Mary Poppins (character) air of grace and elegance about her. Author P. L. Travers was very firm about Mary Poppins' appearance in the novel's illustrations, working closely with illustrator Mary Shepard to create an image of the character. Eventually they based Mary Poppins' appearance on that of a Dutch doll: tall and bony, with short black hair, large blue eyes, a snub nose, and a prim, pursed mouth. Travers originally objected to the casting of Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins, claiming Andrews was too attractive for the role; however, upon meeting Andrews in person for the first time, Travers allegedly examined the actress
Mary Poppins (character) Banks children of whom she is in charge. Mary also has a friendship with Bert (Dick Van Dyke), a jack-of-all-trades who is quite at home with Mary's brand of magic. She also is less vain and selfish (although there are a couple of references to her vanity when she replaces a dingy wall mirror with a more elegant one, and sings a duet with her reflection), and far more sympathetic towards the two children than the nanny in the original stories. Emily Blunt portrayed Mary Poppins in the sequel "Mary Poppins Returns". In both the West End and Broadway versions