Movie online release
Sometimes, it really takes a beloved actor to portray a
beloved figure. That's why Tom Hanks makes the perfect actor to play pioneering
studio chief and eventual Hollywood legend, Walt Disney, in the inspiring
drama, “Saving Mr. Banks.”
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| Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios |
Also starring fellow double Oscar® winner Emma Thompson and
acclaimed actor Colin Farrell, “Saving Mr. Banks” is inspired by the
extraordinary, untold back story of how Disney’s classic “Mary Poppins” made it
to the screen.
Tom Hanks says, “‘Saving Mr. Banks’ is about the making of
‘Mary Poppins’, not about the filming of ‘Mary Poppins.’ It’s about the
translation of ‘Mary Poppins’ from book to screen. It’s about the creative
process, of how P.L. Travers’ character started on paper first before it became
the classic movie. I think this is actually a new take on that sort of story
idea. What were the secrets behind this great movie that everybody loves? Well,
it has a checkered past. It’s not just about somebody who broke their foot
while they were shooting the film. It’s about somebody who broke the spirit of
the people in the room when they were writing that movie. And, that was Pamela
Travers.”
Says director John Lee Hancock, “This film portrays a side
of Disney we haven’t seen before. It’s not the Walt we know from ‘The Wonderful
World of Disney,’ which was fun to explore. But, someone had to play Walt
Disney, become Walt Disney. Who would that be? There was really only one person
that all of us could think of—Tom Hanks. I wasn’t trying to put a rubber mask
on Tom and make him look exactly like Disney. I wanted Walt Disney to come from
inside. Tom is such a fine actor that that’s where he begins his work—from the
inside.
“Tom
grew his own mustache,” Hancock continues in describing Hanks’ physical
“transformation” for the role. “There’s a lot of voice work, the way he walks,
the body position, the way he holds his hands, the way he touches his mustache.
How he phrases things and lets sentences roll off the end. He simply became
Walt Disney to me and I was completely amazed.”
“I
don’t look or sound anything like Walt Disney,” Hanks affirms in responding to
Hancock’s comments. “In addition to growing a mustache and parting my hair, the
job at hand was to somehow capture all that whimsy that is in his eyes as well
as all of the acumen that goes along with that. You can’t do an imitation of
Walt Disney. There is a cadence to the way he sounds that comes from, I feel,
his enthusiasm for what was in his head. He is an institution without a doubt
and worthy of the museum that his family built for him up in the Presidio in
San Francisco [The Walt Disney Family Museum].
“I
went up to the museum and spent an entire day there,” Hanks confirms about part
of the research required for his portrayal of the Hollywood legend. “Diane
Disney and the staff there were incredibly welcoming and helpful. I heard every
single piece of audio and saw every piece of film in the place about Walt’s
entire history. He invented an art form that anybody can imitate, but no one
can do better. Just helped tremendously.”
Hanks came away from that visit with important insight into
Walt Disney’s character. He explains, “Walt was hands-on every step of the way,
yet he always used the word 'we.' He never said, 'I had an idea' or 'I did it
this way.' I thought that was great. There was an inclusiveness to everything
he did. It went from the early cartoons in Kansas City all the way to his theme
parks.”
Explaining the essence of Disney that he was trying to
capture on screen, Hanks says, “Walt’s head was so full of magnificent ideas
that he could not help make everybody else excited about them. And that’s what
I was going for. I wanted to convey his pride and joy about the studio and what
was coming out of it. There is a tactile connection to every word he says that
has to come out of release.”
Emma Thompson looked forward to working with Tom Hanks, as
the two of them have always wanted to do a film together. She says, “We have
known each other for a long time, so when this was being cast I rang him up and
said, ‘This is just so perfect.’
“Tom
is fascinated by Disney and knows a lot about him. There’s something faintly
similar to the pair of them—their enduring popularity and their sort of
everyman quality and a huge kind of a charm,” she concludes.
Opening
across the Philippines on Feb. 26, “Saving Mr. Banks” is distributed
by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International through Columbia Pictures.
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