PRINCIPAL CAST

Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzman, Bradley Whitford, Annie Buckley, Ruth Wilson, B.J. Novak, Rachel Griffiths, Kathy Baker, Lily Bigham, Melanie Paxson, Andy McPhee, Ronan Vibert, Kimberly D'Armond, Dendrie Taylor

DIRECTOR

John Lee Hancock

WRITER

Kelly Marcel, Sue Smith

PRODUCER

Alison Owen, Ian Collie, Philip Steuer

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Paul Trijbits, Andrew Mason, Troy Lum, Christine Langan

SYNOPSIS

When Walt Disney's daughters begged him to make a movie of their favorite book, P.L. Travers' ''Mary Poppins,'' he made them a promise—one that he didn't realize would take 20 years to keep. In his quest to obtain the rights, Walt comes up against a curmudgeonly, uncompromising writer who has absolutely no intention of letting her beloved magical nanny get mauled by the Hollywood machine. But, as the books stop selling and money grows short, Travers reluctantly agrees to go to Los Angeles to hear Disney's plans for the adaptation.

For those two short weeks in 1961, Walt Disney pulls out all the stops. Armed with imaginative storyboards and chirpy songs from the talented Sherman brothers, Walt launches an all-out onslaught on P.L. Travers, but the prickly author doesn't budge. He soon begins to watch helplessly as Travers becomes increasingly immovable and the rights begin to move further away from his grasp.

It is only when he reaches into his own childhood that Walt discovers the truth about the ghosts that haunt her, and together they set Mary Poppins free to ultimately make one of the most endearing films in cinematic history.

BOX OFFICE

$83.2 Million

GENRE

Drama/Comedy

RATING

Rated PG-13
thematic elements including some unsettling images

RUN TIME

125 Minutes

STUDIO

Disney