This week, Disney announced some additional casting for their upcoming film Saving Mr. Banks, which is set to star Tom Hanks as Walt Disney and Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers in the tale of their negotiations in bringing Mary Poppins to the screen. Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzmann, and Ruth Wilson have joined the film’s cast in supporting roles.
Saving Mr. Banks centers on Disney’s 14-year courtship of Travers for the film rights to Mary Poppins. Travers was resistant to giving up the rights to the beloved character, and, after opposing to the classic film’s animated sequences, declined Disney the rights to her subsequent Mary Poppins novels. The 1964 film, of course, has gone on to become one of the most beloved Disney films of all time nonetheless, with audiences of all ages delighting in Julie Andrews’ portrayal of the famous nanny.
Ruth Wilson will play Travers’ mother in flashback sequences opposite Colin Farrell as P.L. Travers’ father, who passed away when she was seven and inspired the Mary Poppins character Mr. Banks. Giamatti will portray Travers’ chauffeur Ralph when she travels to Los Angeles, and Schwartzmann will portray famed Disney songwriter Richard Sherman, who composed the score for Mary Poppins, in addition to numerous other classic Disney songs, with his brother Robert.
John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) will direct Saving Mr. Banks, which has a script penned by Kelly Marcel. Stay tuned for more information about this intriguing new film.
