Children’s lit connoisseurs, rejoice—Flora & Ulysses, the latest film adaptation of two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo’s work, releases on the Disney+ streaming platform on February 19.

Directed by Lena Khan (The Tiger Hunter) from a script by Brad Copeland (Ferdinand), the family movie stars Matilda Lawler (young Kirsten in the upcoming HBO Max mini-series adaptation of Station Eleven) in the titular role, as a 10-year-old comic book lover and self-proclaimed cynic who rescues a squirrel she names Ulysses (voiced by John Kassir). Adventures ensue when Flora discovers Ulysses has superpowers.

Grown-up viewers will likely recognize familiar faces among the cast. Alyson Hannigan (Lily in How I Met Your Mother) and Ben Schwartz (Jean-Ralphio in Parks and Recreation) take on the roles of Flora’s recently separated parents, while Danny Pudi (Abed in Community) plays Miller, an animal control officer. Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (Miles in The Haunting of Bly Manor) stars as Flora’s eccentric new friend, William Spiver, and Anna Deavere Smith (Alicia in Black-ish), actor-comedian Janeane Garofolo, Bobby Moynihan (of SNL fame), and Kate Miccuci (a voice actor known for Steven Universe) have supporting roles. The film also serves as a DuckTales reunion, as Miccuci, Moynihan, Pudi, and Schwartz all voiced characters on the show.

The production team has some heavy hitters as well: Oscar-nominated film producer Gil Netter (Just Mercy; Life of Pi; The Blind Side) serves as producer, with Jennie Lee (Just Mercy) as co-producer, David S. Grant (The Mandalorian series) as title producer, and Katterli Frauenfelder (Dumbo; Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children) and James Powers (The Maze Runner series) as executive producers.

Inspiration for the 2014 Newbery-winning novel, DiCamillo told PW, stemmed from two disparate things. “For me, the story started with a vacuum cleaner—my mother was very enamored of her vacuum cleaner; she thought it could perform miracles—and a squirrel, who was dying on my front steps. I wanted to find a way to save the squirrel’s life, so I had him meet a miraculous vacuum cleaner.”

As for her involvement in the film’s production, DiCamillo said she got to read Copeland’s “fabulous screenplay” early on, “and from there, it was just standing back and watching that screenplay come to life.”

DiCamillo is pleased with the outcome. “I’m over the moon about it,” she declared. “It’s laugh-out-loud funny, and also full of love and connection.”

Candlewick executive editor Andrea Tompa, who is DiCamillo’s longtime editor, deemed a recent screening of the adaptation “a real treat,” admiring the creators’ apparent “deep love and respect” for the source material.

“The heart of the book shines through,” Tompa said. “I was particularly pleased to see that the essential strangeness and infuriating-ness of my personal favorite character, William Spiver, is hilariously portrayed.” Tompa also complimented several movie modifications, such as making Flora’s parents “more central and more sympathetic,” and called added slapstick scenes “definite kid-pleasers.”

DiCamillo fans looking for more from the author won’t have to wait long: “There’s a beautiful film adaptation of The Tiger Rising that’s coming out this year,” DiCamillo said. “And then in September, I’ve got a new novel coming out, called The Beatryce Prophecy [illustrated by Sophie Blackall, Candlewick]—it’s about a girl and a goat and the power of story.”