(Note: This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated–without any extra cost to you– when you make a purchase through these links. You can read our Disclaimer here).
One of my favorite movies is “Saving Mr. Banks”. Starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson; the movie depicts the true story of how Walt Disney gained the rights to make the beloved movie “Mary Poppins”. There’s many things I love about this movie. I love how Tom Hanks portrays Walt Disney…that in and of itself makes me happy. But beyond that the way the movie shows both sides of the story at the same time, the accuracy and detail that went into actually making the film, and the reminders that it gives me…
P.L. Travers (played by Emma Thompson) is the author of the beloved Mary Poppins books but she’s extremely leery of giving Disney the rights. She’s very difficult to work with and appears to enjoy making the lives of those working on the film difficult. What we don’t see until the very end is exactly WHY Mary is so important to her…After all, Mary doesn’t come for the children…she comes for their father.
As I began to watch this movie yet again the other day something different struck me…
There’s a scene in the beginning of the film where Walt sits down with Ms. Travers and tells her a story. One night he was walking by his daughters’s room and heard them laughing. When he asked what was so funny they told him about Mary Poppins. His daughters LOVED the books and he promised them that one day he’d turn their beloved Mary into a movie. For 20 years Walt asked Ms. Travers for the rights. Every year for 20 years Ms. Travers said no. But that never stopped Walt Disney. He was determined that no matter how long it took to keep that promise to his daughters.
Another scene that struck me involved the color red. During one of the excruciating meetings Ms. Travers notes that she doesn’t want a single bit of red in the film. Walt Disney debates her on this and even asks if she’s requiring proof of just how much Disney wants to make this film. In a huff Disney looks at the film crew, back at P.L. Travers and announces that there won’t be any red in the picture.
There’s so many scenes in this movie that I love..I could literally go on for hours about why I love it. But for the sake of time and your sanity I’ll limit myself to these two. I love the reminder that these scenes give me about the love and devotion that God has to each one of us.
Just as Disney was determined to keep that promise to his daughters no matter how long it took God is keeping each and every promise He’s ever made to us.
Those rainbows you see in the sky after it rains? That’s a promise that God made to Abraham thousands of years ago (Genesis 9:8-17)…Every time God looks at it in the sky, He remembers that promise (Genesis 9:16). As we read the Bible we see that every single word that God spoke came true. Even prophesies made hundreds of years before they ever happened (Joshua 21:45).
And as for the color red…
We find out later on in the movie why Ms. Travers doesn’t like the color red…But the point is that even though it would be very difficult to make a movie that’s set in London without the color red Disney was willing to do it. Why? Because he loved Mary Poppins and wanted to see this project through to the Big Screen.
The same is true for Jesus. He loved us SO much that He was willing to leave Heaven, come to this earth that He created and die a horrific death on the cross for our sins. Even though it was difficult for Jesus to go through what He did He was willing to do it because He knew that we needed it…
It’s amazing to think that Walt Disney went through all of this just to keep a promise to his daughters…
“Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him,”
~Matthew 7:9-11
Until next time,
Bailey Sue
