- “Banks, don't you dare strike my father!”
- ―Mr. Dawes Jr.
Mr. Dawes Jr. is one of the members of the board in the bank where George Banks works, the director's son, and the secondary ex-antagonist in Mary Poppins.
Role in the films[]
Mary Poppins[]
Mr. Dawes Jr. first appears when George takes his children, Jane and Michael, to show them the bank. He wonders why they are here and George explains that they wish to open an account. He asks Michael how much money he has to which he replies "Tuppence. But I wanted to feed the birds." His father, Mr. Dawes Sr., comes out and tries to accept it. Mr. Dawes Jr. takes part in singing the song "Fidelity Fiduciary Bank" with Mr. Dawes Sr., George, and the rest of the employees.
Later, chaos ensues. Once the song is completely finished, Mr. Dawes Sr. takes the tuppence from Michael's hand without asking which causes him to become enraged. He attempts to get it back while he and Jane "attack" Mr. Dawes Sr.. His shouting of "Give me back my money" is overheard by depositors, who misconstrue it as a sign of insolvency and start closing their accounts, which triggers a bank run.
Mr. Dawes Jr. is seen again when he calls George and asks him to return to the bank at 9pm that same night. He then appears inside another room where Mr. Dawes Sr. orders him to tell George about a historical moment of the bank which involved that there hadn't been a run on it since 1773, when it had financed a shipment of tea for the East India Company which was destroyed by rebels, to the point that "not even the Americans wanted to drink it!" (a reference to the Boston Tea Party) until that very day. It is decided that because Michael started the run, George is ultimately responsible as he is his father. Mr. Dawes Jr. sees to it that George is cashiered, a process to which his termination is known to all by way of his umbrella turned inside out like a cane, the top partially ripped off his bowler hat, and destroyed his boutterie. He is momentarily somber by this bad fortune, but then cheers up by exclaiming "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"
George then tells Mr. Dawes Sr. and all the members Uncle Albert's wooden leg joke, fakely strikes at Mr. Dawes Sr. while Mr. Dawes Jr. tries to protect him, George shoves the tuppence into his hand and departs. Mr. Dawes Jr. considers him to be "Mad as a March hare". He hears Mr. Dawes repeating "A wooden leg named Smith" two times while watching him. He almost repeats the phrase a third time saying "A wooden le--" before finally getting the joke. He makes a wheezing laugh while Mr. Dawes Jr. watches him and suddenly sees him floating up into the air laughing and calls to him to come down before sobbing.
His final appearance in the film is when he is kite flying with the other bank officers. He tells George that Mr. Dawes Sr. died laughing. Surprisingly, he does not mourn his passing as he is glad that he died happily because he had never been happier in his life. With his passing, Mr. Dawes Jr. is now the chairman of the bank, and as of one of his first acts as chairman is to make George a partner, filling the vacancy he had left upon his promotion to the top spot.
Mary Poppins Returns[]
Mr. Dawes Jr. returns in the sequel, where he is portrayed by Dick Van Dyke, who played not only Bert but Mr. Dawes Sr. in the original film too.
His role in the film is pivotal in resolving the conflict: he reveals that the tuppence that Michael deposited collected an enormous amount of interest in the intervening years, meaning it's enough money for him and Jane to save the Banks' home. He also strips his nephew, William Weatherall Wilkins, of his position as president of the bank, as a punishment for the latter's corrupt practices and orders the lawyers, Hamilton Gooding and Templeton Frye, to escort him away.
Trivia[]
- In a shout-out to the original film in the closing credits of Mary Poppins Returns, when Dick Van Dyke was credited in the "Special Appearance by" credit, he was first listed as "Navckid Keyd", which was what he was called for Mr. Dawes Sr. in the original film, before the letters unscrambled to "Dick Van Dyke".
Gallery[]
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