Deborah Ross

Deborah Ross: If you don’t enjoy Saving Mr Banks, there’s something wrong with you

Still, perhaps it didn't need quite so many spoonfuls of sugar

Disney Enterprises, Inc 
issue 30 November 2013
Saving Mr Banks tells ‘the untold true story’ of the making of the Disney classic Mary Poppins via the stand-offs between Walt and the book’s author, P.L. Travers, and it is not a taxing film. You always know where it’s going and, with its rather melodramatic flashbacks, there is no ambiguity as to where it is coming from, but neither matters as much as they should as there is just so much joy to be had otherwise. It stars both Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson (you spoil us, ambassador!), is smartly and deftly directed (by John Lee Hancock) and if you can’t get off on the composers, the Sherman brothers, sitting at the piano and coming up with ‘Let’s Go Fly a Kite’ or ‘Spoonful of Sugar’ there is something seriously wrong with you, and you possibly need a doctor’s appointment. Also, if you stay until the end of the credits, you will hear something that will give you goose bumps.

Get Britain's best politics newsletters

Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in