Mary Poppins Opens the Door one of the chalk drawings. Mary Poppins Opens the Door Mary Poppins Opens the Door is a British children's fantasy novel by the Australian-British writer P.L. Travers, the third book and last novel in the "Mary Poppins" series that features the magical English nanny Mary Poppins. It was published in 1943 by Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc and illustrated by Mary Shepard and Agnes Sims. On Guy Fawkes Night, Mary Poppins arrives in the wake of the last fireworks display by the Banks family. The Banks children Michael, Jane, the twins, and Annabel plead with her to stay. She reluctantly
Mary Poppins Opens the Door at the same location where Dick Van Dyke's character, Bert, did his artwork in the original movie. Andrews (as herself) greets the children and takes them into the chalk drawing where they watch the tale of a cat (Tracey Ullman) that challenges a king (David Ogden Stiers) to a trivia contest. If the cat wins, the king must give up his obsession with facts and figures and reconnect with his queen. Back in the real world—where she, like Poppins, denies that she has been away—Andrews and the cat face each other as the shadow of Mary Poppins is framed by