The Facts Behind “Saving Mr. Banks”
“Saving Mr. Banks” tells the story of Walt Disney’s attempt to obtain the screen rights to the intellectual property of Mary Poppins from author P.L. Travers in order to fulfill a promise to his daughters.
Starring Tom Hanks as Walt Disney and Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers, Disney’s latest live action film tells a beautiful story capable of bringing tears to the eyes of all ages.
As with most films that are based on a true story, some events are typically altered in order to make it more appealing to mass audiences.
When it comes to “Saving Mr. Banks”, we wanted to know just how much of it was true and how much of it was fabricated in order to fill gaps in the timeline.
Since Travers insisted that meetings be documented on a recording device, the writers for “Saving Mr. Banks” had first hand information available to them which aids in the accuracy of the film.
So let’s take a look at what really happened and what didn’t.
The Facts
It is historically known that Walt Disney was very adamant about getting the screen rights to Mary Poppins. The facts show that Mr. Disney did make a promise to his daughters that he would adapt Travers’ book to the big screen.
But was the negotiations between Disney and Travers really that painstaking? In short, yes.
It took Walt Disney 20 years to finally get P.L. Travers on board with his idea for a Mary Poppins film and even then it wasn’t easy.
Travers, under financial pressure due to the lagging royalties from her books, decided to entertain the idea of Disney’s film pitch for “Mary Poppins”.
Travers was adamant about not letting her creation be taken over by Walt Disney, or pop culture in general. When Travers arrived in California in 1961, it took Walt more than 2 weeks to convince her to sign the film rights of Mary Poppins over.
Travers disliked many things about the production pitch for the “Mary Poppins” film including the animated sequences, the casting of Dick van Dyke and Julie Andrews, the relationship between Mary Poppins and a “mere chimney sweep” and even the song “Let’s Go Fly A Kite”.
In “Saving Mr. Banks”, it wasn’t “Let’s Go Fly A Kite” that got P.L. Travers on board with the production of “Mary Poppins” but in actuality, it was “Feed The Birds” that pushed her over the edge according to Richard Sherman.
Once the film was completed, Walt Disney had decided not to invite Travers to the premiere of “Mary Poppins” in Hollywood, CA. Similar to the sequence of events in “Saving Mr. Banks”, Travers crashed the premiere and ended up getting a seat at the showing of “Mary Poppins” and cried the whole way through.
The big difference between “Saving Mr. Banks” and what actually happened though, is that Travers’ tears were not tears of joy. Instead, she was furious at the final product. In fact, even after the film was done, she unrealistically wanted Disney to go back and remove the animated scenes from the film, which we all know didn’t happen.
Overall, the film was pretty accurate when it came to the dealings between Walt Disney and P.L. Travers as well as the background on Travers’ family life. Though the ending of “Saving Mr. Banks” put a pretty bow on the whole ordeal, the truth is that Travers’ never really warmed up to the final version of Mary Poppins and made it a point that Walt Disney and his crew never touch the character again.
Another minor detail that were placed into the film to make it more appealing was that Ralph, Travers’ limo driver who was portrayed by Paul Giamatti, never really existed. Though producers say he was a culmination of numerous drivers, he was created in order to provide someone for Travers to “warm up to” in the film.
Even with the minor inconsistencies, “Saving Mr. Banks” is a wonderful film that gives a reasonably accurate portrayal of the negotiations that gave Walt Disney the film rights to Mary Poppins.
The film is extremely character driven and whether you’re a Disney fan or not, “Saving Mr. Banks” is a film for the family that will tug at your heartstrings and may even make you appreciate the people in your life just a little bit more.
“Saving Mr. Banks” releases on DVD and Blu Ray today. You can save $5 off your purchase by following the link to our past article.