REVIEW: Story of letting go and forgiveness in ‘Saving Mr. Banks’

MANILA, Philippines- Two people with two different hopes, which could only be fulfilled through one fictional character  - Mary Poppins.

Mr. Walt Disney’s hope is to fulfill his promise to his two daughters, and that is to give life to their favorite book “Mary Poppins.” He will do everything to fulfill this promise, even to the point of flying to another continent just to get hold of the novel’s rights.

Meanwhile, P.L. Travers has been very hesitant to sell the rights of her novel to Walt Disney, who she believes wouldn’t give justice to her beloved masterpiece. But since she has financial needs, she gives it a shot.

With Don DaGradi, and the siblings Robert and Richard Sherman, Mrs. Travers criticizes every bit of detail from the script, to the musical scores, up to the character’s costumes.

But alongside this is the flashback of her childhood memory, which she’s been carrying all her life. These memories then affect the way she treats the script, making it harder for the team to finalize the film.

But after a trip to Disneyland and the team working on a song that expressed exactly what she feels toward the character Mr. Banks, Mrs. Travers becomes more open and less critical on working on the script.

Then she gets upset because of the animated penguins that will be used for the film. This is contrary to what Walt promised her that there will be no animation used in the adaptation of the novel.

But after finding out  Mrs. Travers’ real identity, Walt then understands what makes her very protective of the novel, as it beholds the secret to her past. This understanding then leads to Walt’s success of acquiring the rights of the book and finally adapting it into film.

It may not be totally what Mrs. Travers hopes for the film, but then it fulfills her desire to redeem the tainted image of her deceased father.

"Saving Mr. Banks" has two main themes:  One is to see beyond what we think is the real thing. Everyone around Mrs. Travers believes that she’s a grouchy, hard to please woman who can never see the brighter side of things.

But Ralph, her driver in Los Angeles, sees beyond the wall that Mrs. Travers has placed around her. He is able to appreciate her and even end up being “the only American” that she ever liked and treated as a friend.

Second is that you need to let go and forgive yourself. Mrs. Travers has  always blamed herself about the death of her father. She thinks that she repeatedly fails him no matter what she does.

She has failed to see that there are things happening in our lives that are beyond our control. We blame ourselves and carry the burden the rest of our lives, preventing us from living to the fullest.

Things happen for a reason. It may take decades for us to understand why it happened. But one thing is for sure, it leads us to something unexpected and greater than what we thought we deserve.

"Saving Mr. Banks" will be in cinemas starting February 26.