Mary Tourtel was created in 1920, at a time when the "Express" was in competition with "The Daily Mail" and its then popular comic strip "Teddy Tail", as well as the strip "Pip, Squeak and Wilfred" in "The Daily Mirror". The then news editor of the "Express", Herbert Tourtel, was approached with the task of producing a new comic strip to rival those of the "Mail" and "Mirror" and immediately thought of his wife Mary, already an established author and artist. Rupert Bear was the result and was first published as a nameless character in a strip titled "Little Lost Bear" on
Rupert Bear video starring Rupert called "Rupert and the Frog Song". The short film, produced by McCartney won the British Academy Award. Tourtel's home was in Canterbury in Kent, and the Rupert Bear Museum, part of the Museum of Canterbury, has collections that cover much of the history of Rupert and his friends, as well as Tourtel and other illustrators. The museum is geared toward families and those interested in the general history of Rupert. On 31 October 2005, UK Media Group Entertainment Rights (which was later bought by Boomerang Media and then DreamWorks Animation) purchased a majority interest in the Rupert