Her Father, Their Father: A Movie Review of Disney's "Saving Mr. Banks"

Most people, at least adults, remember the Disney songs, A Spoonful of Sugar, Feed the Birds, and Let's Go Fly a Kite. The movie which these come from, Mary Poppins, has a very interesting production history. The film Saving Mr. Banks portrays the childhood of P.L. Travers and also her picky attitude when it came to the possibility of a Disney film.
While the movie received critical acclaim, it only has one Oscar nomination, though I was highly disappointed that this did not even get a shot at Best Picture (seeing as it has not been nominated for that category).
The film stars Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers, Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, and Colin Farrell as Travers Goff, P.L.'s father.

SUMMARY

   The movie begins in 1961 London where the audience meets a financially-troubled author named P.L. Travers. Her agent implores her to at least consider film rights to Disney (who we find later has been after the rights for about twenty years) for her book Mary Poppins. She hesitantly goes to Los Angeles to meet with Walt Disney and his production team.

   There are then some scenes from Travers' childhood in 1906. She lives with her seemingly well-to-do family in Australia and has an adoring father (who affectionately nicknames his daughter Ginty). 

   Back in 1961, Travers arrives at Disney Studios, where she insists on some conditions before she signs: that the film is live-action and that nothing is included without her approval. Unfortunately, as she begins working with Disney employees, there is very little that meets with her approval. Everything from facial hair, to houses, to character hobbies! She soon hints to the real intention of her book when Disney mentions Mary Poppins coming to save the children. Travers asks, "You think she's come to save the children?", then scoffs, and walks away. She later becomes frustrated and tells the others that Mr. Banks (the father of the book's children) is not as cruel as Disney Studios will depict.

   Eventually, Walt takes Pamela (Travers) to Disneyland where she actually somewhat lets down her cold exterior. This, combined with other factors, leads Pamela to be more gentle. When she is presented with the new ending of Mr. Banks fixing a kite for his children, she is pleased and begins singing Let's Go Fly a Kite and dancing with the others.

   Between scenes from 1961, there are some more "flashbacks" to Pamela's childhood, including an alcoholic father and some other troubles.

   Three years into the future, P.L. attends the premiere for Disney Pictures' Mary Poppins. I am not going to spoil the ending, since this is by far the best part!

CONTENT

   Most of this movie could easily have been rated PG, as it would be pretty slow from a child's perspective. There are, however, some moments of violence. There are repeated uses of alcohol in the film and a character coughs up blood a few times. Also, it is implied that a person is going to commit suicide when she wades into a deep river (though she ends up living).

   There is no sexual content, except for a scene when a hotel worker asks P.L. Travers if he can help her unpack. Travers retorts, "If you want to handle women's underclothes, I suggest working in the laundry room."

   Foul language is sparse, but still there, which includes a couple uses of God's name and a few utterances of d***. 

   Another point is that Walt Disney makes a comment about a tree in Disneyland, saying something to the effect that God isn't the only one who can create. Later, Travers makes a remark about Disney creating man in his image. 

   Despite some language and some minor offenses to Christianity (if they can be called that), Saving Mr. Banks is certainly the best new movie I have seen this year! It highly deserved more nominations (including something for Emma Thompson, or at least Tom Hanks), and although it did not, it is still a marvelous film. This is definitely appropriate for adults and teens, though there are several scenes that parents will not want children watching. While this is not a film for the whole family, it is interesting, funny, inspiring, and pure Disney!

GENERAL INFORMATION

Length: 125 minutes

Rating: PG-13 (for thematic elements including some unsettling images)

Director: John Lee Hancock

Producers: Alison Owen, Ian Collie, Phillip Steuer

Music: Thomas Newman

Year of release: 2013

Primary audience: Pre-teens (with parental supervision), teens, adults

Search Box Trouble

   In an earlier post, it was made clear that the search box was not working, for whatever reason. After some research, it was discovered that Google is working on this issue. Some tests were run on the search box and here are the results:

• Some movies/books come up on our search box. For example, some (if not all) Disney movies appear. Some others (such as the Star Wars films) do not.
• After typing in a movie's name, you might find yourself getting results for different films.

   If you search for a review you know we have, but do not come up with the correct results (or no results at all), try searching for people who worked on the item. Directors, producers, authors, or keywords of the item are some good ideas. However, if you still have trouble, please contact Family-in-Mind.

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   Family-in-Mind Reviews

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The Tale as Old as 1991: A Movie Review of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast"

2012 3D release poster

Original 1991 poster

How can anyone learn to love a hideous monster? Is it even possible? In Disney's
Academy Award-winning Beauty and the Beast, it certainly is! The movie won two academy awards, which is impressive considering it is hard for animated pictures to win more than one (and even then they have other contenders for the "Best Animated Film" award). It was also the very first Disney movie to be adapted as a Broadway musical.
The film stars the voices of Paige O'Hara as Belle (the "Beauty" of the movie), Robby Benson as the Beast, and Richard White as the hunter Gaston. I should also mention that Angela Lansbury is the voice of the castle cook Mrs. Potts, and she does a marvelous job.

SUMMARY

 Belle and her inventing father live in the countryside, just outside of a small village. She has no friends except for her books, which she borrows from a bookkeeper constantly. Although she is quite "strange" (according to the townsfolk), she has at least one quality: she is definitely the most beautiful person in the village. And she has caught the eye of the self-consumed hunter Gaston.

   Belle's "papa" Maurice says that his new invention will make a new life for them. That day, he is off to take his invention to the fair, where Belle believes he will win first place.

   However, Maurice's horse Philippe is spooked by wolves and runs off. Maurice is chased by wolves and only can find refuge in a large, dark castle. Inside the castle, Maurice finds an open chair by a warm fire. Oh, by the way, he also meets talking objects (such as a talking clock, candlestick, and teapot). As he warms up by the fire, with a cup of warm drink, he is confronted by a hideous monster, who drags him away.

   Back at home, Belle rejects the proposal of Gaston, much to his frustration. A little while later, the horse Philippe returns to her, and she realizes that her father must be in some sort of danger.

   The horse takes her to the dark castle. The talking candlestick Lumière secretly leads Belle to the prison tower in which her father is being held captive. The Beast enters the scene, and she takes her father's place, setting Maurice free.

   As Belle explores her new home and the enchanted occupants, her father tells everyone back in the village tavern that his daughter has been captured by a vicious creature (causing the townsfolk to think he is even more crazy). 

   While the ending is good, it is also quite tense for a Disney cartoon.

CONTENT

   Like many of Disney's animated features of the 1990's, the G-rated Beauty and the Beast has a borderline amount of violence for the film (perhaps that is even being a bit generous). Some younger children might possibly find the Beast to be frightening. Gaston fires shots from his rifle at the beginning of the film, but the gun is not shot at any people. At the end of the film, there is a "battle" between the enchanted servants and townsmen. This includes weapons such as scissors, hot water, and an oven. Afterwards, there is a tense confrontation between the Beast and Gaston. The hunter fires an arrow into the Beast's arm. Also, a person is stabbed with a knife (though we don't see any blood, if I recall correctly) and a man falls down an abyss, shouting the whole time.

   There is just a little sensual content in the movie. In the village tavern, Gaston is admired by three women who wear strapless gowns. Lumière is sometimes seen flirting with a female duster, and one scene shows the Beast in the bath (but there is nothing sexual about this, and we see no intimate parts). There is, however, only one kiss in the film. Apart from this, there is some very mild crude humor (i.e. scissors poke a man's behind).

   There is no foul language in the movie.

   Beauty and the Beast is completely based on a magical spell cast by an enchantress. This spell can only be broken by true love. There is no other use of magic in the film.

   Disney's cartoon really is a wonderful movie for mostly all ages. Apart from the violence, which could scare young children, there are a lot of positive things about the movie: loving others despite their outward appearance, loyalty, bravery, and true strength. Gaston represents a strong, yet cruel man, while the Beast shows a strong and kind soul. 

   I also would like to make a special note of the songs by Alan Menken. Some of the most popular Disney songs come from this film, including Be Our Guest, Human Again, and Beauty and the Beast. All of the songs are great, but Jerry Orbach and Angela Lansbury do marvelous jobs in their respective songs Be Our Guest and Beauty and the Beast.

   With both positive and negative aspects, this is a good family movie for anybody. It is one of my personal favorite Disney pictures and continues to be a favorite of our whole family.

   (Please note that this is a review of the Special Edition, including a few more minutes of film and some new music, though the storyline is the same regardless)

GENERAL INFORMATION

Length: 84 minutes (Original edition), 91 minutes (2002 Special edition)

Rating: G

Directors: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise

Producer: Don Hahn

Music: Alan Menken (music), Howard Ashman (lyrics), Tim Rice (additional lyrics)

Year of release: 1991

Primary audience: Children, family

Technical Trouble

   The search box on Family-in-Mind has not been working properly for several months. It was said that Blogger is working on the problem and the trouble will hopefully be fixed soon.
   Thanks for understanding.

~Family-in-Mind Reviews

Two Worlds Collide: A Movie Review of Disney's "Tarzan"

Two worlds, one family. An orphaned boy (whose family was stranded on a tropical island) is taken under the wing of a mother gorilla who has lost a child. Thus, we have the song Two Worlds, from where we get those words.

SUMMARY

   The movie opens with a burning sailing ship and a family of three fleeing the wreck. They take a rowboat to a tropical paradise. After some exploring, the mother and father find a good place to build a home for them and their infant son. 

   During this, the audience is shown a pack of gorillas. A mother gorilla loses a young son to a beast of the jungle and is obviously heartbroken.

   With this introduction finished, the mother gorilla, Kala, stumbles upon the tree-top home of the human family. Among wreckage, she finds the baby lying in his cradle. Upon picking him up, she is attacked by a vicious cheetah. She eventually escapes with the baby, both unharmed.

   Kala adopts the baby and names him Tarzan, much to the annoyance of the gorilla leader (and her mate) Kerchak. 

   A few years go by, and we are shown a young Tarzan having wild adventures and doing a daredevil act, earning the friendship and even respect of his female gorilla "cousin" Terk. He also becomes friends with a little elephant named Tantor.

   The audience is then shown Tarzan growing into a young man and all the things he does to impress his adopted father Kerchak. An ultimate test comes, though, when the cheetah that attacked Kala years ago comes to harm the gorillas. Using a spear, Tarzan is able to kill the cheetah, earning respect and acceptance from Kerchek (well, maybe not quite...).

   One day, Tarzan finds creatures roaming the jungle. They all look similar to him, though they are dressed quite differently, not to mention their speech. He investigates further and eventually saves the female from a herd of ferocious baboons. 

   The female (Jane) and her father are on the island for scientific research, but their guide Clayton has some other nasty ideas in store...

   Tarzan befriends the humans and learns to talk like them, as well as being taught about the world they live in. Although, towards the end of the film, Tarzan is faced with a choice between his family of gorillas and the newly discovered world of the humans.

CONTENT

   For a G-rated cartoon, Tarzan seems to have an overabundance of violence. There are numerous shots fired from a rifle (some hitting people & animals, though just one death) and we are shown a gorilla die (I recall a brief shot of blood). Around the last half of the movie, a man gets entangled in vines and we the shadow of his limp body, as he was hung by the vines.

   Tarzan and Jane have a near-immediate romance. When the two first meet, a curious, yet innocent Tarzan starts to lift her dress, though she kicks him. I believe that there is only a kiss or two. Also, at the very end of the film, Jane can briefly be seen in a two-piece outfit, presumable made out of leather.

   There is no language in the movie.

   In the scene where Jane's father, a professor, first meets Tarzan, he says that Tarzan might be the "missing link." Younger children likely will not catch this, but it is still there in the film, assuming that there even is a missing link. Also, the song Two Worlds might possibly be a reference to evolution ("two worlds, one family"), though this is not stated.

   There is a song called Son of Man in the film and might seem like a reference to Christ (as he was called "Son of Man" in the Bible), but I personally don't think this was the case. Also, the song Two Worlds has a line that says, "Trust your heart, let fate decide, to guide these lives we see." As most Disney movies do, Tarzan has a "moral lesson" of "trust your heart."

   For its few drawbacks, Tarzan is a clean family adventure. I enjoy it no matter how many times I watch it. Although there are a couple of scenes which parents might want to be wary of with young children, the majority of the film is appropriate for all ages.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Length: 88 minutes

Rating: G

Directors: Chris Buck, Kevin Lima

Producer: Bonnie Arnold

Music: Phil Collins, Mark Mancina

Year of release: 1999

Primary audience: Children, family