Banks is the patriarch of the London family that Mary Poppins helps in the book and movie. Author P.L. Travers based the Mr. Banks character in part on her own father, Travers Goff, portrayed by Colin Farrell in the film Saving Mr.
Accuracy: Mostly true. Saving Mr. Banks does paint the father, Travers Goff, a little more positively than he actually was, but the basics — i.e. that Goff was an alcoholic, failed bank manager with an immensely romantic imagination — are all correct. Even the pear flashback toward the end has some basis in reality.
In her will, PL Travers left her literary estate (including the copyright in Mary Poppins) upon a settlement, the beneficiaries of which were her descendants and a charity she had set up.
George Banks, more commonly known as "Mr. Banks", is the former secondary antagonist in the 1964 film, Mary Poppins. He is similar in character to George Darling from Peter Pan, and was inspired by P.L. Travers' own father, himself a strict, no-nonsense banker and was inspired by Walt Disney's father, Elias, as well.
Banks, Travers Goff being the inspiration for Mr. Banks and his namesake is foreshadowed early on when it's first revealed on Travers' office door that he is a bank manager, contrary to the implication that the character is named Banks because of his love for money.
Was Mary Poppins real? P. L. Travers and the story behind Saving Mr. Banks
Is Saving Mr. Banks the true story of Mary Poppins?
Saving Mr. Banks is based on a true story. Well, it's based on a true story the way the movie Mary Poppins is based on the book Mary Poppins — which is to say loosely, and without some of the really unusual and intense juicy parts.
They pay a heavy price for it. One of Mary and Bert's adventures goes wrong as they upset the bank manager where their father Mr George Banks works and almost cause a run on the bank. As a result, George Banks is sacked from his job. Deflated he wonders how he is now going to support his family.
The Bank. Mr George Banks and, later, Michael Banks work at the fictional Dawes, Tomes, Mousely, Grubbs Fidelity Fiduciary Bank in the City. The Bank of England and Threadneedle Street in the City of London were used as locations for scenes outside the bank in Mary Poppins Returns.
George Banks: Male, 40s. The father to Jane and Michael Banks, is a banker to the very fiber of his being. Demanding "precision and order" in his household, he is a pipe-and-slippers man who doesn't have much to do with his children and believes that he had the perfect upbringing by his nanny, the cruel Miss Andrew.
Now take a look behind the scenes of “Saving Mr. Banks” to find out how they brought 1961 to life here at Disneyland and at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, Calif. “Saving Mr. Banks” opens in wide release December 20.
Travers” in 1933 while writing the first of eight Mary Poppins books. Travers travelled to New York City during World War II while working for the British Ministry of Information. At that time, Walt Disney contacted her about selling to Walt Disney Productions the rights for a film adaptation of Mary Poppins.
In P.L. Travers' original eight-book series, Michael and Jane Banks had twin baby siblings, John and Barbara, who were a major part of the story from as early as Travers' first book; a year later, Travers' second book Mary Poppins Comes Back introduced another Banks infant named Annabel.
As for disliking children, in 1939 she adopted a baby boy named Camillus (one of twin boys from Ireland) who she raised as her own son. In a 1982 interview with the Paris Review, Travers also expressed gratitude to children for including her books “in their treasure trove.” So she must have liked children a little.
Her outfit during Jolly Holiday is decorated with red. Mr Banks even wears a red carnation in his lapel. The simple answer here then is that it is not true that there is no red in Mary Poppins. In fact, when you look for it, there's really rather a lot of it!
Angela Lansbury as the Balloon Lady, a kindly old woman who sells balloons at the park. The part was written to be a cameo role for Julie Andrews who portrayed Mary Poppins in the original film, but she turned the role down as she felt her presence would unfairly take attention away from Emily Blunt.
Banks, Bert, and the Sweeps served together in a Pals Batallion and were killed early in WWI. This is an attempt to explain why a man as methodical, careful, and financially savvy as George Banks left no instructions for his family on how to handle his financial affairs after his death.
The awe Mary Poppins inspires is actually inspired by the characters' own imaginations. That's why she denies that they ever participated in a horse race in a magical cartoon universe, when Michael reminds her that this happened—she's trying to make Michael look to his own imagination for amazement, not to magic.
The film was set in In Edwardian London in 1910 but was entirely filmed at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. They using painted London background scenes to mock up London but they were based on actual places.
No locations, I'm afraid. Every frame of the original 1964 Mary Poppins was filmed on soundstages at Disney's Burbank Studio, 500 South Buena Vista Avenue, Burbank in California. There's not a single shot of London.
He is a long time friend of Mary Poppins, though their relationship is noted to be strictly platonic (but there are hints to suggest a more romantic interest between them). He is shown to be very much at ease with her magic and implies that she has helped numerous families using her powers.
This is also why Mary Poppins knows him as Uncle Albert! He's not her uncle. If he was, why would Bert just be at the house waiting for her when Mary gets there? She calls him Uncle Albert because that's what she's used to calling him when she saw him often during her time as Bert's nanny.
Travers portrays the relationship between Mary Poppins and Bert. In the first story the romantic aspect is clear: “Mary!” he cried, and you could see by the way he cried it that he loved her.
