Commentary on the just-released movie, Saving Mr. Banks.
Tom Hanks portrays Walt Disney and Emma Thompson portrays P.L. Travers, the author of eight books about the English nanny, Mary Poppins. Set in 1961, it is a bit of fun just to watch the effort it took to take the viewer back 53 years in time. This is the first movie to depict Walt Disney in any depth. A few of the oldtimers actually helped with details of the movie to make it more accurate in little ways. Of course, the story, like everything in movies, is not a precise retracement of what really happened, but it is a very entertaining movie. Observing Walt Disney, one of the most powerful business people of that time period, working extremely hard to get his way and facing someone extremely stubborn is a treat in itself. I recommend this movie to all of you who are old enough to remember 1961 well. Younger folk will find it interesting but will not quite grasp many of the subtle additions to the movie that make it a trip down memory lane for the older viewers.
The fact is that the Mary Poppins in the books is not the pretty, dancing/singing, uplifting nanny that we all saw in the Disney movie, Mary Poppins. In fact, she is loosely based on the author's aunt who moved in with her family to help out as her father was slowly dying in his early 40's. Helen Lyndon Goff changed her name to Pamela when she entered an acting career. She took the pen name P.L. Travers when she started writing professionally. Travers was her father's first name. Might be a common name in their native home of Australia. The author styled the Banks family in the books after her own family with Mr. Banks representing her father. That partly explains why she was so unwillingly to let Disney change things while creating the movie.
wife and I saw it Sunday. She said it was "emotional" I said it was "sad"
Did you know ...
Walt Disney's first job was working for a surveyor/engineer in North Carolina? I've got copies of some plats he drew.
Did you know ...
Wow, talk about a "Mickey Mouse" survey!
Did you know ...
> Wow, talk about a "Mickey Mouse" survey!
Sounds Goofy to me....
She had a very sad (odd) life
Did a little googling on P.L. Travers and discovered she was a bit different. Although she died at almost 100 years of age, one of her so-called grandchildren said she "Died loving no one and no one loving her." She was only seven in 1906 when her father died very young. Her mother later attempted suicide by drowning in a creek. She never married but had numerous affairs with both men and women. At age 41 she legally adopted a baby boy. That poor child grew up to become a major alcoholic when he discovered, at age 17, that the story he had been told about the death of his parents was completely untrue. In fact, he had several siblings including a twin brother. The only reason she eventually agreed to take money from Disney was that her book sales had diminished severely.
