animated film Mary Poppins. But Mrs. Travers is extremely protective of her work and puts down every idea Walt puts on the table in the snarkiest of British comments. Why is that? Why has Walt been trying for 20 years to make this movie anyway? Why is it still such a beloved film even 60 years later?

The Cast

This is the first time anyone has ever tried to play Walt Disney. As a Disney fan, you can understand my deep concern when I learned they would be having some other person try to put this man's greatness into being. But I do not think they could have chosen a better person than Tom Hanks.

As I was keeping up with all of the gossip of the film before its opening, I watched an interview with Hanks. He talked about how they didn't want to try to replicate Walt. They weren't trying to make Hanks look just like him or sound exactly like him. He knew there was no way anyone could come close to being Walt. So he studied his mannerisms and the way he spoke, but Hanks never tried to be Disney. And that really showed on screen. You felt the heart, imagination, and determination that Disney had in fighting for his films and the Disney name. I cannot say how much Hanks' performance meant to me. I never got to see Walt on TV or read about him in the newspaper. I have only experienced his legacy. But for the first time, I got to see one of my biggest heroes on the silver screen.

I cannot imagine how hard playing P.L. Travers was for Emma Thompson. One interview I watched with Hanks said that after every take she would apologize to everyone for being so mean. But she did it so well! I couldn't help but laugh at the strategic way she delivered every snarky line and scowled at the Sherman Brothers just the right way at their made up words.

It takes a lot of talent to be able to make someone so mean and yet so real. By the end of the film, the audience has done a full 360 and learns to love Mrs. Travers for every quirk she possesses. Being able to get people to hate you and then fall in love with you is quite a feat that only the great Thompson could accomplish.

The Message

We can't just assume things about people. Even though someone may seem like a bitter old woman on the outside or a money-obsessed entrepreneur, everyone has a past. But that doesn't mean that our past, our story, should control us in the present and into the future.

"Around here we don't look backwards for very long... We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things because we're curious... and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."
-Walt Disney

People with the most impossible problems are able to succeed in the most brilliant ways. All it takes is faith and trust. And a spoon full of sugar.

Overall

There is nothing bad I can say about this movie. Even if I'm nitpicking to the max, I cannot come up with anything I would have changed. You might blame it on my love of all things Disney, but I think it goes quite deeper than that. I think this film speaks to all people of all ages just as all Disney films do. It speaks to us through the heart and through our inner child. It teaches us a simple but very important life lesson that we as adults tend to forget. Only the best films can speak to everyone. Only the best films make us look at ourselves and our own lives. Only the best films teach us something by the end of the credits.

I expect big awards for this one, and I implore you, even if you don't love Disney and have never seen Mary Poppins, please go see this movie. We all need to remember who we were to discover who we will become. For those who love the original film, let's all go fly a kite.

4 out of 4 Kites