Saturday, December 21, 2013

Saving Mr. Banks - Father's Love and Love of Father

Saving Mr. Banks – Father’s Love and Love of Father
Beware of spoilers!!



In “Saving Mr. Banks” we learn about P. L. Travers and the reasons she did not wish to allow Walt Disney to have the rights to her story Mary Poppins. It is also the story of four fathers, P. L. Travers’ father, Walt Disney the father, Elias Disney (Walt’s dad) and Mr. Banks from the movie. What lessons can we learn from these fatherly examples?

The movie starts years before Mary Poppins was written. It starts in 1908 when P. L. Travers was a little girl in Australia. You hear her father saying the famous lines that Bert says when Mary Poppins shows up. It is quickly obvious that father loves “Ginty” as he calls her. He encourages her daydreams and fancy, but things are not as bright and beautiful as they seem. That day was moving day. The family carried all they had miles to the train station to move far out into the country to a much poorer situation.

The movie jumps to England in the 1960s. P. L. Travers is waiting for her car to take her to Los Angeles. Actually she canceled her car as she has chosen not to go make a deal with Disney. She does not want her beloved Mary Poppins destroyed or changed from her original intent. To her Mary Poppins (never just Mary) and the Banks’ are family. She loves them as if they were her own. Her solicitor shows up and reminds her that she needs to go make a deal with Disney because sales of the book have diminished and her money is running out. With little choice she chooses to go.

As the movie progresses you see Mrs. Travers’ memory going back to times with her father as a child. Many joyful but sad memories come out as she remembers her daddy coming home from work early to play with her and her sister just it find out he was drunk. As the movie progresses you see daddy is an alcoholic and has other health issues. At one point little Ginty goes to town to have “ice cream day” with her daddy. She walks into the bank to find him acting strange, yelling and jumping around. His boss comes in and fires him in front of her! Then the boss realizes that she is his young daughter and gives him one last chance to change. He tells him to change for his daughter if for nothing else. Ginty still loves her daddy no matter what and idolizes him. Mother is little better and Ginty stops her from walking into the river to drown herself. Mother is suffering depression from the stress of dealing with 3 young children and a physically ill, drunkard husband who can’t hold a job. Again, like father she is not evil she is just caught up in the stress of life.

As work on Mary Poppins continues Mrs. Travers is intent on not giving up the rights and she does not care if she is penniless because of it. She is defensive and seemingly downright unreasonable in her protectiveness of the characters, particularly Mr. Banks. Finally she breaks down crying about how they are making Mr. Banks mean/evil. She wonders why Disney and the staff don’t see father is just caught up in life. His intent is not to hurt his children, he is just busy and over worried.

At this point there is another flashback of memory and she remembers her father drinking more and more. He is giving a speech and because he is sick and drunk he falls off the stage after making a fool of himself. They never say want exactly is wrong with her father but I believe it was Tuberculosis, he is coughing up blood. Ginty tries to do the right thing but father will not listen and rejects her creative gift of a poem. He begs her to bring him liquor and she does. Before father dies her mother’s sister comes to help. She is quite like Mary Poppins without the “magic”. She wants things Spit Spot and done right. The aunt tries to help the entire family as they deal with the multiple issues caused by the illness and drunken behavior of father. Shortly after he dies. No matter what Ginty loved her father. She saw his love and the hurts that caused him to drink.

Walt Disney has a part in the movie as it is about how he obtained the rights to Mary Poppins. He heard his daughters laughing as Diane read to her younger sister Sharon one night as he passed their bedroom door. He stopped in to ask them what they were laughing about. They shared their joy of Mary Poppins with him and he promised to make it into a movie. It was a promise that took almost 20 years to keep but he was bound and determined to keep it! He did not care how long or what it took he was going to do it. For Walt it was not about the money he could make or taking over someone’s creative effort, it was all about keeping his promise to his daughters!

Walt also shared with Mrs. Travers that his father was a harsh man, not evil just demanding. Elias would work hard for the money to raise his family and he in return demanded they work hard themselves. He would get young Roy and Walt up early in the morning to deliver 1,000 newspapers. It did not matter what the weather the boys must deliver and make sure each customers wish for location of the paper was met. Snow above their heads, rain beating down it did not matter. Wet and cold they would deliver the papers morning and night with breaks for school after delivering the morning papers and dinner before delivering the evening papers. Walt could understand loving a father even if you knew you would get the buckle end of the belt for not living up to exacting standards. By sharing about his father Elias, Walt showed Mrs. Travers he understood her hurt.

Then there is Mr. Banks. He is a good man of business that does love his family. He wishes to provide for them and have them behave in ways he feels are socially proper. He is so tied up in his work and views of propriety he has lost touch of his family’s needs.

Jesus calls God His Father and explains how He loves us. Jesus called His Father Abba or the Hebrew term for the familiar Papa. Jesus called out to His Papa while on the cross dying. In the Old and New Testament God is called our Father. Over and over again there are references. He is better than any earthly father (Not that they are not important! A father is the first example of God’s love a child knows!) Here are just a few to think about when looking at God the Father.
God is father to the fatherless
Psalms 68:5 A father to the fatherless, and a judge of widows, Is God in His holy habitation.
God will provide as a father does
Matthew 7:7-11 Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for everyone that asks receives; and he that seeks will find: and to him that knocks it shall be opened. What man is there who, if his son asks him for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to those that ask him?
God cares for you
Matthew 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father knowing: the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid! You are more value than many sparrows!

God unlike, earthly parents does not get over stressed with daily life and forget to care for you. He is not overly strict and use the buckle end of a belt to punish you for a mistake. God will always listen and take time just for YOU personally. Like Walt Disney He keeps His promises to you. Unlike Disney the promises are kept in His time and do not depend on convincing others to comply. Still, His promises may not be kept in “your” time, when you feel they should be done.

Learn to trust your Father God. He wants to give you all the good gifts He has in the proper time, when it is best for you to have them. He wants to bless you and let you know you are a treasure to Him. Trust that your blessings are there and will come at just the right time for you to make best use of them.

Father’s (mom’s too) learn from these lessons. Show your children God’s love, forgiveness and attention. Model God’s love for them so they can see God in you.










My Christmas book, “An Angel Remembers 25 Voices of Christmas” is available!!
This is a collection of 26 short Christmas stories that together bring the amazing events of Christ’s birth alive. It is my hope that this will help encourage families to spend 10-15 minutes a day together during the busy holiday season remembering the true reason for the season.
You can find it for ALL eReader formats and PDF at:

For your Nook the link is:

It is also available at the iTunes book store and many other ebook seller sites.
The only big site not carrying my book is Amazon.
You can download a Kindle version from Smashwords.com



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