P.L. Travers created Mary Poppins as a character in a series of children’s books. Since then, the name has been used for a film adaptation of the book, a book adaptation of the film, and a musical based on both the original books and the film adaptation.
The first Mary Poppins book, Mary Poppins, was published in 1934 in England by Australian author Pamela Lyndon Travers (pen name P.L. Travers), with illustrations by Mary Shepard, the daughter of the original illustrator of the A.A. Milne Pooh books. Mr. and Mrs. Banks and their four children—Jane and Michael, as well as the infant twins John and Barbara—have recently lost their nanny. The East wind brings them a new nanny, Mary Poppins, who is self-assured and strict, but also magical, though she becomes enraged if her abilities are ever mentioned. She takes the kids on wonderful adventures, but at the end of the book, she abandons the family.
The first book is noteworthy for both the creation of the character and the revision of one of its chapters. Both the author and the illustrator revised “Bad Tuesday” 48 years after it was first published to make it more appropriate for the times. This was due to the stereotypes of various races and cultures that were presented in this chapter.
Mary Poppins returns in the second book, Mary Poppins Returns, published in 1935, to assist the Banks family in dealing with everything that has gone wrong since she left. In this story, there is a new fifth Banks child, Annabel, and the children once again have magical adventures. Mary Poppins returns in the third book, Mary Poppins Opens the Door, published in 1943, and the magical adventures continue, but she leaves again at the end.
The remaining books, which include an alphabet book, Mary Poppins from A to Z, and a cookbook embedded in a story, Mary Poppins in the Kitchen, contain adventures from Mary Poppins’ three terms with the Banks family. Mary Poppins in the Park, Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane, and Mary Poppins and the House Next Door are among the other titles.
Despite the fact that P.L. Travers was never enthusiastic about having her books adapted into films, she eventually gave in after several attempts by Walt Disney to purchase the film rights. This resulted in the 1964 film Mary Poppins and the Disney adaptation book. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards and ranked sixth on the American Film Institute’s list of musicals in 2006. P.L. Travers, on the other hand, was dissatisfied with it and refused repeated requests for the rights to make more films. Travers forbade the hiring of anyone involved in the Disney film when the musical version, which premiered in London in 2004 and on Broadway in 2006, was in the works. Both productions were nominated for awards.