Saving Mr. Banks is a 2013 biographical drama film directed by John Lee Hancock from a screenplay written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith. Centered on the development of the 1964 film Mary Poppins, the film stars Emma Thompson as author P. L. Travers and Tom Hanks as film producer Walt Disney, with supporting performances by Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzman, Bradley Whitford, Colin Farrell, Ruth Wilson, and B. J. Novak. Deriving its title from the father in Travers's story, Saving Mr. Banks depicts the author's tragic childhood in rural Queensland in 1906 and the two weeks of meetings during 1961 in Los Angeles, during which Disney attempts to obtain the film rights to her novels.
Essential Media Entertainment and BBC Films initially developed Saving Mr. Banks as an independent production until 2011, when producer Alison Owen approached Walt Disney Pictures for permission to use copyrighted elements. The film's subject matter piqued Disney's interest, leading the studio to acquire the screenplay and produce the film. Principal photography commenced the following year in September before wrapping in November 2012; the film was shot almost entirely in the Southern California area, primarily at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, where a majority of the film's narrative takes place.
Saving Mr. Banks premiered at the London Film Festival on October 20, 2013, and was distributed theatrically by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures that same year in the United Kingdom on November 29 and in North America on December 13. It received positive reviews, with praise for the acting, screenplay, and musical score. Thompson's performance garnered BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Critics' Choice Award nominations for Best Actress, while composer Thomas Newman earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score. The film was named one of the ten best films of 2013 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute, and was also commercially successful, grossing $117.9 million at the worldwide box office.
Plot[]
In London 1961, agent Diarmuid Russell urges financially strapped author Pamela "P. L." Travers to travel to Los Angeles and meet with Walt Disney, who has pursued the film rights to her Mary Poppins stories for twenty years after having promised his daughters to produce a film based on the books. Travers has steadfastly resisted Disney's efforts, fearing what he will do to her character. Having written nothing new and her book royalties dried up, she risks losing her house. Russell reminds her that Disney has agreed to two major stipulations (no animation and unprecedented script approval) before she finally agrees to go.
Flashbacks depict Travers' difficult childhood in Allora, Queensland, Australia in 1906, which became the inspiration for much of Mary Poppins. Travers idolized her loving, imaginative father, Travers Robert Goff, but his chronic alcoholism resulted in his repeated dismissals, strained her parents' marriage and caused her distressed mother's attempted suicide. Goff died from tuberculosis when Travers was seven years old. Prior to his death, her mother's stern, practical sister came to live with the family and later served as Travers's main inspiration for the Mary Poppins character.
In Los Angeles, Travers is shocked by the city's nature and the overly-perky inhabitants, personified by her friendly limousine driver, Ralph. At the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, Travers meets the creative team who are developing Mary Poppins for the screen: screenwriter Don DaGradi and songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman. She finds their presumptions and casual manners highly improper, a view that she also holds of the jocular Disney.
Travers' working relationship with Disney and his team is difficult from the outset, with her insistence that Mary Poppins is the enemy of sentiment and whimsy. Disney and his people are puzzled by Travers' disdain for whimsy, given the nature of the Mary Poppins story, as well as Travers' own rich imagination. She particularly objects to how the character George Banks, the children's estranged father, is depicted, insisting that he is neither cold nor cruel. Gradually, the team grasp how deeply personal the Mary Poppins stories are to Travers and how many of the characters were inspired by her past.
The team acknowledges that Travers has valid criticisms and make changes, although she becomes increasingly disengaged as painful childhood memories resurface. Seeking to understand what troubles her, Disney invites Travers to Disneyland, which, along with her developing friendship with Ralph, the creative team's revisions to the George Banks character and the addition of a new song and a different ending, help dissolve Travers' opposition. Her creativity reawakens, and she begins collaborating with the team. Soon afterward however, Travers is enraged to discover an animation sequence has been added without her permission. Travers confronts Disney over this and returns home without signing the agreement.
Disney learns that "P. L. Travers" is a pen name, taken from Travers' father's given name. Her real name is Helen Goff and she is Australian, not English. That gives Disney new insight into Travers, and he follows her to London. Arriving unexpectedly at her home, Disney shares his own less-than-ideal childhood but stresses the healing value of his art. He urges Travers not to let deeply-rooted past disappointments dictate the present. That night, after Disney has left, Travers finally relents and grants the film rights to Disney.
Three years later, in 1964, Travers has begun writing another Mary Poppins story, while Mary Poppins is to have its world premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Disney has not invited Travers, fearing how she might react with the press watching. Prompted by Russell, Travers shows up unannounced at Disney's office; he reluctantly issues her an invitation. Initially, she watches Mary Poppins with a lack of enthusiasm, particularly with the animated penguins. She gradually warms to the rest of the film, however, becoming deeply moved by the depiction of George Banks' personal crisis and redemption.
Cast[]
- Emma Thompson as Pamela "P. L." Travers, birth name Helen Goff, author of Mary Poppins
- Annie Rose Buckley as seven-year-old Helen, also referred to as "Ginty"
- Tom Hanks as Walt Disney
- Colin Farrell as Travers Robert Goff, Helen's father, on whom the Mr. Banks character is based
- Ruth Wilson as Margaret Goff, Helen's mother
- Paul Giamatti as Ralph, Travers' chauffeur
- Bradley Whitford as Don DaGradi, co-writer of the screenplay for Mary Poppins
- Jason Schwartzman as Richard M. Sherman, composer and lyricist
- B. J. Novak as Robert B. Sherman, composer and lyricist who co-wrote the film's songs with his brother Richard
- Kathy Baker as Tommie, Disney's executive assistant
- Melanie Paxson as Dolly, Disney's secretary
- Rachel Griffiths as Helen "Ellie" Morehead, Helen's hard-hearted maternal aunt, who serves as the model for Mary Poppins
- Ronan Vibert as Diarmuid Russell, Travers' publisher.
- Kristopher Kyer (uncredited) as Dick Van Dyke
- Victoria Summer (uncredited) as Julie Andrews
- Andy McPhee as Mr. Belhatchett, a bank president and Mr. Goff‘s boss.
Credits adapted from The New York Times.