Mary Poppins (film)
Mary Poppins is a 1964 American musical fantasy film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney, with songs written and composed by the Sherman Brothers. The screenplay is by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, based on P. L. Travers's book series "Mary Poppins". The film, which combines live-action and animation, stars Julie Andrews in her feature film debut as Mary Poppins, who visits a dysfunctional family in London and employs her unique brand of lifestyle to improve the family's dynamic. Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, and Glynis Johns are featured in supporting roles. The film was shot entirely at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California using painted London background scenes.
Mary Poppins
George Banks is Mary Poppins's employer. He works at a bank and lives at No. 17 Cherry Tree Lane with his wife and their children. In the books he is rarely present, but is gruffly loving of his wife and children. In the film he has a more prominent role as a cross man preoccupied with work who wants order and largely ignores his children and wife, but later on his attitude changes for the better, as Bert convinces him that while he focuses on his life at the bank, his whole life, including his children's childhood, is passing him by. Nothing of this is so much as mentioned in the book. His role in the stage musical is similar to the film, but he has an additional back-story drawn from the original books, in which he was ignored by his parents and tormented by a cruel governess during his childhood. In the 1964 Disney film he is portrayed by David Tomlinson; in the 2004 BBC Radio 4 drama, he is played by David Timson.