The 2013 film Saving Mr. Banks is a dramatised retelling of both the working process during the planning of Mary Poppins and of Travers's early life, drawing parallels with Mary Poppins and that of the author's childhood. The film stars Emma Thompson as P. L. Travers and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. Thompson considered it the most challenging of her career because she had "never really played anyone quite so contradictory or difficult before", [46] but found the complicated character "a blissful joy to embody". [47]

Bird Woman: An old woman who sits on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral and feeds the birds. She sells bags of crumbs to passers-by for tuppence a bag. Her catch-phrase is 'feed the birds, tuppence a bag'. She appears a few times throughout the books and is good friends with Mary. It is later revealed that she is the mother of the Park Keeper and her real name is Mrs. Smith. She appears in the 1964 film played by Jane Darwell (in her final film appearance) and is the subject of the song " Feed the Birds" sung by Poppins. She also plays a similar role in the musical, where she sings the song "Feed the Birds" as a duet with Mary. In the discussion of the last book we mentioned gaslightling and potential emotional abuse: that’s certainly all over this book as well, along with the certainty of never being able to measure up. And yet, none of that has any effect on Jane and Michael’s adoration of Mary Poppins (we don’t get to hear much from the twins in this book.) Nor did it affect readers, who demanded another Mary Poppins book.Defrosting Ice King: When Mr. Banks tells him the joke about a man with a wooden leg named Smith, he breaks into a fit of laughter before he dies laughing. Even Dawes Jr. mentions that he had never been happier in his life. Hidden Depths: A funny character he is, Bert has a surprising amount of wisdom and empathy, as shown during his chat with the children and later Mr. Banks, in some of the film's tearjerking scenes. In fact it's largely due to his talk with Mr. Banks that the man changes his ways. Thompson, Emma (2014-01-09). "Not-So-Cheery Disposition: Emma Thompson on Poppins' Cranky Creator". Fresh Air (Interview). Interviewed by Dave Davies. NPR. Archived from the original on 2021-04-16 . Retrieved 2021-04-16.

Gilded Cage: Bert references this to Jane and Michael when they question their father's love for them. Stating that his job is cold, heartless and difficult but he faces it every day for his family's sake. Adaptational Jerkass: Pre- Character Development, he's far stricter and more uptight than his counterpart in the original books.

My Book Notes

Morally Bankrupt Banker: He only cares about his bank making profits; downplayed in that he also cares about the customers and isn't all that bad in the end. Odd Friendship: Implied with Mary Poppins. In the first movie, she's allowed to see some of the magic and happily waves the kids and Mary Poppins out. The sequel shows that, unlike most adults, she didn't forget and greets Mary Poppins when the latter rises up the stairs. Deadpan Snarker: He has a lot of comments on the Banks household, calls their nanny applicants a "ghastly crew".

Ambiguously Human: Besides the fact that Mary can do things that normal humans wouldn’t be able to do (such as being able to travel via the wind, defy the laws of physics and being a Weirdness Magnet), Mary’s behaviour tends to be rather strange compared to other people in the story. Basically, she stands out in a crowd and she can do things that no one else in the story can do and nobody knows why... except Mary herself. After visiting Fontainebleau in France, Travers met George Ivanovich Gurdjieff, an occultist, of whom she became a "disciple". Around the same time she was taught by Carl Gustav Jung in Switzerland. [17] In 1931, she moved with her friend Madge Burnand from their rented flat in London to a thatched cottage in Sussex. [4] There, in the winter of 1933, she began to write Mary Poppins. [4] During the 1930s, Travers reviewed drama for The New English Weekly and published the book Moscow Excursion (1934). Mary Poppins was published that year with great success. Many sequels followed. [17] All-Knowing Singing Narrator: His role in the stage musical is this. He moves the story along as much as he's in it. Remember, there’s balloons and balloons, and one for everybody! Take your choice and take your time. There’s many a child got the wrong balloon and his life was never the same after.”Flat Character: One of the major complaints the film's detractors have is that none of the kids have distinct personalities like Jane and Michael from the first film. There's a reason all three of the kids have to share a character file. Rochlin, Margy (2014-01-03). "Not Quite All Spoonfuls of Sugar: Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson Discuss Saving Mr. Banks". The New York Times . Retrieved 2014-01-05. In 2018, a crater on the planet Mercury was named in her honour. [55] Works [ edit ] Books [ edit ]

Witchell, Alex (1994-09-22). "At Home With: P. L. Travers; Where Starlings Greet the Stars". The New York Times . Retrieved 2013-11-21. Evil Old Folks: She's old enough to have been George Banks's governess, and now she's out to give the next generation of the Banks children some brimstone and treacle. Which, honestly, she needs to. She’s mostly absent in this book—even more so than in the previous book, where she does interact with her children from time and time and we are assured that she loves them. Granted, in this book, she is pregnant for half of it and the servants she is supposedly overseeing are, Mary Poppins aside, not exactly stepping up to the job. urn:lcp:marypoppinscomes00trav_0:epub:571e0a12-5d9b-4b57-afad-855279ecf402 Extramarc University of Pennsylvania Franklin Library Foldoutcount 0 Identifier marypoppinscomes00trav_0 Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t7rn5sb9b Invoice 11 Isbn 9780152058166 Adorably Precocious Child: Annabel and John both tend to act like they're older than they are, and when Mary Poppins arrives they're both dismissive of her at first since they think they're too old for a nanny. However, the fantastic adventures she takes them on makes them mellow out considerably. The death of their mother is likely the reason why they try to act mature and responsible.

Informed Ability: She runs a repair shop and is said to be able to fix anything, but since the main characters visit her on a day when she has trouble getting anything done, we never actually see her fix things. P. L. Travers - papers, ca. 1899–1988, 4.5 metres of textual material (28 boxes) - manuscript, typescript, and printed Clippings, Photographs, Objects, Drawings, State Library of New South Wales, MLMSS 5341, MLOH 62