Saving Mr. Banks Free Behind-The-Scenes iBook

Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks iBook gives fans

a behind-the-scenes look

at the making of the timeless classic Mary Poppins

Saving Mr. Banks

Featuring Rare and Exclusive Archival Treasures, Recording Sessions from the Academy Award®–Winning Composers, an Interactive Timeline of Historic Walt Disney Studios Milestones, Storyboards, Video and More

 

Walt Disney Studios announces the release of SAVING MR. BANKS: The Official Multi-touch Book, based on Disney’s highly anticipated film “Saving Mr. Banks,” in theaters December 20, 2013. Exploring the previously untold story of how Walt Disney worked his magic on author P.L. Travers to secure the rights to her book, “Mary Poppins,” the book includes a foreword by Academy Award®-winning composer Richard Sherman; never-before-seen correspondence between Walt Disney and P.L. Travers; rare storyboards and scripts from the Disney archives; an interactive timeline of historic Walt Disney Studios milestones; original recordings of the Sherman Brothers, performing their “Mary Poppins” hit songs; facts and profiles on the key characters in “Saving Mr. Banks”—all created by Apple’s  digital book creation app, iBooks Author.

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The Saving Mr. Banks book is available for free, exclusively on iBooks at www.iTunes.com/SavingMrBanks.

 Saving Mr. Banks iBook PL Travers

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.

Saving Mr. Banks

Two-time Academy Award®–winner Emma Thompson and fellow double Oscar®-winner Tom Hanks topline Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks, inspired by the extraordinary, untold backstory of how Disney’s classic “Mary Poppins” made it to the screen.

When Walt Disney’s daughters begged him to make a movie of their favorite book, P.L. Travers’ Mary Poppins, he made them a promise—one that he didn’t realize would take 20 years to keep. In his quest to obtain the rights, Walt comes up against a curmudgeonly, uncompromising writer who has absolutely no intention of letting her beloved magical nanny get mauled by the Hollywood machine. But, as the books stop selling and money grows short, Travers reluctantly agrees to go to Los Angeles to hear Disney’s plans for the adaptation.

 Saving Mr. Banks

For those two short weeks in 1961, Walt Disney pulls out all the stops. Armed with imaginative storyboards and chirpy songs from the talented Sherman brothers, Walt launches an all-out onslaught on P.L. Travers, but the prickly author doesn’t budge.  He soon begins to watch helplessly as Travers becomes increasingly immovable and the rights begin to move further away from his grasp.

It is only when he reaches into his own childhood that Walt discovers the truth about the ghosts that haunt her, and together they set Mary Poppins free to ultimately make one of the most endearing films in cinematic history.

Disney presents Saving Mr. Banks, directed by John Lee Hancock, produced by Alison Owen, Ian Collie and Philip Steuer, and written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith. Executive producers are Paul Trijbits, Christine Langan, Andrew Mason and Troy Lum.

 

Download book here:

www.iTunes.com/SavingMrBanks

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A Spoonful Review Of Saving Mr. Banks

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For the past few years Disney and Mary Poppins fans have been anticipating the arrival of the movie Saving Mr. Banks.  There is a tremendous amount of words being set to page about this movie right now, and it is generally well liked – though it does have its detractors.  I can’t begin to tell you how good that is for a film like this.  I’ve seen Mary Poppins countless times (Star Wars: A New Hope being the only movie I’ve seen more), read the book (though not in some time, that needs to change), and even read some works about P. L. Travers herself.  That said, this isn’t a movie about Mary Poppins and if you think it is before having seen it, then you’re going to see quite a different movie then you’re expecting.

This is not a subtle movie in any way.  It will beat you senseless with its message while trying to mask itself with the appearance of subtlety.  Don’t get me wrong that doesn’t make it a bad movie at all.  In fact, I think it’s a fantastic movie.  One third of the movie is told in flashbacks to the life of P. L. Travers growing up as Helen Goff in Australia.  They are portrayed as wispy and almost dreamlike – thanks in part to the filter used on the camera.  Much like a dream.  Combine that with the way the relationship between Walt Disney and Travers is told and you can begin to see the magic of this film.

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As my brain groked what I’ve seen on the screen I realized that the story itself is an illusion.  It’s a dream.  And, as with most dreams, the roles that you see people portraying are not necessarily the people they represent.  Shift around the roles of the players a bit and you’ll realize that the more correct title for this film is Saving Mrs. Travers.

Saving Mr. Banks

Getting two actors who are well known character actors and setting them against each other was a stroke of genius.  Tom Hanks as Walt Disney is by no means perfect, but his mannerisms, stance, and appeal are all captured and I do not think another actor could have done as well a job with such a beloved individual.  Emma Thompson does an amazing job as Travers. Having spent numerous hours listening to the archival studio session tapes of meetings between Travers and various Disney employees, she tried to capture the emotional distress of Travers.  She even had her own hair styled to match Travers rather than using a wig.

Saving Mr. Banks

What really brought it all home for me though was listening to an interview with Jason Schwartzman and Richard Sherman.  Unlike Hanks and Thompson who had to study their roles by studying the past, Schwartzman was able to sit down and talk with the man he’d be portraying.  The two had spent countless hours together throughout the making of this film.  In the studio, Sherman was a consultant for all the “script room” scenes in the movie.  He has talked about how surreal and emotional many of the scenes were for him – seeing moments from his own life recreated.

Like is so often true for movies about topics and historical moments that have already been picked to pieces extensively, this film will not be for everyone.  In fact, it’s probably not a movie for the most hard core of fans – they’re not even the target audience.  Saving Mr. Banks is meant to tell the tale of how Mary Poppins almost didn’t get made in a way that is meant to appeal to the most general of audiences.  Keep in mind that this is not a family movie by any means, and you probably do not want to bring your small children to see it as there’s little in it for them – hence the PG-13 rating.

Saving Mr. Banks

In addition to doing the web design and programming for the On the Go in MCO website, Todd Perlmutter is a host for the Disney Film Project Podcast. You can join him and his fellow hosts for Episode 156 where they will discuss the movie Saving Mr. Banks.

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