Saving Mr Banks (2013) - The Biased Retelling Behind The Making Of A Disney Classic!

It is well documented that the making of Walt Disney’s classic film, Mary Poppins was not a smooth sailing ship. With a lot of tension between Disney and author, P.L Travers. So when I got my hands on Saving Mr Banks, a retelling of those production days, I was interested to see how accurate modern Disney and BBC Films were going to make this film.

I must admit thou, this film feels very uncomfortable to sit through. And it’s down to how much bias there is towards P.L Travers. Now it’s known that Disney and Travers didn’t agree with a lot of the ideas for the film adaptation. But in this case, the film makes Travers to be the only source of disagreement, making her a very stubborn woman, while Disney appears to hardly provoke any arguments. He seems to just smile and hardly appears to provoke Travers. It’s 99% her saying no to everything. In reality, Disney was just as stubborn, even getting fed up and leaving after the first day to go to his holiday home, leaving Travers with The Sherman Brothers.

We do see P.L Travers soften throughout the film, even tearing up at the premiere in the final moments of the film. However, if you read up on what actually went down, matters weren’t as straight forward as the film makes it out to be. She was very vocal on her dislike for the film even after it finished, with Disney often disrespecfully shrugging her comments off. Travers is made to appear more like the antagonist of this story, despite it not being so clean cut. This telling of the events ironically feels very... Disney-fied.

The film does try to establish Travers’ past, which does some work to establish her mindset, even if it does cut back and forth too much for my liking, not to mention the amount of times it doesn’t feel like these flashbacks are establishing anything hugely important to Travers’ character within the frame of this narrative. There is the odd occasions where the flashbacks influences the primary narrative and give a clear insight into how Travers has been influenced through life. It’s just a shame thou that she mostly appears unwavering and appears more like the antagonist for this picture, rather than the protagonist.

I will give the cast credit, despite there being an obvious bias within the narrative itself, they are giving each performance 110%. Emma Thompson is unrecognisable as P.L Travers, and while her character is unfairly treated, she does sell the more emotional moments really well. Tom Hanks is exceptional as Disney, but had the film been more evenly balanced with the rivalry between our leads, Hanks could’ve expanded her performance even more.

The film is also beautifully vibrant, recreating the 1960s in all it’s colourful glory. The cinematography by John Schwartzman is stunning, with the colours in particular reflecting each moment really well. This is most noticeable with the flashbacks, as the colours become more and more cold as Travers’ past unravels. Thomas Newman's music however doesn't give as much of a emotional kick, however the incoporating of classic Disney songs and tunes was a really nice touch.

So while Saving Mr Banks has many production merits and is extremely well made, it’s clear bias against P.L Travers makes it really hard to fully enjoy the film on it’s terms. There’s clear parallels between Mary Poppins and P.L Travers’ childhood, (a large portion of it being fabricated) but rather than focus on this creative clash equally, the film feels its best to focus on Travers’ overly pompous attitude, with her past feeling like an add on. It’s two films mashed together, and it’s hard to say this feels completely faithful.

SCORES

Story: 2/5

Characters: 2/5

Production: 5/5

Acting: 3.5/5

Music: 3/5

Total: 6.2/10