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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