When we first stumbled across this video, our first reaction was jubilant surprise: Dick Van Dyke is most definitely still alive! (I admit, I wasn’t sure. [Editor’s Note: for SHAME!]) And not only that, but the Mary Poppins star is still lithe and spry and leading impromptu performances of “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” in Walt Disney‘s backyard—pretty impressive for a 90-year-old.
Over the weekend, as Entertainment Weekly reports, Van Dyke joined a four-person chorus on the lawn of Disney’s childhood home in Chicago. The Mary Poppins chimney sweep led a participatory rendition of the film standard. A small crowd joined him in singing the carefree tune, flying pretend kites and filling all our hearts with joy.
“Let’s Go Fly a Kite” epitomizes Disney’s iconic 1964 film, which was adapted from P.L. Travers’ inaugural Poppins novel. The song also helped net both Van Dyke and co-star Julie Andrews a Grammy for their work on the Mary Poppins soundtrack.
Hopefully the Mary Poppins reboot, which hits theaters on Christmas day in 2018, can rekindle that same musical magic. There’s no word whether the original stars will make an appearance, but Mary Poppins Returns seems to be in good hands with Emily Blunt and Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda already tapped as our leading lady and lad.
The new film will reportedly take cues from the remaining seven novels in Travers’ series, but not from any one of them in particular. It will take place in 1930, 20 years after the original film’s setting, and will probably pull plot lines from a few of the subsequent books, creating a hybrid that’s fit for the modern screen.
Whatever the plot ends up being, we can’t wait. In the meantime, check out Van Dyke’s joyous sing-along above and, hey, don’t forget to fly a kite every once in a while.
Image: Disney
