As I am a massive fan of Tom Hanks and Disney, Saving Mr. Banks is a movie that I had a lot of interest in. The movie was released in 2013 and it actually has a very interesting development history with the BBC wanting to make this before Disney came on board. It is a great story, but still has a lot of that “Disney” heart to it.
How to Stream or Download Saving Mr. Banks Full Movie Online
You can stream it or you can download the movie from a digital store of your choice by clicking the Download button at the end of the review. And to stay with the Marry Poppins theme, check out also our review of Mary Poppins Returns (2018). If you want to see more of Tom Hanks, watch him for example in Sully (2016) or listen to him as Sheriff Woody in the Toy Story movies.
The Movie Review
I have always thought of Mary Poppins as a super happy and super fun movie that I loved as a kid and also as an adult. What Saving Mr. Banks does is makes you see how deeply the original author of the Mary Poppins books, P. L. Travers cares about her stories. It certainly makes me look at the original Mary Poppins movie in a different light.
Emma Thompson stars as P. L. Travers. Travers is not having the best of times; her money is drying up and she is being chased by Walt Disney to make her beloved story into a movie. She is very, very reluctant to do this as she is worried about what Disney will do. Tom Hanks plays Disney and seeing him go to great lengths to get this movie made is great stuff.
You can tell that above all else he wants to make this movie; however, Walt also seems to care a great deal about Travers and goes to great lengths to communicate with her. There is a fantastic scene in the movie where Walt goes to London and the two have a heart to heart about their childhoods.
Speaking of which, part of the movie does deal with the hard childhood she had. Here Colin Farrell and Ruth Wilson play her parents and this stuff is kind of hard to watch, but I mean that as a compliment. However, this does make you emphasize with her even more and even though you love Mary Poppins, you can see why she was so scared to let someone else take control of it.
The acting is great, but I also think the movie looks fantastic. The movie is mainly set during the 60s and seeing Hollywood and Disneyland at this time is great. The sections of the movie that are set during her childhood have a different look to them and this is also very well done.
It seems like Disney has pumped out more movies in the last decade than at any other time during their history! The thing is, Saving Mr. Banks is a real gem, one of the best Disney movies of the last decade if you ask me, and a movie that is well worth watching. While I do feel if you enjoy the original Mary Poppins you will love this movie, even more, it works even if you are not too familiar with Marry Poppins.
