Saving Mr Banks
Saving Mr. Banks is a 2013 American-Australian-British biographical
comedy-drama film on Blu-ray, directed by John Lee Hancock from a screenplay
written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith. Centered on the development of the
1964 Walt Disney Studios film Mary Poppins, the film stars Emma Thompson as
author P. L. Travers and Tom Hanks as filmmaker Walt Disney, with supporting
performances from Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzman, Bradley
Whitford, Ruth Wilson, B. J. Novak, Rachel Griffiths, and Kathy Baker.
Two-time Academy Award winner Emma Thompson and fellow double Oscar-winner
Tom Hanks topline Disney's Saving Mr. Banks, inspired by the extraordinary,
untold backstory of how Disney's classic Mary Poppins made it to the screen.
When Walt Disney's daughters begged him to make a movie of their favourite
book, P.L. Travers' Mary Poppins, he made them a promise – one that he didn't
realize would take 20 years to keep. In his quest to obtain the rights, Walt
comes up against a curmudgeonly, uncompromising writer who has absolutely no
intention of letting her beloved magical nanny get mauled by the Hollywood
machine. But, as the books stop selling and money grows short, Travers
reluctantly agrees to go to Los Angeles to hear Disney's plans for the
adaptation. For those two short weeks in 1961, Walt Disney pulls out all the
stops. Armed with imaginative storyboards and chirpy songs from the talented
Sherman brothers, Walt launches an all-out onslaught on P.L. Travers, but the
prickly author doesn't budge. He soon begins to watch helplessly as Travers
becomes increasingly immovable and the rights begin to move further away from
his grasp. It is only when he reaches into his own childhood that Walt discovers
the truth about the ghosts that haunt her, and together they set Mary Poppins
free to ultimately make one of the most endearing films in cinematic
history.
Saving Mr Banks Movie Awards:
- Won AFI Award Movie of the Year (AFI Awards, USA 2014)
- Nominated Golden Globe Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion
Picture – Drama Emma Thompson (Golden Globes, USA 2014)
- Nominated Oscar Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures,
Original Score Thomas Newman (Academy Awards, USA 2014)
- Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best Leading Actress Emma Thompson (BAFTA
Awards 2014)
- Nominated Satellite Award Best Actress in a Motion Picture Emma Thompson
(Satellite Awards 2013)
- Nominated Satellite Award Best Actor in a Supporting Role Tom Hanks
(Satellite Awards 2013)
- Nominated Satellite Award Best Motion Picture (Satellite Awards 2013)
- 8 other wins and 40 other nominations
Critic Reviews:
- " Uniformly excellent performances to cover the movie's languid pacing.
" – Richard Crouse
- " Will most likely enchant diehard Disney fans and most certainly those
who will appreciate its focus on a film that remains one of Disney's most
enduring favorites. " – Richard Propes
- " Saving Mr. Banks is a film that pays tribute to the Disney legacy even
if the film stretches the truth in storytelling. " – Danielle
Solzman