- "Banks, don't you dare strike my father!"
- ―Mr. Dawes Jr.
Mr. Dawes Jr. is one of the members of the board in the London bank where George Banks works, the director's son and the secondary antagonist in Mary Poppins.
Appearances[]
Mary Poppins[]
Mr. Dawes Jr. first appears when George takes his children, Jane and Michael to show them his bank. He wonders why the children are here and George explains that they wish to open an account. He asks Michael how much money he has to which Michael replies "Tuppence. But I wanted to feed the birds." His father, Mr. Dawes Sr., comes out and tries to accept Michael's tuppence. Mr. Dawes Jr. takes part in singing the song "Fidelity Fiduciary Bank" with his father, George, and the rest of the employees.
Later, chaos ensues. Once the singing is completely finished, Mr. Dawes Sr. takes the tuppence from Michael's hand without asking which causes Michael to become enraged. Michael attempts to get it back while he and Jane "attack" Mr. Dawes Sr. Michael's 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.
We see Mr. Dawes Jr. again when he calls George and asks him to return to the bank at 9 pm that same night. He then appears inside another room of the bank where his father orders him to tell George about a historical moment of the bank which involved that there hadn't been a run on the bank since 1773, when Fidelity Fiduciary Bank 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 hubbub, George is ultimately responsible as he is the 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 his boutterie destroyed. George 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 his son 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 his father 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 his son watches him and suddenly, Mr. Dawes Jr. sees his father floating up into the air laughing and calls him to come down before sobbing.
His final appearance in the film is when he is flying kites with the other bank employees. He tells George that his father 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 father's passing, he 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 Mary Poppins Returns, where he is portrayed by Dick Van Dyke, who not only played Bert but also his father, Mr. Dawes Sr. in the original Mary Poppins film.
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 Michael and Jane to save the house. He also stripped his nephew, William Weatherall Wilkins of his position as president of the Fidelity Fiduciary Bank, as a punishment for the latter's corrupt practices and ordered Hamilton and 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 the stage name he used for his portrayal of Mr. Dawes Sr. in the original film, before the letters unscrambled to "Dick Van Dyke".
- When performing the reprise of "Trip a Little Light Fantastic", choreographer Rob Marshall came up with four different dance routines for Dawes Jr. to perform and asked Dick Van Dyke which one he wanted to do. Dick Van Dyke picked the hardest one.