Mary Poppins & The Banks*

“Winds in the East, mist comin in. Like somethin in brewin, about to begin. Can’t put me finger on what lies in store, but I feel what’s to happen all happened before…”

This classic line- one of Dick VanDyke’s opening lines from the Disney classic Mary Poppins– has forever been changed for me. As a kid, I loved the movie Mary Poppins just as much as I loved all of Disney’s movies. I grew up with them all. I have found that as an adult they all have that same great feeling when I watch them. However, I have a new understanding to most of those lines that made my mom laugh more than me. Anyways, as I write this, I am watching the movie that came out last year, Saving Mr. Banks. I love the story-especially how it is based on how Mary Poppins was actually made- and how much of a good job they did. I am a major Disneyland fan if you haven’t guessed. Tom Hanks & Emma Thompson did an extraordinary job as well.

One thing is for sure, the directors did a splendid job on making the atmosphere look like the time frame that the movies was created during which was in the early 1960s. The colors, clothing style, even the Walt a Disney Studios setup was perfect. Well, for me it was. Walt Disney was portrayed by Hanks perfectly as well. And yes, Walt DID smoke when at work as most people did in those years. In the picture below Walt is accompanied at the Mary Poppins premier with Julie Andrews & the real P.L. Travers.

Now, I know there have been people who blogged about how P.L. Travers life was not exactly like they portrayed in the movie. However, what I’ve discovered is that MOST of her aspect was the same. Her attitude, view on her books, idea of Walt & stubbornness was all true. As for her backstory, I have found-which was hard to find- was pretty darn close as well. They ONLY thing I found different was that she did have a child. P.L. Travers had adopted a son. He was a twin and she couldn’t take both as a single mother. Once he was old enough, he found out and left. SO, when in the movie, after Walt asks her if she has kids, her response is “No. Well, not exactly.” Most people who wrote about this focused on the NO part. She was older when she finally agreed to let Walt make the film. So it is easy to believe at this point in her life, her son was not involved. Also, this is my opinion on what happened. Weather you choose to believe it or not is your preference.

Even though at times Saving Mr. Banks may be sad, it’s still a great story. Everyone should watch it. If your a Disney fan like me, watch it if you haven’t! I need to find the original Mary Poppins books. I would love to read them. Wouldn’t you?! The one thing I will say, there were parts of Disneyland that weren’t there when Mary Poppins was made in the 60s. But there was no real way for them to change that, since they used the REAL place- props to them! Gotta love it anyways. Now, that I’ve written a book basically, I will now watch the movie from the beginning, again!

All the pictures were from Google & myself.