Chimney Sweep

Dick Van Dyke’s Finest Mary Poppins Performances [VIDEO]

Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

Screenshot from the trailer for the film Mary Poppins

Dick Van Dyke was one of the 2021 Kennedy Center Awards winners. The film and television legend’s career was showcased when he accepted the award alongside honors Debbie Allen, Joan Baez, Garth Brooks and Midori.

At the age of 95, Van Dyke has a long history in the entertainment industry that dates back to the late 1950s, according to IMDB. One of his most popular roles was in the 1964 film “Mary Poppins”, in which he played both the double role of jack-of-all-trades Bert, the chimney sweep, and the role of bank manager Mr. Dawes.

Van Dyke once said in an interview with CNN that “Mary Poppins” was his favorite role in his six-decade career. “I probably enjoyed the role on Mary Poppins the most,” he said. “It was so much fun. This is also my favorite film.”

The Oscar-winning classic film was a great showcase for Van Dyke’s singing and dancing skills.

Here’s a look back at some of Van Dyke’s most famous appearances on Mary Poppins.

“Plaster Artist / Chim Chim Cher-ee”

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Mary Poppins – Chim Chim Cheree [HD]Take me back to childhood – have fun!2012-12-29T20: 23: 32Z

One of the most famous songs from “Mary Poppins” is “Chim Chim Cher-ee”, the famous duet by Van Dyke and Julie Andrews. But Van Dyke also played a solo version of the song when his character drew his chalk art on the streets of London.

The character of Bert didn’t exist until composers Robert and Richard Sherman wrote the song. Taking inspiration from a sketch of a whistling chimney sweep, they initially thought Mary Poppins would sing the tune to the kids, but Walt Disney stepped in and suggested it would be better to create a new character.

“Walt said, ‘You know, we have this guy who paints pictures on the sidewalk and we have a one-man band and we have a guy who flies kites – why don’t we all make a guy and call him Bert ? and he’s going to be the chimney sweep too? ”Robert Sherman once said, Pro SongFacts.

“Step in time” with the chimney sweep casting

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Step in timeIt is one of the masterpieces of the Disney film “Mary Poppins”. Recommended scenes: 02:56, 03:082018-05-03T15: 00: 04Z

Who can forget “Step in Time”, Van Dyke’s famous number with Bert and the other chimney sweeps dancing and singing on the rooftops of London? It was one of the liveliest routines in the movie.

More than 55 years later, Van Dyke’s iconic “Mary Poppins” performance was remembered when professional dancer Derek Hough performed a version of “Step in Time” in his honor.

“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” with Julie Andrews

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Supercalifragilisticxpialidocious – Julie Andrews & Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins 1964“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” is a song from the 1964 Disney musical film Mary Poppins. The song was written by the Sherman Brothers and sung by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke.2017-06-23T06: 29: 27Z

One of the hardest song titles to say, let alone spell, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” made its debut in Mary Poppins’ history when the Sherman brothers converted the PL Travers book into a big screen movie on BBC News. The magical nanny Mary and her chimney sweep buddy recited the tongue twister several times in one of the film’s most famous sequences.

Richard Sherman once said the word came about the same way he and his brother invented words as children.

“We used to make up the big double-talk words, we could make up one big disgusting word for the kids, and that’s where it started,” he said. “We started with ‘awful’ and then you can sound smart and be precocious. We had “precocious” and “hideous” and we wanted something super colossal and that’s cheesy, so we took “super” and talked twice to get “Kalifragilist” which means nothing, it just came out that way. That sums up what we did over two weeks. “

“I love to laugh” with Ed Wynn & Julie Andrews

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“I love it to laugh”Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and Ed Wynn Scene from Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins2010-08-09T02: 38: 58Z

Van Dyke showed more of his Cockney accent than his singing skills in the sequence “I Love to Lachen”. He told CNN that his main focus is on dancing for the movie, and the filmmakers gave him a voice coach who turned out to be Irish.

“And his cockney wasn’t much better than mine,” Van Dyke said.

“Nobody was kidding me about the accent when I was taking the picture, but I took it afterwards,” he added.

As for the flying, which he did in the movie – and especially during that song – Van Dyke told the New York Times, “We had to fly all the time. Someday [on the original movie] we were all up there doing ‘I Love to Laugh’ and they took a lunch break and everybody left and forgot we had hung up there. It must have taken 15 minutes before someone noticed and came and let us down. “

CONTINUE READING: Kennedy Center honors artists and presenters 2021

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