Disney To Make SAVING MR. BANKS - The Story Behind Mary Poppins

Everybody loves the Disney classic Mary Poppins, and why not? It's a sweet, lovable, and heartwarming movie (and in my own opinion, the world's best musical) that touches children and adults of all ages thanks the whimsical songs, the dazzling animation, and the wonderful performances of Oscar winner Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. Decades after its release, it even inspired a musical that is still running to this day. But not a lot of people know how this charming film almost never got to be made. Disney is setting out to tell the story with a new film called Saving Mr. Banks, from a Black List script by Kelly Marcel (who helped develop Terra Nova).

Oscar winner Tom Hanks is rumored to be stepping into the suit of the world famous Walt Disney and Oscar winner Meryl Streep is rumored to be portraying the woman who wrote the original "Mary Poppins" books, P.L. Travers. The movie will depict the true story of Walt Disney's 14 year endeavor to get the movie rights from Travers to bring her character of Mary Poppins to life. In the end, Travers despised the final film saying the animation distracted from the characters (even though the main animation in the film only adds up to 15 minutes of the total runtime). 

This film marks the first time that Disney (the company) has attempted to cast Disney (the man) in a true-life drama. In my personal opinion, Hanks is a fantastic actor but getting him to play one of the world's greatest showmen will be pretty tricky. From the history of Disney/Travers, I would imagine that Meryl Streep will be portraying a woman not unlike her extraordinarily strict character in Doubt. Disney is very good at rewriting its own history, so an unflattering portrayal of their namesake is completely out of the question. What do you think? Would Tom Hanks be the perfect Walt Disney for this film? Does the history behind one of the world's most magical films interest you?