Mary Poppins Biopic Planned?

[ibrmacf]

Hey all,
Apparently, there is talk of a film being made based on Walt Disney's 14 years of conversing w/PL Travers to get permission to adapt her "Mary Poppins" into a movie. Tom Hanks is said to play Walt Disney and Emma Thompson as P L Travers:

http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a ... iopic.html

It's an interesting premise. I'm just very particular about who they cast as Walt Disney. To me, he's one of the, if not the, most important guys that I respect.

[Ben]

Not a bad choice...it kind of works, actually.

Hanks wouldn't be a "photoreal" Disney, of course, and Tompson wouldn't be a photoreal Travers, but I can easily see them inhabiting the roles with their spirits evoked as naturally as how Michelle Williams "became" Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn.

I'm just glad they seem to have moved away from trying to remake the original movie. Maybe they can see the sense in preserving it as is, and this is a way for them to milk the title but not desecrate the memory of it. I'm not sure the making of Mary Poppins has a totally engrossing tale to tell, but if it can bring back that era convincingly it could be next year's Marilyn-type movie.

At the end of the day, despite the differences, if anyone of "name actor" status would be able to portray Walt on film, it would be Hanks, whom audiences would warm to and project their trust of Walt onto and vice versa. Hanks just has the wholesome image that would suit this, though it would seem to blow out the idea of the Walt biopic that had been rumored after that fake poster came out.

[EricJ]

Walt in the 60's wasn't completely warmth, which's why I'm interested to see what an old seasoned professional like Hanks can do with it.
The gerund-verb title, though, suggests that we're going to get a saintly "childhood dreamer" knockoff of Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland, which sounds like it's going to sentimentally gloss over some of the nittier historical details. (Like the fact that we only got "Bedknobs & Broomsticks" because Walt thought Travers was never going to give in, and he wanted another London-fantasy book as backup just in case?)
Think the studio may try changing it to "Walt and Mary", etc., to cash in on the fake movie poster.

As for who else has ever played Walt, anyone catch Roger Allam (the bad guy in Speed Racer and V For Vendetta) in a bit part in "RKO 281"?

[Ben]

Oh, that's right. Haven't seen RKO281 for a while now, but I do remember the Walt cameo (no idea it was Allam though).

When I say "warmth" I'm talking about the 50s and 60s Disneyland intros, which will no doubt be Hanks' springboard research point, so a lot of it will be informed from watching that footage.

"Walt & Mary"? Nope, it would have to be "Walt & Pamela", which doesn't have the same ring at all. Maybe something more cute or metaphorical, like "A Spoonful Of Sugar" or "The Battle For Cherry Tree Lane"...

[Macaluso]

Tom Hanks just owns as a human being that I'll support anything he does, even if he wouldn't really look the part (though who knows, movie magic may make him look identical)