I believe in imagination. We live in a world saturated by media and technology and electronics, and while the benefits are certainly worthwhile, it's easy to feel that it comes at a cost of imaginary prowess. This is the age where the television is an appropriate babysitter – just plop the little suckers down in front of the screen and, voila, they are captivated for an hour or so. I have a three year old daughter, and she doesn't watch TV – it's something I'm very proud of as a parent. She reads books. She has Mommy and I read her stories, and some of the books have been read so much she has them memorized. And if she gets a new book? We witness our child make up her own story with her limited vocabulary. Imagination at work, exercised from birth. I get kind of a big head about this.

The point is that it is very important for imagination to be fostered as a child, and this is the message of the classic Disney film Mary Poppins. Julie Andrews stars as the title character, a nanny with magical inclinations who goes to work in the Banks household, caring for the children Jane and Michael. Mr. Banks is a stuffy businessman and Mrs. Banks is a society lady, and thus priorities often shy away from the children. Enter Mary Poppins, who leads the children on fantastic animated adventures full of song and dance – it's really quite trippy; classic Disney is often good for that, after all.

Cinemark Tinseltown presents two screenings of Mary Poppins today, at 2:00 and 7:00. Tinseltown is located at 4400 Towne Center Drive, in the Springhurst Shopping Center. Further theater information and advance ticket sales can be found at the Tinseltown website.

Image: Internet Movie Database