Disney Countdown

And now for the second film of our double feature, Saving Mr. Banks. The Movie: Saving Mr. Banks is a movie about the making of Mary Poppins.  It intertwines the visit of P. L. Travers to the Walt Disney Studios in 1961 with the story of a young Travers, aka Helen Goff, growing up in rural Australia. While some parts of the story have been dramatized for the sake of storytelling, it is no secret that the production of Mary Poppins was indeed fraught, especially due to the cantankerous nature of the author of the original Mary Poppins books.  The movie cleverly moves between the two stories, helping us to get some insight into Travers and the genesis of her books. This is one of my favorite movies to come out in the last several years.  As a movie fan, I enjoy seeing a movie about the making of a famous movie.  I also am a big Tom Hanks fan, and he does a nice job in this movie.  As a Disney theme park fan, I enjoy seeing the period recreations of 1961...

Today we have a double feature.  In fact, it is the same double feature that I did on the final day of my 2015 countdown.  The first half of this double feature is the iconic Disney film Mary Poppins. The Movie: You are probably familiar with this film, but in case you aren't, here we go.  Based on the books by P. L. Travers, the movie features Julie Andrews in the title role, a nanny who arrives on the "winds from the east" to the Banks household.  There she is brought on to care for the children, Jane and Michael, and the three of them, along with one-man band/street artist/chimney sweep Bert, go on several adventures around London.  However, some of the biggest lessons from Mary Poppins and Bert are for the children's father. Even after more than half a century, this movie is still a technical and visual masterpiece.  The scenes combing live-action and animation are incredible, and most of the practical effects look great even by today's standar...