DVDizzy Forum

PatrickvD wrote:To be honest, I have no idea what to expect. But I'm highly anticipating it though.

Marce82 wrote:Ha... I like those choices for Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke... they kinda look like them for real. So with the right make up, costumes.... it could be great!

In all fairness.... Dick Van Dyke looks amazing in real life as it is. I would say color his hair, and have him play himself 45 yrs ago

One of Hollywood's most beloved actors, Tom Hanks, playing one of the world's most beloved legends, Walt Disney? Seems like Saving Mr. Banks should be the perfect fit! But that doesn't mean there isn't a certain amount of pressure in taking on the man who created Mickey Mouse.

"I don't want to piss anybody off. I want to be accurate, more than anything else," Tom told us last night at the L.A. premiere of American Master: Inventing David Geffen presented by the Peggy Siegal Company. "John Lee Hancock is the director, and it's really the story of Emma Thompson more than it's about me, so, you know, I don't want to screw up."

And, if you had any doubts, it appears that he isn't. "They haven't fired me, so so far so good!" he joked about filming the movie, which centers on how Mary Poppins came to the big screen (Thompson plays Poppins author P.L. Travers).

o research the role, Hanks explained, "I went up to the Disney Family Museum at the Presidio in San Francisco. At first, I just went up to meet Diane Disney, who is Walt's daughter, and some of the staff up there, but then they invited me back up again on a day it was closed.

"They just opened up all the exhibits for me, and I saw every piece of film and heard every piece of audio," he continued. "I also have like 39 hours of informal interviews. It's one thing to see him when he talks on TV but another thing to get him when he's just having a conversation."

So what has the two-time Academy Award-winning actor learned about Walt that surprised him? "He's a fascinating guy, because what we have is this benevolent animator who would introduce us to his cartoon characters," Tom revealed. "But what he was was very tough, competitive and a very loyal businessman that invented an art form that is still going great guns today. To Walt Disney, ladies and gentlemen!"

As for that mustache he's grown to channel Mr. Disney, well, it's apparently not a hit in the Hanks household. "She hates it!" Tom joked about wife Rita Wilson, who was also in attendance and stuck by her husband's side most of the night. "But it's not as bad as a few other things she's had to endure."

For the record, we happen to like it.

Conspiracy theorists, here's the part where you'll want to pay attention. There is one aspect of Disney's legacy that won't be tackled in the movie: the long-running urban legend that the animator had himself cryogenically frozen. "That's an interesting dog's tale. It's not true," Hanks shot us down before coyly adding, "At least that's what I've been told to say."

disneyboy20022 wrote:I'm not sure I can remember when a Disney Live Action film was nominated for Best Picture in a long time.

ajmrowland wrote:Jason Schwartzman. Now things just got awesome.

I just hope the pressure for Hanks to portray him "accurately" isn't just to fit the Studio's image of him.

UmbrellaFish wrote:

ajmrowland wrote:Jason Schwartzman. Now things just got awesome.

I just hope the pressure for Hanks to portray him "accurately" isn't just to fit the Studio's image of him.

From what I have read, Walt is not portrayed in any sort of negative light-- which really, isn't that to be expected from Disney? He's also more of a supporting player to Thompson's Travers, so to that end, I don't believe the movie will feel like some hagiographic account of how Disney conquered the evil Travers against unbeatable odds. The movie is more of an exploration of why "Mary Poppins" was just so important to Ms. Travers beyond an author's usual possessiveness.

Toky wrote:Nice to see that Disney is making a movie, that explains why P.L. Travers acted the way she did....from history we learned that she was all negative about Disney's vision and tried to prevent it from being made etc, and still the company is making a movie that will put this woman in a positive perspective....That's what I call a beautiful gesture...

Lnds500 wrote:

Toky wrote:Nice to see that Disney is making a movie, that explains why P.L. Travers acted the way she did....from history we learned that she was all negative about Disney's vision and tried to prevent it from being made etc, and still the company is making a movie that will put this woman in a positive perspective....That's what I call a beautiful gesture...

Who said that?

Regarding the trailer, I'd love to know which is fact and which is fiction.

Toky wrote:It's obvious Disney it hitting on our sentiment...I mean a little Travers who is looking sad into our eyes and the fact she had her own Mary to save her daddy.....Travers hated the movie for being too sweet etc (I've read the books and can confirm It's a totally different character, nowhere near the rose-apple cheeked Andrews)....So the trailer going into the 'Lets put this woman into a good perspective' mode, was unexpected to me....

Lnds500 wrote:Regarding the trailer, I'd love to know which is fact and which is fiction.

Flanger-Hanger wrote:

Lnds500 wrote:Regarding the trailer, I'd love to know which is fact and which is fiction.

The trip to Disneyland may be entierly fabricated. That and the park did not look like that in the early 60s. Turnstiles were different, trees were not as large, buildings were different colours, no brick pathways on Main Street and Fantasyland was totally different. Even the carousel had a different canopy and different coloured horses instead of the all white steeds now.