Some had noted his accent as the worst attempt at copying an accent in movie history. Myself, I never noticed it was bad. In fact, I thought Van Dyke was actually English.
I agree that it wasn't so bad, at least from an American ear anyway. So much has been made of this over the years that it has become tiresome. DVD himself explained that he was trained by an Irishman so he really didn't have a good foundation to begin with. He took so much flack over it that he insisted that he play the Caractacus Potts character in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang without any accent. For a fantasy movie like Mary Poppins where you have to suspend disbelief for so many things, a character with a bad accent isn't on top of my list of things to get hung up on.
WTF! It's not only a bad accent, it's the way he twists his face when he's speaking. I'm no cockney (200 miles from the east end of London in fact) but I never once bought in to Dykes attempt at cockney. He should have received a punch in the face for it.
It's not just bad, it's difficult to understand, like he's speaking with a mouth full of cotton wool. Hard to understand than cockney already is. He acknowledges it's awfulness but as far as it's roll in the movie it's damaging.
or he should have been taught by a real speech coach or at least a real cockney and not some irish dude, and then he should have been given good direction. he clearly admits to it being a bad accent but said he was doing his best and no one ever bought it up at a time when he could do anything about it.
Sorry to burst your bubble but J. Pat O'Malley was English, not Irish. He was also an expert on voices, he is both Colonel Hathi and one of the Vaulters in Jungle Book. The people to blame are DVT himself and the American public who at the time thought that is what a Cockney sounded like. I have heard a song from The Mickey Mouse Club called "The Pearly's Holiday" sung by an unknown singer, the accent is just as bad.
I love Dick in the role, but his fake cockney accent is most annoying. I've been living in London for nearly 20 years now, and I know a cockney accent from a mile away. It wasn't Dick's fault, of course. He should have got better information.
it really isn't that bad. it sounds vaguely Australian, and Australian Is basically derived from cockney - most of the early settlers in Australia were convicts, the majority from London.
Watching this film as a kid, I never noticed DVD's fake accent, but watching this film as an adult, his fake accent sticks out like a sore thumb.
They should have either made his character a mute, or overdubbed his voice with a real Englishman (it's not like it would have made the film worse since all the songs seem to be overdubbed and out of sync with the actors' mouths anyway), or let him talk with his normal voice, or recast the role with a real Englishman actor, or entirely deleted his character from the film (that would be no big loss).
Ive said before and I'll say agin: Mary Poppins is a fantasy. He's playing the king of the chimney sweeps for God's sake. It's not supposed to be an ethnographicly accurate accent.
I used to worry about this, but as I grow older and wiser I am more able to suspend my disbelief and enter the world of the story. I just don't care anymore. It's a beautiful movie, and Van Dyke is great.