The Magical World Of Disney #354: Top 100 Disney Movies, Part 24

54. Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

Saving Mr. Banks is a 2013 biographical drama film directed by John Lee Hancock from a screenplay written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith. Centered on the development of the 1964 film Mary Poppins, the film stars Emma Thompson as author P. L. Travers and Tom Hanks as film producer Walt Disney, with supporting performances by Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzman, Bradley Whitford, Colin Farrell, Ruth Wilson, and B.J. Novak. Deriving its title from the father in Travers’s story, Saving Mr. Banks depicts the author’s tragic childhood in rural Queensland in 1906 and the two weeks of meetings during 1961 in Los Angeles, during which Disney attempts to obtain the film rights to her novels.

Essential Media Entertainment and BBC Films initially developed Saving Mr. Banks as an independent production until 2011, when producer Alison Owen approached Walt Disney Pictures for permission to use copyrighted elements. The film’s subject matter piqued Disney’s interest, leading the studio to acquire the screenplay and produce the film. Principal photography commenced the following year in September before wrapping in November 2012; the film was shot almost entirely in the Southern California area, primarily at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, where a majority of the film’s narrative takes place.

Saving Mr. Banks premiered at the London Film Festival on October 20, 2013, and was distributed theatrically by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures that same year in the United Kingdom on November 29 and in North America on December 13. It received positive reviews, with praise for the acting, screenplay, and musical score. Thompson’s performance garnered BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Critics’ Choice Award nominations for Best Actress, while composer Thomas Newman earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score. The film was named one of the ten best films of 2013 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute, and was also commercially successful, grossing $118 million at the worldwide box office.

Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson bring to life the untold true story about the origins of one of the most treasured Disney classics of all time. John Lee Hancock directs this acclaimed film that reveals the surprising backstory behind the making of Mary Poppins. Determined to fulfill a promise to his daughters, Walt Disney (Hanks) tries for 20 years to obtain the rights to author P. L. Travers’ (Thompson) beloved book. Armed with his iconic creative vision, Walt pulls out all the stops, but the uncompromising Travers won’t budge. Only when he reaches into his own complicated childhood does Walt discover the truth about the ghosts that haunt Travers, and together, they set “Mary Poppins” free!

It’s incredible that Disney would even allow this story to be told in one of their movies considering what they ended up letting them do in the film itself and you know what, kudos to Disney because it makes for an incredibly interesting story to be told the way it deserves to be told, Tom Hanks is as always fantastic as Walt Disney, Emma Thompson is great as P.L. Travers, the story is engaging and exciting, the drama is nicely done, the acting as a whole is great all around, it never feels like it has to go for the Oscar bait approach and the movie as a whole is just entertaining to watch on so many levels, this is an excellent, excellent film.

53. Frozen II (2019)

Frozen 2, also known as Frozen II, is a 2019 American 3D computer-animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The 58th animated film produced by the studio, it is the sequel to the 2013 film Frozen and features the return of directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, producer Peter Del Vecho, songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and composer Christophe Beck. Lee also returns as screenwriter, penning the screenplay from a story by her, Buck, Marc E. Smith, Anderson-Lopez and Lopez, while Byron Howard executive-produced the film. Veteran voice cast Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, and Ciarán Hinds return as their previous characters, and are joined by newcomers Sterling K. Brown, Evan Rachel Wood, Alfred Molina, Martha Plimpton, Jason Ritter, Rachel Matthews, and Jeremy Sisto.

Set three years after the events of the first film, the story follows Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven who embark on a journey beyond their kingdom of Arendelle in order to discover the origin of Elsa’s magical powers and save their kingdom after a mysterious voice calls out to Elsa.

Frozen 2 had its world premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on November 7, 2019, and was released widely in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on November 22, 2019. It has grossed $350.2 million worldwide and received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised its animation, visuals, music and vocal performances, while it received minor criticism due to its plot. The film had the highest opening for an animated film of all time.

Set three years after the events of the first film, the story follows Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven who embark on a journey beyond their kingdom of Arendelle in order to discover the origin of Elsa’s magical powers and save their kingdom after a mysterious voice calls out to Elsa.

I really loved the original Frozen, did it get overhyped after its’ release, oh, absolutely but it still is a really solid and enjoyable movie. So, naturally, with a sequel, I have my trepidations especially since this is coming after my cutoff for good sequels, usually between 2 to 4 years inbetween films is when you get the really good sequels.

In terms of this movie, I actually really enjoyed this a lot, I think it works as a much better sequel than Ralph Breaks The Internet did last year and would even say this is about on par with the first Frozen.

I will say that I was a little disappointed by the overall finished product in terms of potentially expanding the story and kind of making this Disney’s own How To Train Your Dragon franchise with them expanding the universe and getting deeper with some of the mystery they were setting up. Like I was certain that they were going to reveal that the parents faked their death and are actually still alive and it seemed like they were going to do so with them revealing the ship Anna & Elsa’s parents were on but that never went anywhere.

But I will give them this, the mystery and the secrets they do reveal are engaging and interesting and they keep your interest going as you watch the movie.

The animation is once again spectacular and this is yet another visual stunner with incredible sequences all around.

The voice work is once again really well done, Kristin Bell and Idina Menzel are once again great to watch as Anna and Elsa, Jonathan Groff has good moments as Kristof, Josh Gad as Olaf can get a little more annoying this time around but his performance as a whole is very good too, the new cast members Sterling K. Brown, Evan Rachel Wood, Alfred Molina, Jason Ritter, Martha Plimpton, and Jeremy Sisto are very good in their roles too.

I really liked the music in this, the score by Christophe Beck is nicely done and even the songs themselves are very good, the songs are very well done ranging from differing forms of music and most of them are very well done, Into The Unknown is a great song, All Is Found and Some Things Never Change are very good, I liked Kristof’s power ballad Lost In The Woods, I loved how the scene plays out like a cheesy 80s rock video in the movie. The songs are all for the most part very good.

Frozen II, to me, is a much better sequel to come out of Disney than last year’s Ralph Breaks The Internet, which I didn’t hate but it was still a letdown compared to the first Wreck It Ralph. Frozen II gives just enough to warrant an enjoyment factor to make it as good as the first movie was, did I get everything I wanted from those early trailers, not really, but I got enough to warrant a recommendation and I wouldn’t mind watching this one more than once down the line.

#100 & #99

#98 & #97

#96 & #95

#94 & #93

#92 & #91

#90 & #89

#88 & #87

#86 & #85

#84 & #83

#82 & #81

#80 & #79

#78 & #77

#76 & #75

#74 & #73

#72 & #71

#70 & #69

#68 & #67

#66 & #65

#64 & #63

#62 & #61

#60 & #59

#58 & #57

#56 & #55

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