Mary Poppins Featured in Winter Issue of D23 Magazine

WDWNT on December 4, 2013

The winter issue of D23’s flagship magazine is being dedicated to everyone’s beloved nanny, Mary Poppins, to celebrate both the upcoming 50th anniversary of Disney’s Mary Poppins film and the December release of Saving Mr. Banks.

Disneytwenty-three_5 4-Winter2013 Cover-sm-copyright (2)Available exclusively to D23 Gold Members, the magazine will include exclusive interviews with Saving Mr. Banks stars Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson and Bradley Whitford, as well as director John Lee Hancock. Readers will be taken behind the scenes of the new film which opens this Christmas as well as the creation of Disney’s Mary Poppins and the sometimes combative but respectful relationship between the character’s creator, P.L. Travers (Thompson), and Walt Disney (Hanks).

The D23 winter issue will also offer a look inside the fascinating life of P.L. Travers, with a personal reminiscence by her friend, author Brian Sibley. Also, original film composer Richard M. Sherman, visual consultant Tony Walton, and choreographers Marc Beaux and Dee Dee Wood will offer exclusive insight into the creation of the 1964 Disney classic, which will officially celebrate its 50th anniversary next August.

Also included in the Winter issue of Disney twenty-three:

  • A first-person account of the creation of the stage musical Mary Poppins from Disney Theatrical Productions president Thomas Schumacher
  • “Elements of Fun,” looking at 50 years of unique “Mary merchandise”
  • An in-depth look at the film’s groundbreaking special effects
  • A walk down the red carpet for the Mary Poppins premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre

All D23 Members are invited to visit www.D23.com, where the fan club is kicking off its year-long celebration of Mary Poppins’ 50th anniversary with a unique video reconstruction of the Mary Poppins world premiere, containing five minutes of never-before-released material.

Although the original telecast of the event appears to have been lost forever, this 22-minute segment will re-create the excitement and glamor of the stellar premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on August 27, 1964.

Other features planned for D23.com’s online celebration include:

  • Extensive Mary Poppins galleries, including a look at the film’s breathtaking matte paintings
  • An interactive map of the Walt Disney Studios with photo locations from Saving Mr. Banks
  • Rarely heard audio files from the making of Mary Poppins
  • An in-depth Mary Poppins production timeline
  • A look at the sodium screen/traveling matte process, which gave the film its unique visual look
  • An exclusive interview with Mary Poppins visual consultant Tony Walton

Also in the winter issue, D23 Gold Members will receive a reproduction of the ticket mailed to invitees for the Mary Poppins premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

VIDEO: Upcoming “Saving Mr. Banks” Gets Behind the Disney Magic

WDWNT on July 17, 2013

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The Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, CA was the setting for the premiere of the movie “Mary Poppins” in 1964, as seen in this exclusive image. Though almost 50 years ago, the magic of Mary Poppins still lives in me today, as it’s one of my most beloved films. I’m sure many of you feel the same way, and this December, we’ll get to experience the behind-the-scenes magic that Walt needed to be able to create this timeless movie!

In 1934, P.L. (Pamela Lyndon) Travers released her first in a series of books about Mary Poppins … magical nanny stories that Walt Disney would read to his children … and they begged him to make a movie about the books they loved so much. Little did Walt know it would not be very easy to make their dreams come true. In the upcoming new film, “Saving Mr. Banks”, Walt (Tom Hanks) takes Travers (Emma Thompson) to Disneyland, the Happiest Place on Earth, hoping the magic will sweep her away.

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In an interview with Time Magazine, Emma Thompson talks about the challenge of playing the role of the famous author:

“She was a woman of quite eye-watering complexity and contradiction. Often I play people who are controlled by some very clear guiding moral principles. Like Margaret Schlegel [in Howards End], guided by the early principles of feminism and equal rights, and Elinor Dashwood [in Sense and Sensibility], guided by the principles of decency and honor. There are very clear moral prisms these women pour life through, and I understand that very well. And [Travers] was not like that at all. She was far more chaotic and confused and morally various.”

 

 

So what is “Saving Mr. Banks” really about? I dare you to say you did not have goose bumps after watching this!


The film is due to be released into theatres on December 20, 2013, with an early release in select theatres on December 13th, according to the IndieWire Network.  Directed by John Lee Hancock (of “The Blind Side” fame), filming is taking place at the Disneyland Resort, on the studio lot in Burbank, CA, and various other locations in and around Los Angeles. Additional cast members include: Ruth Wilson, Colin Farrell, Rachel Griffiths, Paul Giamatti, Bradley Whitford, B.J. Novak, Kathy Baker, Jason Schwartzman, and featuring newcomer Annie Buckley as the young Travers.

Do you think this movie will measure up? I feel quite certain that it will be practically perfect in every way!

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Images and video courtesy of the Walt Disney Company.

New Free Book Gives Behind-The-Scenes Look At The Making Of “Mary Poppins”

WDWNT on March 18, 2013

Walt Disney Studios announced the release of Saving Mr. Banks: The Official Multi-touch Book, based on Disney’s upcoming film Saving Mr. Banks, in theaters December 20. The book tells the previously untold story of how Walt Disney worked his magic on Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers to obtain the right to her book.

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The Saving Mr. Banks multi-touch book is available for free, only on iBooks at www.iTunes.com/SavingMrBanks

The book includes a forward by Richard Sherman, Academy Award-winning composer; previously unseen correspondence between Walt Disney and P.L. Travers; rare scripts and storyboards from the Disney archives; an interactive timeline of historic Walt Disney Studios milestones; facts and profiles on the key characters in Saving Mr. Banks; and original recordings of the Sherman Brothers performing their hit songs from Mary Poppins.

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The interactive book was created by Apple’s digital book creation app, iBooks Author.

Using Apple’s iBooks Author, the UK digital agency, Brandwidth was able to include video, audio and multi-touch interaction to create a robust storytelling experience. Readers can watch interviews featuring the cast and filmmakers, browse extensive photo galleries and explore the original storyboards and concept art—all in full retina detail. ‘Mary Popovers’ deliver fascinating facts throughout the book.

Be sure to get your free copy today!

“Saving Mr. Banks” – A Quick Review

WDWNT on March 18, 2013

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Sorry to disappoint the many Walt fanboys waiting with bated breath, but Saving Mr. Banks is hardly the Walt Disney-focused or Disneyland-heavy movie that so many people were hoping for. Instead, it is a well told, brilliantly acted character piece that just happens to feature Tom Hanks in the role of Walt as a supporting character. Liberties are taken with the story and Disney history. While this review will try to avoid specifics, historical dramas have built in spoilers. The boat sank, the Nazis lost, and Mary Poppins got produced.

The movie alternates between P.L. Travers’ youth in turn-of-the-century Australia and 1960s London and Los Angeles. The flashback format works well in keeping suspense for a story where we know the ultimate outcome. The 1900s thread of the story follows the young Travers (Annie Rose Buckley) and her family as they move to a frontier town, where her father (Colin Farrell) is starting a new job at a bank. The flashbacks are from the young Travers’ perspective, and they focus on her relationship with her father. As we’re introduced to them, their relationship is strong and warm, and we are left wondering how this tight-knit family become the Bankses in Mary Poppins.

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As we switch back to the present, the adult Travers (Emma Thompson) is on her way to L.A. to meet with Walt to discuss signing over the film rights to her books. When we’re introduced to the adult Travers, she is so adamant that the deal will never happen that she’s cancelled her cab to the airport. Convinced she needs the money, though, Travers makes the almost farcical journey. Portrayed as an uptight English stereotype, Travers struggles with the cultural differences of the less formal Hollywood, Walt Disney in particular. The film mines the joke of how the two characters address each other, but never takes it too far.

In L.A., Travers meets a cast of characters including her driver (Paul Giamati), the songwriting Sherman brothers (B.J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman) and Don DaGradi (Bradley Whitford), the screenwriter. Along with Hanks, these excellent performances help tell the story of the collaborative development of the script and songs. However, all of this is just a vehicle to help us discover that the real purpose and inspiration behind the original books was simply a coping mechanism for Travers, which we see play out in the Australian timeline.

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This dual story is played out in two conflicts: Walt versus Travers and Travers versus herself. Of course, with good storytelling the solutions to these disparate conflicts are actually intertwined, as Walt’s attempts to understand Travers’ protectionist attitude cause the author to examine it herself. The much-anticipated Disneyland scene is part of this. Walt tries to coax Travers into a childhood-like state, which is something she appears to have long buried.

In truth, the best interactions are really between Travers and her driver. This relationship feels the most real and organically developed and will hopefully earn both actors nominations this coming awards season.

Saving Mr. Banks should not be taken as a history text. Despite the fact that history rarely wraps up in the neat little packages films leave behind, the film took other liberties with the timeline as well. References are made to projects and attractions not even conceived at the time. I encourage sticklers to let this go and enjoy the drama unfolding before them. Despite these minor inaccuracies, the movie looks beautiful as a double period piece. The drabness of the outback and the comparative garishness of the 1960s are both evident in the respective scenes. In the film, Disneyland looks as close as the existing version could to what the park looked like in that time period.

Saving Mr. Banks’ strongest asset by far is its acting. The characters all feel human and natural. The story is known and altered for the sake of storytelling, but the movie manages to entertain and enthrall for the entire runtime. It is not necessarily the story of Walt, but it is enough to grab those fans hoping for a closer look at the man behind the magic. I don’t think I can say a higher praise than to call it a docudrama worthy of its subject matter.