Let's Go Fly a Kite

“Winds in the east, mist coming in.  Like somethin’ is brewin’, and bout to begin.  Can’t put me finger on what lies in store, but I fear what’s to happen all happened before.”

With these words, the versatile Bert opens Walt Disney’s classic movie, “Mary Poppins.”  He could have just as easily sung them at the beginning of a movie I saw recently, a movie titled “Saving Mr. Banks.” This whimsical title certainly gave little clue as to what lie ahead.

If it had the name Walt Disney attached to it, I simply surmised, it must be pure and simple fun. Thus, I approached “Saving Mr. Banks” as just a light hearted, perhaps spirited, yet funny rendition of how the books of P.L. Travers made their way from the printed page to the immortality of the movie screen.  Oh, I got that, indeed I did, but that turned out to be so much more.

Marvelously told, the movie swung me to and fro in an emotional boomerang.  Using flashbacks, we are shown a dark path trod many years before, one that shaped the entire series of Traver’s books.  That path led to something more serious, poignant, and soul wrenching.  Shaped by the well from which they sprung, the books true meaning and purpose came as a surprise. I shall never look upon Mary Poppins in the same way again.

From the heart of a young girl, adversity gave birth to genius.  From intense pain, emerged a true gift.  And at long last, from opportunity, came a chance at forgiveness, and closure.  When Travers finally lets go of Mary Poppins, she frees herself. She, at last, began a life not dictated by her past. 

                                                                                         

Each of us has our story, most of which never gets told.  Yet we carry it with us, every step we take, and it accounts for all that we are, say, and do, even when we make no conscious connection between our idiosyncrasies and our past. The past, like a shadow, is always ours to carry, however we choose.

This story, Traver’s story, is one to catch.  Hers is a tale that, because of darkness, was born the imagination to escape. It is a testimony to her spirit that Travers, working from a deep sense of loss, could even produce a series of children’s books. But it took Walt Disney to move the sometimes dark line in Traver’s books to pure entertainment, fun, and laughter that has entertained generations of children, and some older children as well.  With the rousing final song, "Let's Go Fly a Kite," he gave Mary Poppins the hopeful and happy ending that Travers secretly longed for.

This movie was so much more than I expected, except for Emma Thompson. Emma Thompson is, well, Emma Thompson. Someone give her an award, please.  It is worth a look, more than once.  If you can cry, you should see this movie. If you don’t cry, you must see this movie.  Perhaps you could be freed.  Perhaps you could let go of your past. It surely makes you reflect.

Mark Twain Quote:  “Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”