Chim chiminey, chim chiminey, chim chim cher-ee! They’re making a movie about the adaptation of Mary Poppins by Walt Dis-ney I was excited about this film before, but after seeing the trailer, I’m agog. Just look for yourself:
Mary Poppins sits as my favorite Disney movie of all time, my favorite film musical of all time (and will for all time until they make that adaptation of Into the Woods starring Mandy Patinkin I have in my head), and sits in my top 10 favorite films of all time. I love the Sherman Brothers’ music (I wrote the In Memoriam for Robert when he passed away last year) but most of all, I love the story. Yes, it’s a story about cockney chimney sweeps and elaborate dance numbers on the rooftops of London, it’s about jumping into sidewalk chalk drawings and having a jolly holiday with Mary, but what always struck me the most was the story of the family. Delinquent children, absent parents, a nanny to come set things right. As I grew older and had kids of my own, and had to spend increasing amounts of time at the office away from my awesome kids, I always have to remember Mr. Banks, lest I fall prey to his shortcomings myself. This scene. . .this scene gets me. Every. Time.
“Father, you can have the tuppence. . .”
And so it’s no wonder the title of the film is Saving Mr. Banks. As we hear in the trailer:
PL Travers: Mary Poppins is not for sale! I won’t have her turned into one of your silly cartoons. Walt Disney: Says the woman who sent a flying nanny with a talking umbrella to save the children. T: You think Mary Poppins has come to save the children? Oh dear. . . *** D: So it’s not the children she comes to save. It’s their father. It’s your father.
This looks like all the best bits of Finding Neverland, an amazing cast, and a whole hell of a lot of nostalgia. Remember how the internet flipped out over a fake image of Ryan Gosling doing a Disney biopic? I think people are going to flip their Mickey ears over this when it hits theaters Dec 20. Just look at that cast. Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. Emma Thompson as author PL Travers. Even the small parts are filled with amazing talent: Paul Giamatti and Bradley Whitford both show up in the trailer. (According to imdb, Giamatti plays Travers’ hired chauffer for her time in LA, and Whitford plays Don DaGradi, co-screenwriter and animator– as integral as he was to the creation of Mary Poppins, I assume we see much more of him in the film) And then. . . BJ Novak and Jason Schwartzman as Bob and Dick Sherman, respectively. OMFG. Can I pretend that this Bob Sherman was also one of Aldo Raine’s Inglorious Basterds? (Robert Sherman walked with a cane, having been shot in the leg while serving in WWII, during which time he led a squad liberating the Dachau concentration camp). So, I’m going to keep thinking that. What we don’t see in the trailer is also the people playing Travers’ real-life family in several flashback sequences that we see in the trailer. This includes her alcoholic, n’er-do-well father played by Colin Farrell. Legit. Having just seen Pacific Rim, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be excited for any movie the rest of the year. This excites me. If it has half the heart of its inspirational material it will be one of the most moving pictures of the year. Next August will be the 50th anniversary of Mary Poppins. It went on to be the most successful box office hit for the studio ever and was nominated for and won a record number of Academy Awards for them. 50 years ago right now they would still be in production on the film. Let’s think about that as we look forward to this film.