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  Los Angeles, Calif., September 19, 2012 —Disney began production today on “Saving Mr. Banks,” the account of Walt Disney’s twenty-year pursuit of the film rights to P.L. Travers’ popular novel, Mary Poppins , and the testy partnership the upbeat filmmaker develops with the uptight author during the project’s pre-production in 1961. Two-time Academy Award ® -winner Tom Hanks (“Philadelphia,” “Forrest Gump”) will essay the role of the legendary Disney (the first time the entrepreneur has ever been depicted in a dramatic film) alongside fellow double Oscar ® -winner Emma Thompson (“Howard’s End,” “Sense and Sensibility”) in the role of the prickly novelist. Before actually signing away the book’s rights, Travers’ demands for contractual script and character control circumvent not only Disney’s vision for the film adaptation, but also those of the creative team of screenwriter Don DaGradi and sibling composers Richard and Robert Sherman, whose original score and song ( ...

WON'T BACK DOWN - if your kid was in a school like the one in the film, what would you do? If they are, what are you doing???  Read the title again. I viewed this film on Wednesday night in Philadelphia. The theater had a talkative crowd in attendance. You could really tell they were into the film. It's almost as though they were having a conversation with the actors on the screen. All in a positive way . I could tell there were parents in the seats, parents who were watching the film to see the outcome of one hard working parent's attempt to improve her daughters school environment. The audience was rooting for the Mom and teacher all the way! Yes, there are famous actors in the film, but it could be you or me. It could be a mom or a dad you know doing the same thing, wanting a better education for their child. I wasn't watching the film to see who wins in the end. It's not about winning or loosing, it's about change. I was watching it to see how change could ...