The first book was titled simply "Mary Poppins." This book featured a chapter called "Bad Tuesday," in which the original published version included many stereotypes of nationalities around the world. In an effort to fix this, a new version of the chapter was released in 1981, which showcased animals across the world instead of people.
This was followed by a series of sequels, "Mary Poppins Comes Back" in 1935, "Mary Poppins Opens the Door" in 1943 and "Mary Poppins in the Park" in 1952.
In 1962 Travers published a book called "Mary Poppins from A to Z," in which Mary Poppins has a series of adventures all based on a letter of the alphabet. The book was noted for its peculiar words included in each chapter.
"Mary Poppins in the Kitchen," published in 1975, featured more adventures and various recipes for the readers to try.
"Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane" was a book designed to teach its readers about botany and included a detailed description of plants and herbs from the book, complete with pictures and Latin names. It was published in 1982.
The final book in the series was "Mary Poppins and the House Next Door" was published in 1988. This was a more straightforward sequel to the franchise and the last.
The fictional Mary Poppins is the protagonist of Travers' books and adaptations. Her origins remain unknown, however, she is the nanny of the Banks home on Cherry Tree Lane. She teaches the Banks children valuable lessons while somehow performing feats of magic. Her character is strict and assertive. She offers no-nonsense discipline and denies the existence of any magical powers. She is vain, often admiring herself and generally supports a supernatural cast of characters who appear throughout various chapters of the books.
The film adaptation and stage plays have polished her attitude in order to make her more palatable to a wider audience. While Travers' character can be misconstrued as selfish, the adapted versions of Mary Poppins are friendlier and gentler, often portraying a cheerful and nurturing manner.
In addition to Mary Poppins, there are many other recurring characters in the Mary Poppins stories, most notably the Banks family. Their attitudes and indeed their existence vary from books to adaptation. Mr. Banks is a banker based on Travers' own father. In the books he is hardly around, however, his character receives a back story and a personality in the movie and musical. Mrs. Banks is portrayed as a struggling homemaker in the books, while a suffragette and feminist in the movie. There are five Banks children in the books; they are naughty and disorganized and its Mary's job to fix the situation. However, in the film and musical, there are only two children, Jane and Michael. The other major character in the stories is Bert. He acts as Mary Poppins' friend and survives as a screever, one who draws on pavement with chalk, and a matchman, selling matches. In the film, he doubles as a chimney sweep and musician.
The most successful adaptation of the Mary Poppins legend is the 1964 Disney film. The film features performances from Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke with music by the Sherman Brothers. The movie was an overwhelming hit with audiences worldwide and has made hundreds of millions of dollars since its release. Originally the rights to the first book were purchased by Walt Disney Productions in 1938, however, Travers did not want a cartoon made from the story and the option waited for nearly three decades before a live-action musical was created.
A musical stage play of Mary Poppins debuted in December 2004. It opened at Prince Edward Theatre in London to roaring crowds. The critical acclaim it received eventually won it two Olivier Awards after being nominated for nine. Laura Michelle Kelly, who portrayed Mary Poppins, won Best Actress in a Musical and the stage performance also took home Best Theatre Choreography.
A Broadway version came out in November 2006 where it was nominated for an additional seven Tony Awards. It retained box office success for its run, but received mixed reviews from critics.