End credits include the following statements: "The producers wish to acknowledge the work of Valerie Lawson, author of Mary Poppins, She Wrote - The Life of PL Travers" and “The producers wish to thank: J & M Costumers, Inc.; the State of California and the California Film Commission. Special thanks to the Disneyland® Resort, [and] Al Flores, Jon Storbeck, Barb Nicolson, Rich Langhorst, Laura Schaffell, Robyn Vossen, Mike Nichols, Keith Gossett, Mike Hageman, Kristen Lagerlof, Alejandra Gonzalez, Leigh Slaughter, Ken Hughey, Trevor Rush, Dave Caranci, Andy Massey. Special acknowledgement to: 'Moose,' by Robert B. Sherman.” Also stated are the following acknowledgements: “Charcoal sketches courtesy of the Norman Rockwell Estate Licensing Company; Aerial photograph and relief map courtesy of Getty Images; TIME magazine courtesy of TIME INC.; John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Negs. 3811, 8986 and 161299; “Lassie” © Classic Media, LLC. LASSIE, associated images and other indicia are trademarks of and copyrighted by Classic Media, LLC. All rights reserved; Developed with the assistance of Screen Australia; Developed with the assistance of BBC FILMS.” The picture is dedicated: “In memory of Peter Ronald Owen and Daniel Harris.”
       End credits also feature archival photographs of P. L. Travers, Walt Disney, and other filmmakers associated with the production of Mary Poppins (1964, see entry). Many of the historical images are displayed onscreen corresponding to their modern-day credit, showing the audience how the real-life filmmakers appeared at the time of Mary Poppins’ production. The end credit crawl is transposed over the image of a reel-to-reel tape recorder, which transmits an audio recording of a meeting between Travers and the Mary Poppins writers. Travers describes her vision of the Banks’ home on Cherry Tree Lane, in London, England, and disputes the men’s interpretation of her book. She also implies that she grew up in England, and insists that the “Mr. Banks” character “is able… he has a tender, good heart, not a change of heart, because he has always been sweet, but worried with the cares of life.”
       According to a 16 Dec 2013 HR article, Saving Mr. Banks originated with a 2002 Australian documentary television series by producer Ian Collie, titled “The Shadow of Mary Poppins.” Collie was reportedly intrigued by his discovery that P. L. Travers’ identity was clandestine and fraught with inconsistency, including the fact that she was of Australian heritage, despite her legendary “proper British image.”
       As noted in a 13 Dec 2013 Vanity Fair interview with screenwriter Kelly Marcel, a first draft of the script was completed in 2003 by Sue Smith, and HR added that Collie used Smith’s work to attract British producer Alison Owen, hoping to set up the project as a Australian-U.K. co-production. However, the filmmakers realized that Saving Mr. Banks would be a problematic venture, since Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures would have to license intellectual property rights, and would undoubtedly decline to do so if a competing company optioned the project. Still, Owen used her personal resources and financing from BBC Films to hire Kelly Marcel, who was known for her work as a television writer. Marcel adapted Smith’s autobiographical script, focusing the narrative on Travers’ 1961 two-week business trip to Los Angeles, CA, where she worked with Walt Disney, as well as screenwriter Don DaGradi and songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman. Mary Poppins’ second credited screenwriter, Bill Walsh, is not featured in Saving Mr. Banks.
       Although Owen was reportedly pleased with Marcel’s draft, she remained reticent about approaching Disney and wanted to first secure the approval of the Sherman brothers. During Italy’s 2011 Ischia Film Festival, Owen serendipitously befriended a Los Angeles, CA, neighbor of Richard Sherman, who offered to give him the script. In turn, Richard Sherman became an advocate for the project, although his brother, Robert, died 6 Mar 2012 before principal photography began. According to HR, Richard Sherman cried at his first meeting with the filmmakers, remembering the struggles he endured while trying to work with Travers. However, the script for Saving Mr. Banks helped him forgive the writer, as he had not previously known about her troubled childhood. Marcel’s script was subsequently included in the 2011 “’Black List’ of top unproduced films, and former Creative Artists Agency (CAA) executive Bob Bookman helped establish Saving Mr. Banks in Hollywood, where Disney Studios embraced the project with the approval of Walt Disney’s surviving daughter, Diane Disney Miller. A 16 Oct 2013 NYT article stated that the studio first considered buying the script as a defensive strategy, to prevent the picture from being made, but ultimately decided that the premise was an opportunity to promote the Disney brand, and demonstrate the significance of storytelling. Disney chief executive officer Robert Iger telephoned Tom Hanks personally to offer him the role of “Walt Disney,” as the studio had never before entrusted an actor to portray the company founder onscreen. A 10 Apr 2012 DV news item formally announced that both Hanks and Emma Thompson were negotiating contracts for their roles.
       According to various contemporary sources, the filmmakers were initially concerned that Disney Studios would insist on sugarcoating the representation of its founder, but director John Lee Hancock told the 16 Dec 2013 HR that after “discussions” with executives, the script remained uncensored. Although Hancock claimed that Saving Mr. Banks portrayed a realistic, judicious impression of Walt Disney, revealing him as a faulty human being and a sensitive artist, as well as a ruthless businessman, many articles published at the time of release noted the film’s lack of scenes with Disney indulging in his three-pack-a-day cigarette smoking addiction, which contributed to his death from lung cancer in 1966. In an 18 Oct 2012 HR news item written during production, Hanks reported that the film would refrain from addressing controversial issues surrounding Disney’s life and business practices, such as his violation of labor laws, but that he would “chain smoke his way through the picture.” Still, the final film contained only subtle smoking references. In a 12 Dec 2013 WSJ article, Marcel explained that “existing contracts” stipulated that Disney could not be portrayed inhaling smoke, but she included scenes in which he was holding cigarettes and coughing.
       Similarly, Saving Mr. Banks abstained from addressing the “darker and more mysterious” elements of Travers’ personal life, which have been the subject of speculation in various biographies and publications, including a 28 Oct 2008 Telegraph article.
       During pre-production, the filmmakers were permitted access to the Walt Disney Archive in Burbank, CA, where they discovered the thirty-nine audiotapes which resulted from Travers’ insistence that her meetings at the studio be recorded to uphold verbal agreements. The tapes were both referred to in the film, and featured in the end credits. In addition, production designer Michael Corenblith used over 500 historical photographs to recreate Disney’s office, along with artifacts from an exhibit of Disney’s workroom at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
       As announced in a 19 Sep 2012 Disney press release, principal photography began that day in Los Angeles, with a projected end date of “around Thanksgiving.” Locations included Disney Studios in Burbank, as well as Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. On 6 Nov 2012, the Orange County Register stated that the production’s two days at Disneyland, 6 – 7 Nov 2012, marked one of the few instances of filming at the theme park; the last occasion was for Tom Hanks’s 1996 picture That Thing You Do (see entry). Over 600 Disneyland employees were dressed in period costume to perform as background actors. The 16 Oct 2013 NYT listed the film’s budget as $35 million.
       Saving Mr. Banks premiered opening night of AFI Fest on 7 Nov 2013, and was named one of AFI’s Movies of the Year. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe award in the category Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama (Emma Thompson). This film was nominated for one Academy Award for Music (Original Score).