It’s amazing nobody took notice during filming that DVD’s dialect coach was a wrongly-chosen Irishman (although Van Dyke noticed). Had he received proper coaching for the Cockney accent, he might’ve pulled it off (accent aside, he still had great chemistry with Julie Andrews). Still, I’ve always maintained that Tommy Steele would’ve been a better choice for the role (however, his romantic chemistry with Andrews might not have been as strong as Van Dyke’s). If you’ve ever seen him in the charming, but little-seen musical, “Half A Sixpence”, he had that “Disney-style” presence and dynamism for the role.
AFAIC, Dick Van Dyke stole the whole show!
Mary Poppins was unbearable; the kids were saccharin-sweet; the Dad was a no-go.
Without Dick and the chimney sweeps, it would have been a total wash.
And now, in the 21st century, they’ve made another boring movie about the original boring movie???
I will never understand Hollywood.