Tonight's picture was taken on Christmas Eve of 2008. That day Mattie was visited by his close preschool buddy Zachary. While Zachary was visiting, we also had the honor to be introduced to two marines. They were visiting children in the hospital for the holidays and giving every child a toy or two. Mattie loved seeing these men in their uniforms and their presence really caught his attention. Zachary also enjoyed the visit. It was a major change in our daily routine and it did bring us some holiday cheer.
Quote of the day: Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are. ~ Chinese Proverb
As my faithful readers know, I rarely go to the movies. In fact, I tend to only go when I am in Los Angeles visiting my parents. They know that I will only go to see certain movies, so typically if they recommend I go, it is for something worthwhile. Today's movie, Saving Mr. Banks did not disappoint. Basically this is a true story about the author (PL Travers) of Mary Poppins and how Pamela Travers comes to sell the rights to her book to Walt Disney in the 1960's. Naturally most of us are very familiar with the movie Mary Poppins and even if you haven't seen the movie, my guess is most of us know the music. So much so that I bet you know the best way to swallow medicine....... with a SPOON FULL OF SUGAR MAKES THE MEDICINE GO DOWN. Honestly it would never have dawned on me that the author of such a tale could have such a dark, dysfunctional, and tumultuous upbringing. I think this movie is a three to four tissue event, so if you go see it, go prepared. I never thought I would leave a movie about Mary Poppins crying, with swollen eyes, and a massive headache. But it happened!
Inspired by the extraordinary, untold back story of how
Disney’s classic “Mary Poppins” made it to the screen. When Walt Disney’s
daughters begged him to make a movie of their favorite book, P.L. Travers’
“Mary Poppins,” he made them a promise—one that he didn’t realize would take 20
years to keep. In his quest to obtain the rights, Walt comes up against a
curmudgeonly, uncompromising writer who has absolutely no intention of letting
her beloved magical nanny get mauled by the Hollywood machine. But, as the books (yes she wrote multiple books about Mary Poppins) stop selling and money grows short, Travers reluctantly agrees to go to Los
Angeles to hear Disney’s plans for the adaptation. For those two short weeks in
1961, Walt Disney pulls out all the stops. Armed with imaginative storyboards
and chirpy songs from the talented Sherman brothers, Walt launches an all-out
onslaught on P.L. Travers, but the prickly author doesn’t budge. He soon begins
to watch helplessly as Travers becomes increasingly immovable and the rights
begin to move further away from his grasp. It is only when he reaches into his
own childhood that Walt discovers the truth about the ghosts that haunt her,
and together they set Mary Poppins free to ultimately make one of the most
endearing films in cinematic history.
I naturally thought the movie was fantastic, well acted, and meaningful. But if you want other opinions, I attached two links below. The Vulture article lives up to its name. It attacked the movie viciously and felt that Disney produced this movie just to beef up its own name and reputation. The Vulture felt the movie was pro-Disney and did not capture the true essence of Travers. However, the LA Times interviewed several people for its article and from what I can tell Emma Thompson quite legitimately portrayed Travers. I suppose you can be the judge of that. However, what intrigued me about the movie besides the artistic genius of the Sherman brothers who transformed a story into a musical, was the power once again of the human connection. I have no doubt that Travers would never have sold her story to Walt Disney if he did not invest the time and understanding to get to know the real Travers.
Travers characters within her book represented her own family members. Particularly her father and herself! Therefore something so personal, makes it difficult to alter or to see one's story through the eyes of others. In essence altering characters can be like a betrayal of the memory of a loved one. Yet it was through Travers' relationship with Disney that I think she was able to rewrite her own life script. He gave her the encouragement she needed to permit herself to let go of the past and to help her reshape her future. The movie enabled me to see that she had the power to take all past hurts and losses, not forget them, but accept them, and understand that she is more than the sum of these issues. The issues should not hold her prisoner, they are a part of her, but she needed to learn to forgive herself and not feel she had to be punished for the wrong doings of her family. Taking the courageous step to develop Mary Poppins into a musical and to sell the rights to her story, was an exercise in hope, awareness, and forgiveness.
Clearly the story of PL Travers and my own are very different. The issues are night and day and yet at the core they are the same. We both feel trapped in our past, a past that influences our interactions, and our future. Finding a way through the hurt is no easy journey but I wish upon myself and anyone else struggling with loss and/or past issues to be able to develop a meaningful connection with someone who enables us to see a future and have a new script, different than the one playing inside our own heads.
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