Saving Mr. Banks Page #2

accountable for the rain.

Oh, that's sad.

Sad is entirely the wrong emotion.

I shan't bother explaining why.

It would just... Zip!

Huh. Okey-dokey.

The rain brings life.

So does the sun.

Be quiet.

Yes, ma'am.

I'll get that, sir.

- Got it?

- Yes, sir.

Good morning, Pamela.

It is so discomfiting

to hear a perfect stranger

use my first name.

"Mrs. Travers," please.

I do apologize, Mrs. Travers.

I'm Don DaGradi, the scriptwriter.

Co-scriptwriter.

I shall certainly

be having my say, Mr. DiGradi.

"DaGradi. "

Uh... Wonderful, I welcome your input.

If, indeed' we ever sign off on a script.

Right. Um...

This is the rest of your team.

This is Dick and Bob Sherman,

music and lyrics.

Boys' the one and only

Mrs. P.L. Travers.

The creator of our beloved Mary.

- Poppins.

- Who else?

"Mary Poppins. " Never, ever just "Mary. "

- it's a pleasure to meet you.

Hello.

I fear we shan't be

acquainted for very long.

Why is that?

Because these books simply

do not lend themselves

to chirping and prancing.

No, it's certainly not a musical.

Now, where is Mr. Disney?

I should so much like to get

this started and finished

as briskly as is humanly possible.

Perhaps someone could point me

in his direction.

I'd be so grateful. Thank you.

We were hoping to give you

a little tour of the studio.

No, thank you.

Walt just wanted to show the place off.

No one likes a show-off.

Mrs. Travers, it's quite a long way.

Not a musical?

lam

perfectly capable of walking.

- Good morning.

Good morning, Dolly.

Could you let Mr. Disney know

I've arrived, please?

Absolutely. Please, have a seat.

Oh, no, there's no need.

He'll be just a moment, Mrs. Travers.

Why don't we sit?

She's here.

Uh...

A word of advice, Mrs. Travers, if I may.

You may. Whether I heed it or not

will be another matter entirely.

Wow.

Uh, it's just that

he can't stand being called "Mr. Disney. "

We're all on a first-name basis here.

Well, here you are at last.

Oh, my dear gal,

you can't imagine how excited

lam to finally meet you.

It's an honor, Mr. Disney.

Oh, "Walt. " Now, you gotta call me Walt.

Mr. Disney was my old man,

isn't that right, Don?

Absolutely, Walt.

Come here, Come here.

Tommie.

Say hello to

the one and only Pamela Travers.

It's so nice to meet you.

You know, I can't believe it.

P.L. Travers, right here in my office.

After all these years, almost 20 of them?

Mmm. Yes.

Twenty long years.

I wish you could have

seen me then, Pam.

Lean as a whippet, I was.

A racehorse.

Well, anyway.

Now, here you are, and look at you.

I would just eat you up.

Uh... That wouldn't be appropriate.

You know what... When Diane, here,

was about, uh, seven years old...

Oh, can I get you something

10 drink? A coffee, or...

A pot of tea would be most welcome.

Anyway, she was about seven years old

when I was walking past her room

and she was on her bed reading

to her sister, Sharon,

and those girls, they were just giggling

their little socks off.

- Tommie?

Yes?

A hot tea for Pamela and me.

Right away, Walt.

Ah, you're a doll.

She is. She's a doll.

Anyways, I asked them, I said,

"Girls, what's so funny?"

And Diane said to me,

"Why, Daddy, Mary Poppins. "

I didn't even know

what a Mary Poppins was.

But then she gave me one of your books,

and, oh, by gosh,

my imagination caught on fire.

Absolutely on fire.

And those embers have burned

ever since, as you know.

I do. Yes.

Twenty years.

So you keep saying.

Pam,

a man cannot break a promise

he's made to his kids.

No matter how long it takes

for him to make it come true.

Now, you've kept me dangling

all this time.

But now, I gotcha.

"Gotcha," indeed.

Mr. Disney, if you have "dangled,"

it is at the end of a rope you

have fashioned for yourself.

I was perfectly clear

when you approached me 20 years ago

that she wasn't for sale.

And I was clear again

when you approached me

the following year

and clear again when you

approached me every annum

for the subsequent 18 years,

and quite honestly, I feel corralled.

Oh, now, Pam, the last thing

I want to do is make you feel as though...

Would you mind? My name

is "Mrs. Travers. " I do...

See, I promised them, Pam.

Now, that's a fact.

You got kids?

No. Well, not precisely.

I have never, and absolutely never,

gone back on a promise I made

to either one of my daughters.

Now, that's what being "Daddy"

is all about, right?

Is it?

See, our motion picture

is not just gonna make my kids happy.

It's gonna make

all kids happy. Adults, too.

Because my guys are

gonna do things with it

that are revolutionary, Pam.

Revolutionary!

Your Mary Poppins is gonna

literally fly off the pages

of your books.

Oh. Thank you, Tommie.

This magical woman who has

only lived inside your head,

well, you are gonna be able

to meet her, speak to her.

You're gonna hear her sing.

Now, the singing, I'm very

glad you've come to that.

Oh! Milk in first, please.

Then the tea.

And a spoonful of sugar.

You don't intend

for this film to be a musical?

I absolutely do.

No.

- No?

- No.

Mr. Disney, Mary Poppins does not sing.

Yes, she does.

- When?

- In your books.

No, those aren't songs.

They're recitations.

She's not a giddy woman.

She's doesn't jig about.

I mean, singing is frivolous.

It's wholly unnecessary

in a governess, an educatress.

No, it would simply ruin it.

I won't have her turned into

one of your silly cartoons.

Now, Pam...

I want you to know

that the last thing I would do,

the very last thing,

is tarnish a story I have cherished.

Now, the pages of your books

are worn to tissue.

They are dog-eared and falling out,

because I have pored over them,

gripped and tormented.

Because I love her, Pam.

I love Mary Poppins.

And you, you have got

to share her with me.

And nothing happens

without your say-so.

Quite right.

It's all right here in the rights agreement

that was approved by your agent.

Uh... Dermot?

"Diarmuid. "

A live-action film. No animation.

Live-action. Here's a pen.

I'd like this on tape.

On tape?

Mmm. Your promise,

and all the conversations

we have here, on tape.

Uh-huh. There you are.

Mary Poppins and the Banks,

they are family to me.

I understand that. I do.

Well, then. Shall we begin?

Let's make something wonderful.

Well, let's see if that's at all possible.

Whoa.

Damn.

Testing. One, two, three.

Testing. One, two.

What is

all this jollification?

We've got a whole script to get through.

It's gonna be a long day, Mrs. T.

Mrs. Travers.

You could save a starving country

with benefaction from this room alone.

It's just, ugh, so vulgar.

Did you turn on the thing?

Uh...

Yes. Now, let us begin.

Mmm. So...

"Scene 1."

"Exterior, Cherry Tree Lane... "

"Ext"? What's "Ext. "?

"Exterior. "

It means

the scene takes place outside.

Oh, I see. It is an abbreviation.

I'm so sorry, Mr. DaGradi,

do you feel that you should be...

Oh. Please, be my guest, Mrs. Travers.

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