3 Things to Do Before Seeing Saving Mr. Banks

Poster by Tony Sherg. See his other work here.

Disney's new movie Saving Mr. Banks will be released into theaters on December 20. I am getting Supercalifredulistically excited to see the new movie that tells that story of Walt Disney's attempts to get the film rights to Mary Poppins from the author P.L. Travers.

Disney has really ramped up the publicity of this movie, so much to the point that I have seen the trailer somewhere around 1,000 times. Not that I am complaining! (In fact if you remember back to an article we posted a couple of months ago, we have been excited for Saving Mr. Banks for quite some time.)

Here's a list of the three things that you should do before you walk into the theater with your extra buttery popcorn to catch what will be the greatest film of the year. (ehemmm Oscar for Best Picture please.)

1. Download the Free Saving Mr. Banks eBook from iBooks.

Disney released a beautifully designed book into the iBookstore that highlights interviews with Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson as they talk about the roles that they played in the film.

Tom Hanks shared his experience portraying Walt Disney: “In addition to growing a mustache and parting my hair, the job at hand was to somehow capture all that whimsy that is in his eyes as well as all of the acumen that goes along with that. You can’t do an imitation of Walt Disney.”

This is just one of the 80 pages that are included in the ebook.

Also included in the eBook are sketches of concept art from the original Mary Poppins film and the new Saving Mr. Banks.

The eBook can be downloaded for free so long as you have an Apple device that supports the iBookstore.

See it here–Saving Mr. Banks: The Official Multi-Touch Book 

2. Purchase the Saving Mr. Banks Album 

Disney released a huge album for the movie that not only includes new songs from the film, but also has old songs from Mary Poppins by the Sherman Brothers.

I put the soundtrack on our Disney Dose Christmas list to share it with all of you. Evidently it was good that we shared it, because it was one of the most popular items on our guide. I have heard from some of our newsletter subscribers that they “absolutely love it.”

You can find the album for sale on Amazon for $14.88 and on iTunes for $15.99. (I highly recommend it!)

3. Appreciate the History Behind the Movie

On December 9, the cast and crew of the movie gathered at the Walt Disney Studios lot for the official premiere of the film. Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson weren't the only stars in attendance–Julie Andrews and her costar Dick Van Dyke were also in attendance.

With the presence of the original Mary Poppins and Bert, at the premiere, this truly is a time honored film. In my mind it is almost as if Bert and Mary Poppins are blessing Saving Mr. Banks.

Well, I hope that you have enjoyed these three reasons and that you have a chance to pickup the free eBook and the album all linked above.

This article as well as other fun news and photos from this week were sent out in our weekly Disney Dose newsletter. We would love to have you join in with the fun by signing up here.

Saving Mr. Banks comes out on December 20 across the country. Will you be seeing it?