“Saving Mr. Banks”: Paving the Road to Hell

We know what to expect from a Walt Disney film, everything from the adorable creatures to the clear delineation between good and evil. DisneyAnimals1The latest Magic Kingdom offering, Saving Mr. Banks  is no exception, giving a Disneyfied version of the media giant’s acquisition of P.L. Travers’ Mary Poppins. saving-mr-banksWalt is a simple man – so the story goes – who has promised his daughters to get Mary Poppins on the screen, while Travers is cast as a lonely, psychologically damaged spinster who only gets in the way.screen_shot_2013-08-02_at_12.31.50_amTravers’ intense dislike of musicals and cartoons is the challenge to be overcome, and while they failed to convince her in real life – Travers so furious with the butchering of her work that she refused to work with Disney ever again – a different story is told in the film, Travers tearful in her epiphany of the Wonderful World of Disney in the end. PL Travers cryingAs banal as some might see this change, we need to remember that the pixie dust from this manicured perception is in fact ashes of the dead.

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