Will Dick Van Dyke Revive Bad Cockney Accent in 'Mary Poppins Returns'?

Dick Van Dyke will join the cast of Mary Poppins Returns, and many have concerns about the revival of his Cockney accent. Van Dyke was long criticized for his fake accent in the original Mary Poppins film, released in 1964.

He apologized for the accent in July 2017. "I appreciate this opportunity to apologize to the members of BAFTA for inflicting on them the most atrocious Cockney accent in the history of cinema," he said when it was announced he would receive the Britannia award for Excellence in Television.

In August 2016 he explained the accent in an interview with The Mirror. "They only sent a coach to me once for that accent," he said."He was an Irishman—his Cockney accent was not much better than mine."

His accent was subject to criticism from English viewers. "People in the U.K. love to rib me about my accent," he said once at the Princess Grace Foundation Awards. "I will never live it down. They ask what part of England I was meant to be from and I say it was a little shire in the North where most of the people were from Ohio."

Despite his failed accent in the original film, viewers are excited to see Van Dyke revive his role in Mary Poppins returns. Many Twitter users commented on his accent and wondered if it will reappear in his 2018 role. "The real question about Mary Poppins 2 is if Dick van Dyke is gonna bring back his s***** accent," a user tweeted. Another claimed they'd like to see van Dyke perform with the same accent.

A user expressed their approval of the revived film. "As a man who grew up watching Julie Andrews in the original Mary Poppins, I have no shame in saying I'm actually looking forward to #MaryPoppinsReturns! I wonder if Dick Van Dyke's Cockney accent is any better after 53 years," he tweeted.

One commented on how seriously Van Dyke took the criticism. "Also, I wonder how Dick Van Dyke's accent is going to be in this," he said. "Poor guy has heard over 50 years of criticisms of that accent. Maybe this time it will be impeccable since he took all that criticism to heart."

Some noted the appearance of Lin Manuel Miranda, Hamilton creator, in the film and questioned his own cockney accent. "Only negative I see is Lin Manuel's God awful British accent. Could it be worse than Dick Van Dyke's? #MaryPoppinsReturns," a user tweeted.