| Saving Mr. Banks | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John Lee Hancock |
| Written by | |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | John Schwartzman |
| Edited by | Mark Livolsi |
| Music by | Thomas Newman |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures[2] |
Release dates |
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Running time | 125 minutes[3] |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $35 million[4][5] |
| Box office | $117.9 million[5] |
Saving Mr. Banks is a 2013biographicaldrama film directed byJohn Lee Hancock and written byKelly Marcel andSue Smith. Centered on the development of the 1964 filmMary Poppins, the film starsEmma Thompson as book authorP. L. Travers andTom Hanks as film producerWalt Disney, with supporting performances byPaul Giamatti,Jason Schwartzman,Bradley Whitford,Colin Farrell,Ruth Wilson, andB. J. Novak. Deriving its title from the father in Travers's story,Saving Mr. Banks depicts the author's tragic childhood in ruralQueensland in 1906 and the two weeks of meetings during 1961 inLos Angeles, during which Disney attempts to obtain thefilm rights toher novels.[6]
Essential Media Entertainment andBBC Films initially developedSaving Mr. Banks as an independent production until 2011, when producerAlison Owen approachedWalt Disney Pictures for permission to use copyrighted elements. The film's subject matter piqued Disney's interest, leading the studio to acquire the screenplay and produce the film.[7]Principal photography commenced the following year in September beforewrapping in November 2012; the film was shot almost entirely in theSouthern California area, primarily at theWalt Disney Studios inBurbank, where a majority of the film's narrative takes place.[8][9]
Saving Mr. Banks premiered at theBFI London Film Festival on October 20, 2013, and was distributed theatrically byWalt Disney Studios Motion Pictures that same year in the United Kingdom on November 29 and in North America on December 13. The film received positive reviews, and was named one of the 10best films of 2013 by theNational Board of Review and theAmerican Film Institute, and was also commercially successful, grossing over $117 million at the worldwide box office. Thompson's performance garneredBAFTA,Golden Globe, andScreen Actors Guild nominations for Best Actress, while composerThomas Newman earned anAcademy Award nomination forBest Original Score.
InLondon 1961, literary agentDiarmuid Russell urges financially strapped authorPamela "P. L." Travers to travel toLos Angeles and meet withWalt Disney, who has pursued thefilm rights to herMary Poppins stories for 20 years after having promised his daughters to produce a film based on the books. Travers has steadfastly resisted Disney's efforts, fearing what he will do toher character. Having written nothing new and her book royalties having dried up, she risks losing her house. Russell reminds her that Disney has agreed to two major stipulations (no animation and unprecedented script approval) before she finally agrees to go.
Flashbacks depict Travers's difficult childhood inAllora, Queensland,Australia in 1906, which became the inspiration for much of Mary Poppins. Travers idolized her loving, imaginative father, Travers Robert Goff, but his chronicalcoholism resulted in his repeated dismissals, strained her parents' marriage and caused her distressed mother'sattempted suicide. Goff died fromtuberculosis when Travers was eight years old. Prior to his death, her mother's stern, practical sister came to live with the family and later served as Travers's main inspiration for the Mary Poppins character.
In Los Angeles, Travers is shocked by the city's nature and the overly perky inhabitants, personified by her friendly limousine driver, Ralph. At theWalt Disney Studios inBurbank, Travers meets the creative team who are developingMary Poppins for the screen:screenwriterDon DaGradi and songwritersRichard andRobert Sherman. She finds their presumptions and casual manners highly improper, a view that she also holds of the jocular Disney.
Travers's working relationship with Disney and his team is difficult from the outset, with her insistence that Mary Poppins is the enemy of sentiment and whimsy. Disney and his people are puzzled by Travers's disdain for whimsy, given the nature of theMary Poppins story, as well as Travers's own rich imagination. She particularly objects to how the character George Banks, the children's estranged father, is depicted, insisting that he is neither cold nor cruel. Gradually, the team grasp how deeply personal theMary Poppins stories are to Travers and how many of the characters were inspired by her past.
The team acknowledges that Travers has valid criticisms and make changes, although she becomes increasingly disengaged as painful childhood memories resurface. Seeking to understand what troubles her, Disney invites Travers toDisneyland, which, along with her developing friendship with Ralph, the creative team's revisions to the George Banks character, the addition ofa new song and a different ending, help dissolve Travers's opposition. Her creativity reawakens, and she begins collaborating with the team. Soon afterward, however, Travers discovers an animation sequence with dancing penguins has been added without her permission. Travers confronts Disney over this and returns to London in a huff without signing the agreement.
Disney learns that "P. L. Travers" is apen name, taken from Travers's father's given name; her real name is Helen Goff, and she is Australian, not British. This gives Disney new insight into Travers, and he follows her to London. Arriving unexpectedly at her home, Disney, who had begun to realise that Travers's father has played a vital role in her books and the film, shares his own less-than-ideal childhood but stresses the healing value of his art. He urges Travers not to let deeply rooted past disappointments dictate the present. That night, after Disney has left, Travers finally relents and grants the film rights to him.
Three years later, in 1964, Travers has begun writing anotherMary Poppins story, while the filmMary Poppins itself is to have its world premiere atGrauman's Chinese Theatre inHollywood. Disney has not invited Travers, fearing how she might react with the press watching. Prompted by Russell, Travers shows up unannounced at Disney's office; he reluctantly issues her an invitation. Initially, she watchesMary Poppins with a lack of enthusiasm, particularly with the animated penguins. Travers gradually warms to the rest of the film, however, becoming deeply moved by the depiction of George Banks's personal crisis and redemption.
Credits adapted fromThe New York Times.[10]
In 2002, Australian producer Ian Collie produced a documentary film on P. L. Travers titledThe Shadow of "Mary Poppins". During the documentary's production, Collie noticed that there was "an obviousbiopic there" and convincedEssential Media and Entertainment to develop a feature film with Sue Smith writing the screenplay.[11] The project attracted the attention ofBBC Films, which decided to finance the project, and Ruby Films'Alison Owen, who subsequently hiredKelly Marcel to co-write the screenplay with Smith.[12] Marcel's drafts removed a subplot involving Travers and her son, and divided the story into a two-part narrative: the creative conflict between Travers and Walt Disney, and her dealings with her childhood issues, describing it as "a story about the pain of a little girl who suffered, and the grown woman who allowed herself to let go".[13] Marcel's version, however, featured certain intellectual property rights of music and imagery which would be impossible to use without permission fromThe Walt Disney Company. "There was always that elephant in the room, which is Disney," Collie recalled. "We knew Walt Disney was a key character in the film and we wanted to use quite a bit of the music. We knew we'd eventually have to show Disney." In early 2010,Robert B. Sherman provided Owen with an advance copy of a salient chapter from his then upcoming book release,Moose: Chapters From My Life. The chapter entitled, "'Tween Pavement and Stars" contained characterizations and anecdotes which proved seminal to Marcel's script rewrite, in particular, the anecdote about there not being the color red in London.[14][15] In July 2011, while attending theIschia Film Festival, Owen met withCorky Hale, who offered to present the screenplay toRichard M. Sherman.[16] Sherman read the screenplay and gave the producers his support.[16] Later that year, Marcel and Smith's screenplay was listed inFranklin Leonard'sThe Black List, voted by producers as one of the best screenplays that were not in production.[17]
In November 2011,Walt Disney Pictures' president of production,Sean Bailey, was informed by executiveTendo Nagenda of Marcel's existing script.[4][18] Realizing that the screenplay included a depiction of the studio's namesake, Bailey conferred with Disney CEOBob Iger[19] andWalt Disney Studios chairmanAlan Horn, the latter of whom referred to the film as a "brand deposit,"[20] a term adopted fromSteve Jobs.[21] Together, the executives discussed the studio's potential choices; purchase the script and shut the project down, put the film inturnaround, or co-produce the film themselves. With executive approval, Disney acquired the screenplay in February 2012 and joined the production with Owen, Collie and Philip Steuer as producers, andChristine Langan, Troy Lum, Andrew Mason, andPaul Trijbits serving as executive producers.[7]John Lee Hancock was hired to direct the film later that same month.[22]
Iger subsequently contactedTom Hanks to consider playing the role of Walt Disney, which would become the first-ever focal depiction of Disney in a mainstream film.[4] Hanks accepted the role and made several visits to theWalt Disney Family Museum and interviewed some of Disney's former employees and family relatives, including his daughterDiane Disney Miller.[23][24] The film was subsequently dedicated to Disney Miller, who died shortly before it was released.[25] In April 2012,Emma Thompson entered final negotiations to star as P. L. Travers, after the studio was unable to secureMeryl Streep for the part.[26] Thompson said that the role was the most difficult one that she has played, describing Travers as "a woman of quite eye-watering complexity and contradiction."[27] "She wrote a very good essay on sadness, because she was, in fact, a very sad woman. She'd had a very rough childhood, the alcoholism of her father being part of it and the attempted suicide of her mother being another part of it. I think that she spent her whole life in a state of fundamental inconsolability and hence got a lot done."[28]Colin Farrell,Paul Giamatti,Jason Schwartzman,Bradley Whitford,B. J. Novak, andRuth Wilson were cast in July 2012.[29][30][31][32]
"I thought the script was a fair portrayal of Walt as a mogul but also as an artist and a human being. But I still had concerns that it could be whittled away. I don't think this script could have been developed within the walls of Disney—it had to be developed outside ... I'm not going to say there weren't discussions, but the movie we ended up with is the one that was on the page."
With Disney's backing, the production team was given access to 36 hours of Travers's audio recordings of herself, the Shermans, and co-writerDon DaGradi that were produced during the development ofMary Poppins,[33] in addition to letters written between Disney and Travers from the 1940s through the 1960s.[11][16] Richard M. Sherman also worked on the film as amusic supervisor and shared his side of his experiences working with Travers onMary Poppins.[33] Initially, Hancock had reservations about Disney's involvement with the film, believing that the studio would edit the screenplay in their co-founders favor.[34] However, Marcel admitted that the studio "specifically didn't want to come in and sanitize it or change Walt in any way."[11] Hancock elaborated, "I was still worried that they might want to chip away at Walt a little bit ... I thought the portrayal of Walt was fair and human, so I came in and they said, 'No, we like it.' But still, every step of the way, I had my fist balled up behind my back ready to fight in case it happened, but it didn't."[35] Although the filmmakers did not receive any creative interference from Disney regarding Walt Disney's depiction, the studio did request that they omit any onscreen inhalation ofcigarettes[36] (a decision that Hanks himself disagreed with) due to the company's policy of not directly depicting smoking in films released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner, and to avoid receiving anR-rating from theMotion Picture Association.[37][38] Instead, Disney is shown extinguishing a lit cigarette in one scene, stating that nobody can see him smoking due to the effect it would have on his image. Additionally, his notorioussmoker's cough is heard off-screen several times throughout the film.[37]
Principal photography began on September 19, 2012 in Los Angeles.[39] Although some scenes were originally planned to be shot inQueensland, Australia,[40] all filming, except for two establishing shots in London, took place in theSouthern California area, including theWalt Disney Studios lot inBurbank,Disneyland Park inAnaheim,Big Sky Ranch inSimi Valley, theLos Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden inArcadia,Heritage Square Museum inMontecito Heights,Ontario International Airport inSan Bernardino,Courthouse Square atUniversal Studios, and theTCL Chinese Theatre inHollywood.[39][41] The largest set built for the film was the interior of the Walt Disney Studios'Animation Building, which production designerMichael Corenblith referred to as "a character in the story".[42] The exterior of theBeverly Hills Hotel and Disney's personal office were also recreated, with theLangham Huntington inPasadena acting as an interior double for the Beverly Hills Hotel.[39] To ensure authenticity, Corenblith used photographs and a furniture display from theRonald Reagan Presidential Library as references for Disney's office; the set was also adorned with Disney's personalAcademy Awards loaned from aWalt Disney World Resort exhibit.[16][41][43] For the Disneyland sequences, scenes were shot during the early morning with certain areas cordoned off during the park's operation, including the park's entrance courtyard,Main Street U.S.A.,Sleeping Beauty Castle,Fantasyland, and theKing Arthur Carrousel attraction.[44] Extra roles were filled byDisneyland Resort cast members.[45] In order for the park to be portrayed accurately in the story's time period, Corenblith had the Main Street storefronts redressed to reflect their 1961 appearance; post-1961 attractions were kept obstructed so they would not show up on camera, althoughPinocchio's Daring Journey, which opened in the 1980s, can be seen in the background of one scene.[39][46] To recreate the original film's premiere at theChinese Theatre, set designers closedHollywood Boulevard and recreated the street and theater to resemble their 1964 appearances.[43] After scheduled filming in Australia had been scrapped, cinematographerJohn Schwartzman compared the landscape of Queensland with that of rural Southern California, and realized that both had similar traits in natural lighting.[42]
"I was immediately dry-mouthed by the prospect. It's just the hardest work that is to be done. There's a billion hours of video, of Walt performing as Walt Disney, being a great guy. But I found enough actual footage of him in interviews when he'd really like to be done with the subject ... When I could find him showing any legitimate kind of consternation, that was worth its weight in gold."
Emma Thompson prepared for her role by studying Travers's books and letters, as well as Travers's own recordings conducted during the development ofMary Poppins, and also styled her natural hair after Travers's, due to the actress's disdain for wigs.[48] To accurately convey Walt Disney's midwestern dialect, Tom Hanks listened to archival recordings of Disney and practiced the voice while reading newspapers.[49] Hanks also grew his own mustache for the role, which underwent heavy scrutiny, with the filmmakers going so far as to match the dimensions of Hanks's mustache to that of Disney's.[50] Jason Schwartzman and B. J. Novak worked closely with Richard M. Sherman during pre-production and filming. Sherman described the actors as "perfect talents" for their roles as himself and his brother, Robert.[51] Costume designer Daniel Orlandi had Thompson wear authentic jewelry borrowed from theWalt Disney Family Museum,[52] and ensured that Hanks's wardrobe included the Smoke Tree Ranch emblem from thePalm Springs property embroidered on his neckties, which Disney always wore.[53] The design department also had to recreate several of the costumed Disney characters as they appeared in the 1960s.[54] Filming lasted nine weeks and was completed on November 22, 2012.[39][55]Walt Disney Animation Studios reproduced animation ofTinker Bell for the scene that recreates an opening segment from an episode ofWalt Disney Presents.[39] The film was filmed in 2.40:1 widescreen.
Thomas Newman composed the film's original score.[56] In regards to incorporating his own musical style to the film's period setting, Newman stated that "there was room for a real tune-based score here that could reflect the basic joy in that kind of writing that theSherman Brothers brought toMary Poppins.[57] Newman, however, refrained from creating an "adaptation score" of the Shermans' music from the original film.[57][58] Newman's process of scoring the film included playing themes to filmed scenes, so that he could "listen to what the music does to an image",[59] and not wanting to "clutter the proceedings with music."[60] The flashback sequences to Travers's childhood provided the most work for Newman.[61] He explains that, "You had to turn on a dime to make the transition back to the 'present,' when Travers and the Sherman brothers are working on the script forMary Poppins. And that was fun, but also musically challenging." For the score's instrumentation, Newman primarily employed a string orchestra with some woodwinds and brass, as well as including piano and hammered instruments that were "appropriate to the time period", such asdulcimers.[61] The film's score was recorded at theNewman Scoring Stage in Los Angeles, while the cast recorded several of the Shermans' songs atCapitol Studios for use asplayback during the film'sdiegetic music scenes, including "Chim Chim Cher-ee", "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", "A Spoonful of Sugar", "Fidelity Fiduciary Bank", "Feed the Birds", and "Let's Go Fly a Kite".[41]Walt Disney Records released two editions of the soundtrack on December 10, 2013: a single-disc and a two-discdigipak deluxe edition, containing originaldemo recordings by the Shermans and selected songs fromMary Poppins.[62]
Saving Mr. Banks depicts several events that differ from recorded accounts.[63] The premise of the script, that Walt Disney had to convince P. L. Travers to hand over thefilm rights, including the scene in which he finally persuades her, is fictionalized. Disney had already secured the film rights (subject to Travers's approval of the script) when she arrived to consult with the Disney staff.[63][64][65] In fact, Disney left Burbank to vacation in Palm Springs a few days into Travers's visit and was not present at the studio when several of the film's scenes depicting him to be present actually took place.[33] As such, many of the dialogue scenes between Travers and Disney are adapted from letters, telegrams, and telephone correspondence between the two.[33] Although Travers was assigned a limousine driver,[33] the character of Ralph is fictionalized and intended to be an amalgamation of the studio's drivers.[66] In real life, Disney story editor Bill Dover was assigned as Travers's guide and companion during her time in Los Angeles.[33]
The film also depicts Travers coming to amicable terms with Disney, implying her approval of his changes to the story.[67] In reality, she never approved of softening the harsher aspects of Mary Poppins's character, remained ambivalent about the music, and never came around to the use of animation.[68][69] Disney overruled her objections to portions of the final film, citing contract stipulations that he hadfinal cut privilege. Travers had initially not been invited to the film's premiere until she embarrassed a Disney executive into extending her an invitation, which is depicted in the film as coaxing Disney himself. After the premiere, she reportedly approached Disney and told him that the animated sequences had to be removed. Disney dismissed her request, saying, "Pamela, the ship has sailed."[70]
Although the film portrays Travers as being emotionally moved during the premiere ofMary Poppins,[70] overlaid with images of her childhood, which is implied to be attributed to her feelings about her father, co-screenwriter Kelly Marcel and several critics note that in real life, Travers's show of emotion was actually a result of anger and frustration over the final product.[33][70][71] Reportedly, Travers felt that in the end, the film betrayed the artistic integrity of her work and story's characters.[72] Resentful over what she considered poor treatment at the hands of Walt Disney, Travers vowed never to permit Disney to adapt her other novels for any purpose.[73] Travers'slast will bans all American adaptation of her works to any form of media.[33] According to theChicago Tribune, Disney was "indulging in a little revisionist history with an upbeat spin," adding, "the truth was always complicated" and that Travers subsequently viewed the film multiple times.[74]
English writerBrian Sibley found Travers still gun-shy from her experiences with Disney when he was hired in the 1980s to write a possibleMary Poppins sequel. Sibley reported that Travers told him, "I could only agree if I could do it on my own terms. I'd have to work with someone I trust." Regardless, while watching the original film together, the first time Travers had seen it since the premiere, she became excited at times and thought certain aspects were excellent, while others were unappealing.[75] The sequel never went to production and when approached to do astage adaptation in the 1990s, she acquiesced only on the condition that British writers and no one from the film production were to be directly involved with the musical's development.[76]
The film also depicts Travers's Aunt Ellie (her mother's sister), who comes to help the family when her father becomes terminally ill, as Travers's model for Mary Poppins, with the character even using several of Poppins's catchphrases from the film. In fact, Travers identified her great-aunt Helen Morehead (her mother's aunt) as the model for Poppins.[77][78] The film shows her typing her next story for a book in 1964, titledMary Poppins in the Kitchen; the book was actually published in 1975.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures released atrailer for the film on July 10, 2013.[79]Saving Mr. Banks held its world premiere at theOdeon Leicester Square as the closing gala of the 57thBFI London Film Festival on October 20, 2013.[80][81][82] On November 7, 2013, Disney held the film's U.S. premiere at theTCL Chinese Theatre during the opening night of the2013 AFI Film Festival,[83][84] the same location whereMary Poppins premiered.[85] The original film was also screened for its 50th anniversary.[86]
Saving Mr. Banks also served as the Gala Presentation at the 2013 Napa Valley Film Festival on November 13,[87] and was screened at theAARP Film Festival in Los Angeles on November 17,[19] as Disney heavily campaignedSaving Mr. Banks forAcademy Awards consideration.[19] On December 9, 2013, the film was given an exclusive corporate premiere in the Main Theater of the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank.[88] The film was released theatrically in the United States on December 13, 2013, and ingeneral theatrical release on December 20.[89]
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment releasedSaving Mr. Banks onBlu-ray,DVD, anddigital download on March 18, 2014.[90] The film debuted at No. 2 in Blu-ray and DVD sales in the United States according toNielsen's sales chart.[91] The home media release included three scenes that were cut from the film.[92]
Saving Mr. Banks grossed $83.3 million in North America and $34.6 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $117.9 million, against a budget of $35 million.[5] The film grossed $9.3 million in its opening weekend in the United States, finishing 5th at the box office behindThe Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug ($31.5 million),Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues ($26.2 million),Frozen ($19.6 million), andAmerican Hustle ($19.1 million).[93]
Onreview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 79% of 260 critics gave the film a positive review, with anaverage rating of 7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Aggressively likable and sentimental to a fault,Saving Mr. Banks pays tribute to the Disney legacy with excellent performances and sweet, high-spirited charm."[94]Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[95] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[96][97]
Leslie Felprin ofThe Hollywood Reporter praised the film as an "affecting if somewhat soft-soaped comedy drama, elevated by excellent performances." TheReporter wrote that "Emma Thompson takes charge of the central role of P. L. Travers with an authority that makes you wonder how anybody else could ever have been considered."[98] Scott Foundas ofVariety wrote that the film "has all the makings of an irresistible backstage tale, and it's been brought to the screen with a surplus of old-fashioned Disney showmanship ...", and that Tom Hanks's portrayal captured Walt Disney's "folksy charisma and canny powers of persuasion — at once father, confessor and the shrewdest of businessmen." Overall, he praised the film as "very rich in its sense of creative people and their spirit of self-reinvention."[99]
The Washington Post's Ann Hornaday rated the film three out of four stars, writing: "Saving Mr. Banks doesn't always straddle its stories and time periods with the utmost grace. But the film — which John Lee Hancock directed from a script by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith — more than makes up for its occasionally unwieldy structure in telling a fascinating and ultimately deeply affecting story, along the way giving viewers tantalizing glimpses of the beloved 1964 movie musical, in both its creation and final form."[100]The New York Times'A. O. Scott gave a positive review, declaring the film as "an embellished, tidied-up but nonetheless reasonably authentic glimpse of the Disney entertainment machine at work."[101]
Mark Kermode writing forThe Observer awarded the film four out of five stars, lauding Thompson's performance as "impeccable", elaborating that "Thompson dances her way through Travers's conflicting emotions, giving us a fully rounded portrait of a person who is hard to like but impossible not to love."[102]Michael Phillips of theChicago Tribune felt similarly, writing: "Thompson's the show. Each withering put-down, every jaundiced utterance, lands with a little ping." In regard to the screenplay, he wrote that "screenwriters Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith treat everyone gently and with the utmost respect."[103]Peter Travers ofRolling Stone also gave the film three out of four stars and equally commended the performances of the cast.[104]
Alonso Duralde ofTheWrap described the film as a "whimsical, moving and occasionally insightful tale ... director John Lee Hancock luxuriates in the period detail of early-'60sDisney-ana".[105]Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "B+" grade, explaining that "the trick here is how perfectly Thompson and Hanks portray the gradual thaw in their characters' frosty alliance, empathizing with each other's equally miserable upbringings in a beautiful three-hankie scene late in the film."[106]Kenneth Turan of theLos Angeles Times wrote that the film "does not strictly hew to the historical record where the eventual resolution of this conflict is concerned," but admitted that it "is easy to accept this fictionalizing as part of the price to be paid for Thompson's engaging performance."[107]
David Gritten ofThe Daily Telegraph described the confrontational interaction between Thompson and Hanks as "terrific", singling out Thompson's "bravura performance", and calling the film itself "smart, witty entertainment".[108] Kate Muir ofThe Times spoke highly of Thompson and Hanks's performances.[109]Joe Morgenstern ofThe Wall Street Journal, however, considered Colin Farrell to be the film's "standout performance".[110]IndieWire's Ashley Clark wrote that the film "is witty, well-crafted and well-performed mainstream entertainment which, perhaps unavoidably, cleaves to a well-worn Disney template stating that all problems—however psychologically deep-rooted—can be overcome."[111] Another staff writer labeled Thompson's performance as her best sinceSense and Sensibility, and stated that "she makes the Australian-born British transplant a curmudgeonly delight."[112]Peter Bradshaw ofThe Guardian enjoyed Hanks's role as Disney, suggesting that, despite its brevity, the film would have been largely "bland" without it.[113]
Geoffrey Macnab ofThe Independent gave the film a mixed review, writing: "On the one hand,Saving Mr. Banks (which was developed by BBC Films and has a British producer) is a probing, insightful character study with a very dark undertow. On the other, it is a cheery, upbeat marketing exercise in which the Disney organization is re-promoting one of its most popular film characters."[114]Mick LaSalle of theSan Francisco Chronicle concluded that if the film "were 100 percent false and yet felt true, that would be fine. But this has the self-conscious whiff, if not of mendacity, then of public relations."[115] American history lecturer John Wills praised the film's attention to detail, such as the inclusion of Travers's original recordings, but doubted that the interpersonal relations between Travers and Disney were as amicable as portrayed in the film.[116] Landon Palmer ofFilm School Rejects also described several moments where the film had a "shrewd consumption of [the company's] own criticisms", only to later negate them andDisney-fy Travers as a character.[72]
Saving Mr. Banks was nominated for awards and earned accolades from various organizations. The film was nominated in five categories at the67th British Academy Film Awards:Best British Film,Best Actress in a Leading Role for Emma Thompson,Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer,Best Film Music, andBest Costume Design.[117]
Several American film critics and pundits predicted that the film would be nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Picture, and Thompson would be nominated forBest Actress; Disney heavily lobbied the film as such for itsawards campaign.[118][119][120][121] However, at the86th Academy Awards, the film received only one nomination, forBest Original Score, which it did not win.[122] The film also received single nominations at the71st Golden Globe Awards and20th Screen Actors Guild Awards, where Thompson was nominated forBest Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama andOutstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, respectively.[123][124] Additionally, Thompson won both theEmpire Award for Best Actress and theNational Board of Review Award for Best Actress for her performance, while the film itself was selected by theNational Board of Review as one of the year'stop 10 films.[125][126]Saving Mr. Banks was named by theAmerican Film Institute as one of thetop 10 films of 2013.[127]
In fact, Travers went to see "Mary Poppins" plenty of times after that premiere, so maybe there is some truth to the screenplay. The only person who could verify that died in 1996.
Saving Mr. Banks (CinemaScore: A),
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