‘Saving Mr. Banks’: Tom Hanks unveils his Bob Iger impression

In “Saving Mr. Banks,” the new film about Walt Disney’s efforts to persuade the cantankerous British author P.L. Travers to make her “Mary Poppins” novels into a movie musical, Tom Hanks steps into the shoes of the famous studio head.

At a recent installment of the Envelope Screening Series, however, Hanks whipped out his portrayal of a different Disney honcho: current chairman and CEO Robert Iger.

Hanks did so while recounting how he got the part of Disney in “Saving Mr. Banks.”

“I had all these people telling me that I was going to get a call from Bob Iger,” Hanks said. “And then one day the phone rang, and they said, ‘Yes, Bob Iger for Tom Hanks.’ And I said, ‘Yes, speaking. Go ahead and put him on.’ [And they said,] ‘One moment, please.’ ” [Hanks then hummed Iger’s hold music: “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.”]

VIDEO: ‘Saving Mr. Banks’: Watch cast, crew discuss the film

After exchanging pleasantries, Hanks said, Iger’s pitch went something like this, taking on a mile-a-minute monotone:

“Oh, great. How are you, how are the kids, how’s lovely Rita? Give her my best, will you? … Hey, listen, Tom: If you could help us out here, we’ve got a tough position here. A movie came in based on Walt Disney — we didn’t develop it — and we feel as though we sort of have to make this thing. We can’t just let it go because somebody else would make it, and then what kind of schmucks are we that somebody else makes a Walt Disney movie? And if we just shut it down, then we’re going to come off as the evil version of Walt Disney, and we certainly don’t want that happening. So we’re in kind of a tough position here; we don’t know what really to do about it. It’s a lovely script, we’re all in favor, but if there’s any way at all you could just come in — it’d be nice if somebody famous played somebody famous. You know how that is. So if you’d take a look at it and just let me know if you’re interested in doing it, I’d really appreciate it.”

Hanks didn’t need much more convincing. “And that’s how I came to play Walt Disney,” he said.

For more from the cast and crew of “Saving Mr. Banks,” watch the full clip above, and check back for daily highlights.

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