Mary Poppins (character) of the stage musical, the Mary Poppins character is more deliberately mysterious than in the movie version. She is slightly stricter with the children (who are also naughtier than their book and movie counterparts) but only because she wants them to become the best they can be. Mary in the stage version is also more aware of Bert's feelings towards her. Mary Poppins first appeared in the short story "Mary Poppins and the Match Man" in 1926, and in several early bits and pieces of the first novel. P.L. Travers later changed the story of the character's origins, stating that
Mary Poppins Opens the Door faintly make out Mary Poppins. They wave and she waves back to them. "Mary Poppins herself had flown away, but the gifts she had brought would remain for always." In 2004, Julie Andrews appeared in a live-action/animated 10-minute short film produced by DisneyToon Studios for the 40th Anniversary DVD release of "Mary Poppins". "The Cat That Looked at a King" was based on "Mary Poppins Opens the Door," and was the first project offered to The Answer Studio, which included former employees of Walt Disney Animation (Japan). As the film opens, two modern-day British children are looking at chalk drawings