Saving Mr. Banks Movie Cast, Plot and Everything to Know

An account of Walt Disney's twenty-year pursuit of the film rights to P.L. Travers' popular novel, Mary Poppins, and the testy partnership the upbeat filmmaker develops with the uptight author during the project's pre-production in 1961.

Plot

What's the story about?

Plot

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.

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.

Biography Drama Family True Story

Top Cast

The lead cast starring in Saving Mr. Banks.

• 
  Tom Hanks

  ... Walt Disney

  Here, Toy Story 5

• 
  Emma Thompson

  ... P.L. Travers

  Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Nanny McPhee Returns

• 
  Colin Farrell

  ... Goff

  The Penguin (series), A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

• R
  Ruth Wilson

  ... Margaret

  See How They Run, Lone Ranger

• R
  Rachel Griffiths

  ... Aunt Ellie

  Bring Him to Me, The King's Daughter

• A
  Annie Buckley

  ... Young P.L. Travers

• B
  Bradley Whitford

  ... Don DaGradi

  The Last Full Measure, I'll Be Right There

• 
  Jason Schwartzman

  ... Richard Sherman

  Megalopolis, Queer

• B
  B.J. Novak

  ... B.J. Sherman

  Inglourious Basterds, The Amazing Spider-Man 2

• 
  Paul Giamatti

  ... Ralph

  Jungle Cruise, The Holdovers

• K
  Kathy Baker

  ... Tommie

  13 Going on 30, Boulevard

Crew Behind the Film

The Saving Mr. Banks behind-the-scenes crew and production team.

The film's director John Lee Hancock last directed Mr. Harrigan’s Phone and The Little Things. The film's writer Kelly Marcel last wrote Venom: The Last Dance and The Changeling (series).

Director

John Lee Hancock

Screenwriter

Kelly Marcel

Producers

Ian Collie
Alison Owen
Philip Steuer

Additional Information

All Trailers

Official Saving Mr. Banks movie trailers and clips.

Production Details

What we know about the Saving Mr. Banks movie production.

Key Facts

• The script made the 2011 Black List. This marks the first time Walt Disney (the person) has ever been depicted in a dramatic film.

Questions

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