Saving Mr. Banks

Dir: John Lee Hancock

2013

****

It's amazing how ‘Disney’ this film is when it doesn't really show Disney (neither the company or the Man) in a particularly good light. It tells the infamous story of Walt Disney and how he managed to convince P. L. Travers to let him adapt her famous Mary Poppins books into film. It begins in 1961 where we find the supposedly financially strapped author (played by Emma Thompson) as she reluctantly travels from her home in London to Los Angeles at the urging of her agent, Diarmuid Russell. Walt Disney (Played by Tom Hanks) has pursued the film rights to her Mary Poppins stories for twenty years, having promised his daughters that he would produce a film based on them. Travers has steadfastly resisted Disney's efforts because she fears what he would do to her character. However, she has not written anything in a while and her book royalties have dwindled to nothing, so she risks losing her house. Still, Russell has to remind her that Disney has agreed to two major stipulations - no animation and unprecedented script approval - before she agrees to go. Throughout the film Travers' difficult childhood in Queensland Australia is depicted through flashbacks, and is shown as the inspiration for much of Mary Poppins. Travers idolized her loving, imaginative father, Travers Robert Goff (Colin Farrell), but his chronic alcoholism resulted in his repeated firings, strained her parents' marriage, and caused her distressed mother to attempt suicide. Goff died at an early age from tuberculosis when Travers was seven years old. Prior to his death, her mother's sister who is notably firm yet practical came to live with the family, who later served as Travers's main inspiration for the character of Mary Poppins. In Los Angeles, Travers is irritated by what she perceives as the city's unreality and the inhabitants' intrusive friendliness, personified by her limousine driver, Ralph (Paul Giamatti). At the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, Travers meets the creative team that are developing Mary Poppins for the screen - screenwriter Don DaGradi (Bradley Whitford) and music composers Richard and Robert Sherman (Jason Schwartzman and B.J Novak). She finds their presumptions and casual manners highly improper, a view 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 fantasy, 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 estranged father of the children in Mary Poppins' charge, is depicted, insisting that he is neither cold nor cruel. Gradually, they grasp how deeply personal the Mary Poppins stories are to her and how many of the characters were inspired by her past. The team realize Travers has valid criticisms and make changes, though 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 working with the team; however, when Travers discovers that there is to be an animation sequence, she confronts Disney over his broken promise and returns home. Disney learns that Travers is actually her pen name, taken from her father's given name. Her real name is Helen Goff, and she's actually Australian, not English. This gives Disney new insight into Travers, and he follows her to London. Arriving unexpectedly at her door, Disney tells her that he also had a 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 relents and grants him the film rights. Three years later, in 1964, 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 during the animated sequences. She gradually warms to the rest of the film, however, becoming deeply moved by the depiction of George Banks' personal crisis and redemption. Of course this isn’t 100% accurate, which is very Disney, but I found most of the misgivings to be forgivable. The premise of the script, that Walt Disney had to convince P.L. Travers to hand over the film rights, including the scene when he finally persuades her, is of course fiction. Disney had already secured the film rights (subject to Travers' approval of the script) when she arrived to consult with the Disney staff. In fact, Disney left Burbank to vacation in Palm Springs a few days into Travers' visit and was not present at the studio when several of the film's scenes depicting him to be present actually took place. As such, many of the dialogue scenes between Travers and Disney are adapted from letters, telegrams, and telephone correspondence between the two. Although Travers was assigned a limousine driver, the character of Ralph is fictional and intended to be an amalgamation of the studio's drivers. In real life, Disney story editor Bill Dover was assigned as Travers' guide and companion during her time in Los Angeles. The film also depicts Travers coming to amicable terms with Disney, implying her approval of his changes to the story. In reality, she never approved of softening the harsher aspects of Mary Poppins' character, remained ambivalent about the music, and never came around to the use of animation. Disney overruled her objections to portions of the final film, citing contract stipulations that he had final cut privilege. Travers had initially not been invited to the film's premiere, until she embarrassed a Disney executive into extending her an invitation; this is depicted in the film as coaxing Disney himself. After the premiere, she reportedly approached Disney and told him that the animated sequences had to be removed. Disney dismissed her request, saying, "Pamela, the ship has sailed." Although the film portrays Travers as being emotionally moved during the premiere of Mary Poppins, overlaid with images of her childhood, which is implied to be attributed to her feelings about her father, co-screenwriter Kelly Marcel and several critics note that in real life, Travers' show of emotion was actually a result of anger and frustration over the final product. Reportedly, Travers felt that in the end, the film betrayed the artistic integrity of her work and story's characters. Resentful over what she considered poor treatment at the hands of Walt Disney, Travers vowed to never permit Disney to adapt her other novels for any purpose. Travers' last will bans all American adaptation of her works to any form of media, her wish only lasting a few decades. Brian Sibley found Travers still stirring from her experiences with Disney when he was hired in the 1980s to write a possible Mary Poppins sequel. Sibley reported that Travers told him, "I could only agree if I could do it on my own terms. I'd have to work with someone I trust." Regardless, while watching the original film together, the first time Travers had seen it since the premiere, she became excited at times and thought certain aspects were excellent, while others were unappealing. That sequel never went to production, and when approached to do a stage adaptation in the 1990s, she only acquiesced on the condition that English-born writers and no one from the film production were to be directly involved with the musical's development. The film also depicts Travers' Aunt Ellie (her mother's sister), who comes to help the family when her father becomes terminally ill, as Travers' model for Mary Poppins, with the actress even using several of Poppins' catchphrases from the film. In fact, Travers identified her great aunt Helen Morehead (her mother's aunt), as the model for Poppins. I think it is fairly unforgivable to re-write a person’s history and I believe an authentic retelling of events would have made a great drama, although less appealing to a family audience. I suppose the curse of Mary Poppins/P. L. Travers strikes again. If my wishes had been so betrayed like this I’d be spinning in my grave and I’m sure she is. All that aside, I quite liked it. It's far from perfect, I didn't care much for Colin Farrell's performance and I didn't think it switched from past to present with much fluidity. It also has a little too much of its share of schmaltz, but then you'd be a fool not to expect any. The performances from Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson and support from B. J. Novak, Jason Schwartzman and Paul Giamatti are all perfect. It’s a bit of Disney even the most anti-Disney will enjoy.