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let's end Disney simber with their
latest Disney film Saving Mr Banks this
one is definitely worth talking about
because this is the first Disney film
that's actually about the making of a
Disney film and not something like The
Reluctant Dragon where you have these
fictional characters going through and
seeing how stuff is animated I mean like
the real process I mean Walt Disney
talking about develop in an idea and
trying to work with the author to come
to a compromise and creative decisions
and choices and disagreements for Disney
this is really new territory for a film
to take the film stars Emma Thompson as
PL Travers she's the author of Mary
Poppins and is incredibly resistant to
handing over the rights to Disney to
make a movie out of it why because a lot
of it came from her true life
experiences on the farm she had a father
she really loved who was an alcoholic
and a nanny SL a who came in to make
everything better but when the Disney
Corporation wants to for lack of a
better word Disney it she wants no part
of it and keeps saying that if they want
the right they have to play by her rules
and the rest of the movie is them trying
to figure out how to make this film work
Disney wants it one way she wants it
another it's the battle of the egos
going back and forth back and forth
Disney being the Charming businessman
and Travers the brutal purist who wants
to see her vision exactly how she
imagined it one of the great things
about this film is that it's done almost
entirely from the develop velmental
point of view you don't really see the
set or lighting or cameras actors
anything like that it's all from the
development of the sketches the song The
ideas and so forth you don't usually see
that that often Emma Thompson is
wonderful as PL Travers but the one that
really shocked me was Tom Hanks as
Disney when I saw him in this role I
rolled my eyes and said oh God this is
going to bomb there is no way this is
going to work but within 5 minutes he
really won me over he captured the
Charming businessman but he also got
sort of that element of he always gets
what he wants he'll compromise but in
the end he still wants it a certain way
and he's going to get it when I think
back to the movie I don't even imagine
seeing Hanks there I actually imagine
the real Disney sitting there talking
with her that's pretty damn impressive
the movie even shows some elements that
I don't think Disney years ago would
ever allow for example you see Walt
Smoke Drink and swear it's not for very
long but it's in there you even see him
kind of be backstabbing like when he
doesn't invite PL Travers to the
premiere this is a side of Disney that
I'm really shocked the studio is
allowing but I'm really glad they are it
shows they're comfortable with their
honesty but I think they also realize
the importance that this also makes him
more relatable and identifiable all the
other actors are wonderful in recreating
these roles the Sherman Brothers the
driver they're all fantastic and are
given a lot to work with there's only
two problems I have with the movie one
is that the flashbacks while well done
seem like two totally different movies a
lot of times her memories are a little
too Whimsical but you could argue that
sort of her romanticized version of it
they do make it clear that these are her
memories it's how she saw it so you can
technically give it a pass but the two
don't always gel together I'm also kind
of bothered about the ending without
giving too much away they show her at
the premiere and her reaction to it
anyone that knows the real story knows
what PL Travers really thought about the
movie and in this film you can make a
very slim argument that maybe that's
what they're hinting at but no majority
of the audiences would watch this and
think that she's reacting to it a
certain positive way I think it'd be
very difficult to find an audience
member to see this film and think oh
yeah that properly represented what she
thought of her creation being brought to
the big screen and while those two
elements do bother me I'm still really
impressed with how incredibly adult this
movie is remember how I was talking
about 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and
how even though it was a family movie it
was written in a very adult way and how
Disney films don't really do that
anymore this film does this takes it
very seriously and doesn't do that much
for little kids it's mainly at adults
like I said the flashbacks can be a
little too Whimsical and there's even a
scene where apparently she's dancing
with the Sherman Brothers to Let's Go
Fly a Kite and yeah it's a touch too
disney-ish but those moments are very
rare and even then they're not awful
they just seem a touch out of place I
was really impressed with it and glad
that they chose such an adult angle to
tackle it with this could have very
easily been made too corny or too disi
but they found a really good balance and
used some real sincere honesty to it
that I think is very welcomed and in my
opinion I think it really shows the
evolution of Disney as has all of Disney
sber there's a wonderful scene where
Disney talks about how he actually
understands what Travers is going
through and talks about when he was
offered a bunch of money for Mickey but
he said even though he had no money at
the time he could never sell them
because as he puts it that Mouse his
family and in many respects that's what
Disney has become family yeah there's a
lot of things you don't agree with and
you're not always going to enjoy them
but they were there from the beginning
they'll be there at the end Disney
hasn't really gotten any better or worse
it's just sort of changed it's evolved
with time and knows that has to be a
little different in order to survive but
with those different changes comes all
sorts of unique Visions wonderful
characters and new ways of looking at
stories both old and new it's been
really great going through all these
Disney films through December and keep
an eye out in January I might still do
one or two by popular demand that a lot
of people are complaining I should oops
but through this month I've loved seeing
Disney evolve change and turn into
something that is definitely different
but still so familiar I've loved them so
many years ago I know I'll love them so
many years in the future thanks for
watching and be sure to still keep that
Mouse family
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