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 new friends including a sprite called Willy Wisp. One of the most memorable elements of the series was the catchy theme song, written by Len Beadle (also known as Frank Weston) and Ron Roker, sung by Jackie Lee, which reached number 14 in the UK charts in 1971. The song included the erroneous lyric "Rupert "the" Bear", even though Rupert has never had the definite article in his name. A short film directed by Geoff Dunbar based on ideas/music/songs by Paul McCartney was made in 1985, titled "Rupert and the Frog Song". It follows Rupert as he explores the country