Caught the premiere at AFI Fest last night (being a lifelong Mary Poppins fan myself).

No big surprises. It artfully and entertainingly tells the story of how Walt Disney convinced/persuaded (swindled?) P.L. Travers into letting him adapt her beloved characters into the classic screen version. Without giving too much away of Travers' backstory and why she felt painfully protective of her books, I thought -- especially for a Disney film -- that the movie doesn't shy away from some of the darker experiences that informed her writing.

But then, somewhat ironically and because it *is* a Disney film -- the movie delivers exactly the kind of fairy-tale sentimental happy ending that Travers herself wanted so desperately to avoid in granting Uncle Walt the rights to bring Mary Poppins to the screen.

It is sure to please crowds throughout the Christmas holidays, and it is genuinely nice to hear several of the wonderful songs from the original film as the Sherman Brothers conjure them up through the creative process.