The cast and crew of Saving Mr. Banks are shooting in Disneyland today, and naturally those in the park were able to sneak a peek for the first time of Tom Hanks as Walt Disney.
Numerous rides were closed within the Anaheim, California park today in order to accommodate filming. Affected areas included Main Street, Main Street Vehicles, Carnation Cafe, Plaza Inn, Sleeping Beauty Castle, Fantasyland, and curiously Astro Orbitor. We suspect that last ride, which wasn’t open when Walt was alive, is only closed to clear the surrounding area. The below photo was snapped by Twitter user @earlier today:
Also spotted was this popcorn cart being used for filming by @GuySelga:
Finally, check out the retro extras walking out front the castle (thanks MouseWait):
Saving Mr. Banks follows the true story of how Disney courted P.L. Travers for the filming rights to her children’s books for fourteen years. Mary Poppins was “highly personal” to Travers, as the story reflected personal struggles and her relationship with her father, who died when she was seven years old. After watching the 1964 film with Julie Andrews and Dick van Dyke, Travers hated all of the animation sequences of the film and never sold any filming rights to Disney again. John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) will helm the film.
Colin Farrell plays Travers Robert Goff, Emma Thompson plays P.L. Travers, Jason Schwartzman plays Richard Sherman, and Paul Giamatti plays Ralph.
Saving Mr. Banks will open December 20, 2013.