Music Box Theatre to Screen MARY POPPINS, Offer SAVING MR. BANKS Sneak Peek, 12/4

Music Box Theatre announces a free sneak preview of the new Disney film Saving Mr. Banks, starring Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks, on Wednesday, December 4, 8 p.m., 3733 N. Southport Avenue. Immediately before the premiere, at 5:30 p.m., the Music Box is proud to screen the magical Julie Andrews-Dick Van Dyke musical Mary Poppins, the making of which inspired Saving Mr. Banks. Guests have the rare opportunity to see the Academy Award-winning 1964 classic on the big screen, then learn the story that unfolded behind the scenes. To attend this complimentary screening event, RSVP through this link.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4
5:30pm Mary Poppins (G)
8:00pm Saving Mr. Banks (PG-13)
www.eventbrite.com/e/disney-sneak-peek-double-feature-tickets-9364520533

Mary Poppins won five awards of its 13 Academy Award nominations at the 1965 ceremonies: Best Actress (Julie Andrews), Best Effects, Best Film Editing, Best Original Song ("Chim Chim-Cher-ee") and Original Score by Richard and Robert Sherman. Walt Disney began his quest to get the rights to Mary Poppins in the 1940s.

Two-time Academy Award-winner Emma Thompson and fellow double Oscar-winner Tom Hanks topline Disney's Saving Mr. Banks, inspired by the extraordinary, untold backstory of how Disney's classic Mary Poppins made it to the screen.

When Walt Disney's daughters begged him to make a movie of their favorite book, P.L. Travers' Mary Poppins, he made them a promise-one that he didn't realize would take 20 years to keep. In his quest to obtain the rights, Walt comes up against a curmudgeonly, uncompromising writer who has absolutely no intention of letting her beloved magical nanny get mauled by the Hollywood machine. But, as the books stop selling and money grows short, Travers reluctantly agrees to go to Los Angeles to hear Disney's plans for the adaptation.

For those two short weeks in 1961, Walt Disney pulls out all the stops. Armed with imaginative storyboards and chirpy songs from the talented Sherman brothers, Walt launches an all-out onslaught on P.L. Travers, but the prickly author doesn't budge. He soon begins to watch helplessly as Travers becomes increasingly immovable and the rights begin to move further away from his grasp. It is only when he reaches into his own childhood that Walt discovers the truth about the ghosts that haunt her, and together they set Mary Poppins free to ultimately make one of the most endearing films in cinematic history.

Disney presents Saving Mr. Banks, directed by John Lee Hancock, produced by Alison Owen, Ian Collie and Philip Steuer, and written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith. Executive producers are Paul Trijbits, Christine Langan, AnDrew Mason and Troy Lum. The film will release in U.S. theaters on December 13, 2013, limited, and open wide on December 20, 2013.

Please arrive early. Seating is first come, first seated. No one will be admitted late. The screening may be overbooked and seating is not guaranteed. WDSMP, theatre and promoter are not responsible for overbooking. We may refuse, revoke or limit admission in our sole discretion at any time. This ticket may be used for admission only by the person to whom we issued it; it is not transferable. It has no cash value.