Saving Mr. Banks [2 CD][Deluxe Edition]

Walt Disney Records will release the original motion picture digital soundtrack for Disney's 'Saving Mr. Banks' and the 'Saving Mr. Banks' 2-Disc Deluxe Edition on December 10, 2013. Thomas Newman composed and conducted the original score. 'Saving Mr. Banks' will release in U.S. theaters on December 13, 2013, limited, and open wide on December 20, 2013.

One of the most respected film composers, Newman has scored over 50 films. He has been nominated for ten Academy Awards with nine in the Best Original Score category for 'The Shawshank Redemption,' 'Little Women,' 'Unsung Heroes,' 'American Beauty,' 'Road to Perdition,' 'Finding Nemo,' 'Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events,' 'The Good German,' 'Wall-E,' and 'Skyfall.' Newman won a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for The Living Proof from 'The Help.'

Newman said, 'The rare opportunity of writing music for a movie about the making of Mary Poppins was impossible to ignore. The fact that it could provide emotional content in relief of the struggles that the Sherman brothers and Walt Disney endured was reason enough to take on the challenge. Like the story itself, the music is at times joyous and hopeful and other times, full of despair and nagging regret. All by way of England and America in 1961, with stops along the way to rural Australia in 1906. What more could anyone ask for...?'

The soundtrack also features the songs 'Chim Chim Cher-ee,' 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,' and 'Let's Go Fly a Kite' performed by Jason Schwartzman (as Richard Sherman) and B.J. Novak (as Robert Sherman) as they 'demo' the songs for P. L. Travers. Richard Sherman served as Music Consultant for the film.

Director John Lee Hancock said, 'The songs are so terrific. The fact that we still hum them and sing them and know them immediately speaks to the genius of the Sherman brothers.'

First released in 1964, the Mary Poppins original motion picture soundtrack featured 14 original songs by legendary Disney songwriters and composers Richard and Robert Sherman. The soundtrack was the #1 album for 14 consecutive weeks in 1965, maintaining the #1 position that year longer than the Beatles (Beatles' 65, Beatles VI, and the Help! soundtrack), Elvis Presley (Roustabout soundtrack), The Rolling Stones (Out of Our Heads) and The Sound of Music soundtrack. The Mary Poppins film garnered 13 Academy Award nominations and won five Oscars, two of which the Sherman brothers received for 'Chim Chim Cher-ee' and the film's original musical score.

Showcasing the musical talents of Oscar-winning legend Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins), beloved actor-comedian Dick Van Dyke (Bert), British comedian David Tomlinson (Mr. Banks) and the Sherman brothers, the second disc revisits five unforgettable favorites including 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,' 'Chim Chim Cher-ee,' 'A Spoonful of Sugar' and 'Feed The Birds.' Also included are four previously unreleased pre-demo recordings performed by the Sherman brothers: 'The Pearly Song (Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious), 'Cim Chim Cher-ee,' 'Tuppence a Bag [Feed the Birds (Tuppence a Bag)] and 'Let's Go Fly a Kite.'

Richard Sherman added, 'Walt loved that song, 'Feed the Birds.' He knew that was the keynote of what we had in 'Mary Poppins,' the message that it doesn't take much to give love. And that's what Bob and I were saying without saying it in those words. It doesn't cost much to buy a bag of bread crumbs. We had touched Walt with this very spiritual note. Every once in a while, he would call us up and say play that. He didn't even have to say, 'Feed the Birds.' He would say play it and we would go to his office and play it for him.'