First Look: Tom Hanks As Walt Disney In 'Saving Mr. Banks'

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When filming a major Hollywood movie at one of the busiest locations on the planet, a photo or two is bound to leak out. That's just happened with Saving Mr. Banks. Tom Hanks, who plays Walt Disney in the film, has been spotted in character during filming at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. The film, which will be released December 20, 2013, tells the story of Disney's 14-year effort to convince Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers to turn over the rights to her book. Emma Thompson plays Travers, and she's been spotted by photographers, too.

Directed by John Lee Hancock, Saving Mr. Banks co-stars Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti, Bradley Whitford and Jason Schwartzman. After the jump, see several images of Hanks, Thompson and the filming and read some of Hanks' thoughts on the Disney character.

The main image came from @MelFarleyActor, via Inside the Magic, who also posted the image of Thompson (from a scene shot on Hollywood Blvd.). Hanks as Disney in portrait form is from @imagineeringdis.

The last photo, apparently, shows Disneyland cast members who've been selected as extras and are walking around roped off sections of the part in period clothing.

Hanks spoke about the film in a Cloud Atlas promotional roundtable we were a part of:

The script is really delightful and what it's talking about is how difficult it was to make Mary Poppins. That's a pretty neat kind of 'Let's go back and revisit that.' So it's another version of Mary Poppins by way of the relationship between P.L. Travers, who wrote it, and everybody that made the movie because it was a very contentious experience. But I've made two visits to San Francisco. If you get a chance, go see the Disney Family Museum, it's like a trip to Disneyland itself. It is the third happiest place on the planet behind Disneyland and Disney World. It's really a magical place.

He was then asked if it would be a "warts and all" portrayal, as Disney surely had some skeletons in his closet.

I don't think you'd be able to because he was not a warty guy. There were the labor issues in the Forties and stuff like that but by an large, no. I mean he died of lung cancer becuase he smoked about three packs a day and we will be showing him sort of smoking. So it's going to be that kind of thing.

For more on the film, check out our archive of artices.