MovieChat Forums > Saving Mr. Banks (2013) Discussion > what a #itch. why did he try so hard to ...

what a #itch. why did he try so hard to please her?

posted 11 years ago by mcolby-125-523976
69 replies | jump to latest

Just saw this movie. I know it's not all true but everything I've read says this woman was a witch to deal with, even worse than the movie showed, nobody could stand her. Why did Disney bend over backwards to make her happy? Why would he even try to make a second movie when she went around giving interviews that she didn't like the first?

I'm not sure if the whole she was almost penniless thing was correct or not but if true then clearly she needed him more than he needed her. I wish he had told her to find another way to pay for her precious house. Sure I grew up watching Mary Poppins but my life would still be the same if I never saw or knew she ever existed. I liked saving Mr Banks but all I keep thinking about is some rude, nasty, made a lot of money she didn't deserve.

[–] freebird1987 10 years ago

Because he wanted a Mary Poppins movie that badly.

[–] MissVives 10 years ago

I don't know, but I definitely would have told her to go to hell. This woman was absolutely nuts and her book was awful. Disney improved upon her story so much that she should have been sucking the grime from his toes.

[–] freerun250 10 years ago

I did however, LOVE IT when she stuffed all those stupid Disney toys in the closet. I have always hated all the disney cartoon characters.

[–] gcarras 10 years ago

I loved Mrs.Travers's reaction when she saw the film (REGARDLESS the reason!!)

Amanda Bynes is hot and Lindsay Lohan is not.
Profile pic: Courtney Thorne-Smith.

[–] BackroadJunkie 9 years ago

Wow. This thread still lives! :)

The least of the reasons was because he promised his daughters, though he would have done just about anything to please his kids. I'm sure it contributed to his decisions, but there were more practical matters.

I think there were two main reasons why he tried so hard to please her to get the rights.

First, the project was already into it's second year. That's a lot to invest into a movie that you don't have the rights to. Not getting her to sign off would have been a pretty big set back. I can't think of a studio today that would do that. (Though stuff does happen...)

Second, he had the genius of the relatively unknown Sherman Brothers (remember Mary Poppins was their first big break in their career), who had already crafted their tunes and stories to the book and the character. Walt knew what he wanted to do, he had the necessary material almost done, and really liked what he heard. And let's face it, in the end, Walt mostly got what Walt wanted. (I can't even imagine what this movie would be like with the the boys.)

As for a sequel, I'm not sure it would have been a sequel as much as another Mary Poppins story, similar to using Mickey Mouse as a character in different films. Mary is the central character, but the entire story and cast can change, though it's already established that she has a history with Bert...

[–] gcarras 9 years ago

"(I can't even imagine what this movie would be like with the the boys.)"
You obviously meant....."withOUT the boys..."

Amanda Bynes is hot and Lindsay Lohan is not.
Profile pic: Courtney Thorne-Smith.

[–] BackroadJunkie 9 years ago

Oh goodness.

Yes, thanks for catching my mistake.

Actually, I can't imagine much of my *childhood* without the boys.

Mary Poppins, Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang, small world, Jungle Book, Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, Winnie the Pooh... All good memories. (And they still don't have a window in Magic Kingdom. Disney should fix that...)

[–] Ken1260 9 years ago

Personally, I loved her character.

She was a strong woman who fought as hard as she could to get what she wanted even though she was fighting a battle she couldn't win since she needed money and Disney was offering it to her.

I also think that due to her doing all this fighting with Disney over creative differences, it made "Mary Poppins" a better movie.

The addition of the song "Fly A Kite" showed that Mr. Banks wasn't that bad of a person and that Mary Poppins was able to make the family better.

[–] Amry0217 8 years ago

He was a visionary and had it in his mind exactly how he'd treat the book and characters. He was overly obsessed with making the film and the "promise" he'd made to his daughters who were now grown women, was an excuse. He needed to be nice to this witch to get her to sign over the rights so she couldn't come back later and declare copyright infringement. (like a previous poster said.) And she probably would if how she acted just when they were trying to get the movie started was any indication how she'd act if MP was actually turned into a movie.

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He lifts me clear to the sky, you know he taught me to fly.

[–] KristenStewartForever 9 years ago

He didn't try to please her. He tried to steal her work. He lied to her to get her guard down. Hell, he didn't even invite her to the premiere. The backstabber.