The Glade 4.0

...was really good.

Anyone worried that Disney was going to whitewash it and make it all pro-Walt needn't be. Disney only distributed the movie; this was a BBC production, Disney's only direct input in the script was a request not to show Walt inhaling cigarette smoke (which would have earned the movie an R rating. It's clear he is smoking, they just never show it on screen.)

I was skeptical of the casting, but Hanks does a great job of portraying the man, and the movie doesn't center on him. It centers on poor Mrs. Travers/Goff.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I'd never heard about this story before the movie came around. I want to go see it.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

I'm assuming you meant you haven't heard the story of how Walt Disney convinced P.L.Travers to sell the movie rights to Mary Poppins, and not the story of Mary Poppins.

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I'm quite a fan of the movie itself but I am apparently unaware of its actual history

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

Same here, didn't realize there was a backstory, now I'm avoiding reading it so I can be surprised in the film. Quit tempting me wikipedia!

Yes, quite

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

Heh, I forget where, but I read a couple of excerpts of the original story, and

Not sure if that's the backstory, but thought I'd spoiler it.

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This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

It's hinted at.

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

Do they show Disney as the huge racist and bigot he was?

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

No. Instead they tried to keep it historically accurate.

Seriously, wtf? Drink more of the koolaid, man.

Walt was a progressive visionary. Racially insensitive? No more so than the best of his era, but sure. Everyone was, not more than 30 years ago and further back. But he was the opposite of racist. He endured death threats for making a movie in 1946 that dared to have black people as the protagonists and present them in a positive way. As for his supposed anti-Semitism, I suggest reading Neal Gabler's Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination (2006). Just know that this book was disavowed by Disney's daughter, she felt it was overly critical in the way it described Walt's treatment of his family; and yet it thoroughly discredits the vague accusations of Walt's supposed racism.

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I missed the movie's theatrical debut, and I eagerly await its release on DVD. However, I have heard that the character of Mr. Banks is not actually portrayed in the movie. It would be difficult to find an actor to portray him -- David Tomlinson was simply wonderful in that role!

I really hope that the Walt Disney Studio reissues Mary Poppins with a special golden anniversary edition this year, complete with commentary from Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Glynis Johns, Karen Dotrice, and Arthur Malet. What a shame that David Tomlinson died in 2000 -- his remembrances would have been interesting, too. I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with the Mary Poppins anecdotes he included in his 1992 autobiography, Luckier Than Most. It's worth reading if you can track down a copy.

No part of the filming of the movie is ever seen, so Julie Andrews and Dick van Dyke don't actually appear either. (Although there are clips from the film at the very end.)

_________________
Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █