First Listen: Tom Hanks as Walt Disney

Today is the anniversary of Walt Disney’s birth — the 112^th, to be exact. Born in 1901 in Chicago, he had pluck and ambition, and turned into a something of a genius. He revolutionized the entertainment industry: he innovated animation, created the theme park as we know it, even shaped trends in urban planning. Disney remains the multimedia mogul against whom all multimedia moguls are judged. But on his television specials, he cultivated the persona of kindly Uncle Walt.

Tom Hanks was in the generation of kids who grew up watching those specials, and now the actor will play Walt Disney in a film about his life.Saving Mr. Banks follows Disney’s development of the Mary Poppins movie. To prepare for the role, Hanks poured over archival recordings held by the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. He gave a sneak preview of his Walt Voice to Kurt Andersen, for Studio 360’s special episode “American Icons: The Disney Parks.”

Listen to Tom Hanks’ impression of Walt Disney above.

“I looked at and listened to every piece of footage and recorded tape that they had,” Hanks remembers. “I wanted to get down his Midwestern cadence.” He learned that Disney used different personae — the lyrical Uncle Walt who spoke to children and the brash businessman who spoke with reporters. For Hanks’ impromptu performance for Kurt, he threw in a third character as well.

Saving Mr. Banks opens December 13.