CAST OF CHARACTERS
BERT: A Cockney one-man-band, a sidewalk artist, a chimney sweep, and a kite salesman. Bert also narrates the story, introducing the audience to the inhabitants of No. 17 Cherry Tree Lane. Bert is Mary Poppins's best friend in the film. In the books, when the weather is fine, he draws lifelike pictures on the pavement with chalk (screever), but when it rains he instead sells matches and is thus known as the Matchman. Mary Poppins sometimes goes on outings with Bert on her Second Tuesday off. In the film Bert is a combination of the Matchman and the Sweep and has a more prominent role in the children's adventures, including taking care of Mary's Uncle Albert. In the stage musical he acts as a narrator and far-away friend of Mary and the Banks children.
MR. GEORGE BANKS: A bank manager in the City of London, Mr. Banks is father to Jane and Michael. He tries to be a good provider, but often forgets how to be a good father. 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. 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 tormented by a cruel nanny during his childhood. He is often consumed in his work and, throughout the film, was shown to neglect his children. But he was not a static character. His attitude changed throughout the film to finally becoming the type of affectionate father that most children would wish for, shown most prominently with him fixing his children's kite and taking them to go fly it outside. Though this is not the character specifically created in the books he is represented well. Though he came across as brash and harsh and remained that way in the books, Disney felt that would be a pessimistic persona to portray.
MRS. WINIFRED BANKS: Winifred Banks is the wife of George Banks and mother of Jane and Michael. In the books she is the struggling mistress of the Banks household, and is easily intimidated by Mary Poppins, who treats her with thinly-veiled contempt. In the film she is a strident suffragette who is treated somewhat satirically. The reason she was made into a suffragette in the film was to explain why she sometimes did not have time to look after her children. In the stage musical she is a former actress who is under constant pressure from her husband as she struggles to enter his social circle.
MICHAEL & JANE: The Banks children, Jane and Michael, are bright and precious. However, they misbehave to get attention from their parents. However, in the books there are five Banks children: Jane (the eldest), Michael, John, Barbara and Annabel. Jane and Michael are the eldest and go on most of the magical adventures with Mary Poppins. John and Barbara are toddler twins who only start going on adventures in the second book. Annabel is the youngest and joins the family midway through the second book. But only Jane and Michael appear in the film and stage musical.
KATIE NANNA: The last in a long line of nannies for the Banks children before Mary Poppins arrives, Katie Nanna can't stand anymore of Jane and Michael's pranks and leaves No. 17 Cherry Tree Lane.
MARY POPPINS: Mary Poppins is the main character of the books, a magical nanny who sweeps into the Banks home on Cherry Tree Lane and takes charge of the Banks children. Jane and Michael's new Nanny, Mary Poppins uses magic and common sense to show the Banks family how to appreciate each other again. She never acknowledges her strange and magical powers, and feigns insult when one of the children refers to her previous adventures. She flies in on an umbrella, and departs when the children have learned enough lessons, promising to return whenever they need her. Full of hope even when things look bleak, she tells them "anything can happen if you let it."
POLICEMAN: This local policeman brings Jane and Michael home after many of their adventures and becomes fond of Michael's kite.
ADMIRAL BOOM: Admiral Boom also lives along Cherry Tree Lane. He is a former Naval Officer, but now lives in a house shaped like a ship with his wife Mrs. Boom and his assistant Binnacle, who is a former pirate. He is remarkable for his use of colorful sailor's language, although, as the books are intended for children, he never actually swears; his favorite interjection is "Blast my gizzard!" In the film he is a neighbor of the Banks family who fires his cannon to mark the time; this version of the Admiral is far less salty and more of a proper, "Shipshape and Bristol fashion" kind of sailor, insistent on order and punctuality.
MISS LARK: Miss Lark lives next door to 17 Cherry Tree Lane. She is the owner of two dogs: Andrew and Willoughby. Originally she only had Andrew, who is pure-bred, but the mongrel Willoughby joined the family at Andrew's request. She appears throughout the books and is usually appalled by the magical antics of Mary Poppins. She appears in the film and stage musical as a minor role.
WILLOUGHBY: Miss Lark's dog.
MRS. BRILL: The Banks' cook, she rules the kitchen at No. 17 Cherry Tree Lane and helps keep Robertson Ay in-line.
ROBERTSON AY: Clumsy but good-hearted, the Banks' footman has trouble following instructions.
**In the books, the Banks have three servants in addition to Mary Poppins: Ellen, Mrs. Brill, and Robertson Ay. Ellen is the maid although she loves the children, she hates having to look after them when there is no nanny in the house. Mrs. Brill is the cook; she particularly dislikes Ellen. She is often grumpy for no reason. Robertson Ay is the jack of all trades. He is a young boy (mid-teens) and is very lazy and forgetful, doing things as putting bootblack on Mr. Banks's hat, thus ruining it. In Mary Poppins Comes Back, it is hinted that he is a character in a story that Mary Poppins tells the children about a king who is led astray by The Fool (Jester). It is hinted that he is the fool. The film depicts Mrs. Brill and Ellen but not Robertson Ay; the musical includes Mrs. Brill and Robertson Ay, without Ellen.
THE PARK KEEPER: A stickler for rules and regulations, the Park Keeper watches over the park near the Banks' home.
MRS. CORRY: Mysterious and ageless, Mrs. Corry runs the "talking shop" where people buy conversations and gingerbread decorated with real stars from the sky. She knew Mr. George Banks when he was just a boy.
FANNIE & ANNIE: Mrs. Corry's daughters.
VALENTINE & WILLIAM: Two of the children's special toys.
NELEUS: The character of Neleus, son of Poseidon, reemerged from the pages of mythology in a story called "The Marble Boy" in Mary Poppins Opens the Door. According to Greek mythology, Poseidon abandons Neleus before he is born. In the P.L. Travers story, however, Neleus is part of a family of ancient statues overlooking a cliff in Greece, and is separated from Poseidon when he is packed up and shipped away to a British park. There he meets Mary Poppins and the Banks children and is magically brought to life:
"What is your father's name? Where is he?" Jane was almost bursting with curiosity.
"Far away. In the Idles of Greece. He is called the King of the Sea." As he spoke, the marble eyes of Neleus brimmed slowly up with sadness.In the musical Mary Poppins, Neleus's yearning for his father is used to parallel Jane and Michael's
As for how P.L. Travers came up with the idea of Neleus: There is a statue in London's Hyde Park called "Boy with Dolphin" which looks very much as Neleus is described in "The Marble Boy." The statue was sculpted in 1862 and it is possible that Travers saw it whenever she strolled through the park.
QUEEN VICTORIA: A statue of the former Queen of England.
THE BIRD WOMAN: She sits in front of St. Paul's Cathedral every day, selling bags of crumbs for feeding the pigeons.
VON HUSSLER: A conniving businessman seeking a loan from Mr. Banks' department at the bank, whose business proposal is based on profits alone.
JOHN NORTHBROOK: A conniving businessman seeking a loan from Mr. Banks' department at the bank,whose business proposal is based on decent, hardworking men seeking a better life.
MISS ANDREW: The oldest, cruelest nanny in the world. When Mary Poppins disappears, Mrs. Banks calls on Miss Andrew, George Banks' old nanny. Miss Andrew is extremely fond of bad-tasting medicine as a punishment.
THE BANK CHAIRMAN: Mr. Banks' supervisor at the bank.
MISS SMYTHE: The bank Chairman's humorless secretary.
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