Tom Hanks talks playing Walt Disney

TOM Hanks has revealed that he was nervous about appearing in the upcoming Disney film Saving Mr Banks.

The 56-year-old actor stars opposite Emma Thompson in the film about Mary Poppins author PL Travers. In the film, he plays Walt Disney, as he worked with Travers on the film adaptation of her book, which would later become a movie classic.

Hanks told E!: “I don’t want to piss anybody off. I want to be accurate, more than anything else. “John Lee Hancock is the director, and it’s really the story of Emma Thompson more than it’s about me, so, you know, I don’t want to screw up.”

In an effort to capture the spirit of the famous producer and animator, Hanks revealed that he did extensive research on Disney’s life. He added: “I went up to the Disney Family Museum at the Presidio in San Francisco... They just opened up all the exhibits for me, and I saw every piece of film and heard every piece of audio.

“He’s a fascinating guy, because what we have is this benevolent animator who would introduce us to his cartoon characters. “

But what he was was very tough, competitive and a very loyal businessman that invented an art form that is still going great guns today.”

Saving Mr Banks is due for release in cinemas in the US and UK on December 20, 2013. Tom Hanks currently stars opposite Halle Berry in the Wachowskis-directed film Cloud Atlas.