Ticket Holders Will Enjoy a Screening of the Film at the Walt Disney Studios and Memorable Behind-the-Scenes Looks on the “Walk in Walt’s Footsteps” Tour
BURBANK, CALIF. (December 11, 2013)—Disney announced today that tickets to its Special Limited Engagement at the Walt Disney Studios, featuring their highly anticipated film “Saving Mr. Banks,” have sold out one week in advance of the event that runs seven nights from December 13 through December 19. Tickets are still available for the limited engagements at select theaters in the following cities: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Toronto and Washington D.C. Check your local listings for theater locations and times.
Ticket holders for the Walt Disney Studios event will have the unique opportunity to see the film, which stars Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks, in a state-of-the-art movie theater on the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California, and then walk in Walt Disney’s footsteps on a special walking tour of the famous lot.
The “Walk in Walt’s Footsteps” tour starts immediately following the screening and showcases key locations that were featured in the film. On the tour guests will have photo opportunities with Mickey Mouse as well as Mary Poppins and Bert the Chimney Sweep characters from “Mary Poppins” and will get a chance to see sets from the film, such as Walt Disney’s office and “Mary Poppins” author P.L. Travers’ home as well as many props, including Walt Disney’s actual limousine from the period. Guests will also visit the Walt Disney Animation building, where they will get a sense of the art of animation and the history of the Walt Disney Company. Included in the tour is a visit to the Legends Plaza to see the statue of Walt Disney and view the many historical plaques, including Dick Van Dyke, Julie Andrews, and more. Ticketed guests will also receive a commemorative 50th Anniversary “Mary Poppins” DVD.
Two-time Academy Award®–winner Emma Thompson and fellow double Oscar®-winner Tom Hanks topline Disney’s “Saving Mr. Banks,” inspired by the extraordinary, untold backstory of how Disney’s classic “Mary Poppins” made it to the screen.
When Walt Disney’s daughters begged him to make a movie of their favorite book, P.L. Travers’ “Mary Poppins,” he made them a promise—one that he didn’t realize would take 20 years to keep. In his quest to obtain the rights, Walt comes up against a curmudgeonly, uncompromising writer who has absolutely no intention of letting her beloved magical nanny get mauled by the Hollywood machine. But, as the books stop selling and money grows short, Travers reluctantly agrees to go to Los Angeles to hear Disney’s plans for the adaptation.
For those two short weeks in 1961, Walt Disney pulls out all the stops. Armed with imaginative storyboards and chirpy songs from the talented Sherman brothers, Walt launches an all-out onslaught on P.L. Travers, but the prickly author doesn’t budge. He soon begins to watch helplessly as Travers becomes increasingly immovable and the rights begin to move further away from his grasp.
It is only when he reaches into his own childhood that Walt discovers the truth about the ghosts that haunt her, and together they set Mary Poppins free to ultimately make one of the most endearing films in cinematic history.
Disney presents “Saving Mr. Banks,” directed by John Lee Hancock, produced by Alison Owen, Ian Collie and Philip Steuer, and written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith. Executive producers are Paul Trijbits, Christine Langan, Andrew Mason and Troy Lum. The film will release in U.S. theaters on December 13, 2013, limited, and open wide on December 20, 2013.
