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Computer animator and Amiga fanatic Dick van Dyke turns 100
Here's a video from 2004 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1J9kfDCAmU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1J9kfDCAmU
It's his 100th birthday today.
- wuhhh 11mo agoWow I had no idea, what a cool guy! Loved Mary Poppins as a kid, his British accent though… xD
- sgt 11mo agoSuch a legend! I bet he still has his Amiga somewhere in his Hollywood hills mansion.
- ggm 11mo agoFor Mary Poppins, Disney used the sodium vapour process to get monochromatic light into a narrow channel for matte from a light splitting prism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_vapor_process https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_vapor_process It's charming. I'm sure digital post offers many advantages. Van Dyke might be one of a few who has done both.
- simon_void 11mo agoa Corridor Crew YouTube video describing/recreating that sodium vapour process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQuIVsNzqDk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQuIVsNzqDk
- reactordev 11mo agoKind of a tangent comment
- metadope 11mo agoTangents are a sine of the times.
- reactordev 11mo agocos of this economy?
- yvdriess 11mo agoHe was an animator and it's the interesting kind of factoids we read these comment sections for. We'll allow it.
- reactordev 11mo agoYou missed the pun
- timbit42 11mo agoHe sold his Amiga not too many years ago. It may have been on eBay.
- gsf_emergency_6 11mo agohttps://www.sciencealert.com/dick-van-dyke-credits-his-longevity-to-one-habit-and-its-backed-by-science https://www.sciencealert.com/dick-van-dyke-credits-his-longe...
- bestouff 11mo ago> The beloved actor credits his remarkable longevity to his positive outlook and never getting angry.
- Tade0 11mo agoMakes sense. My grandpa is one year his junior and you would never see him react too strongly to anything, even though grandma (also still alive) always had an, ahem, fiery personality. Also he refuses to sit and moves around all the time, venturing outside every day from their apartment four floors above ground without a lift. Interestingly his own father didn't make it to his 60s, so there's certainly a lifestyle component to this.
- stavros 11mo agoI had no idea he's an animator, that's so cool! In that video he says "Lightwave is so deep, I won't live long enough to see everything that's in it". I'm glad he's proven wrong there!
- kristopolous 11mo agoI know his son Barry. He said his first memory he has was his Dad doing real time drawings for people telling stories. He was behind the story teller on stage on giant pads of paper as a comedy bit at night clubs. He also remembers having giant bags of toys dumped on the floor of the hotel rooms.
- ChrisMarshallNY 11mo agoMany A-listers are polymaths. For example, Phil Hartman, used to be Phil Hartmann (extra "n"), and designed some of the most iconic album covers of the 1970s, and Steve Martin is one of the best banjo players out there. It used to be part of his standup bit. Dick Van Dyke came from the tail end of Vaudeville, where performers had to have a whole variety of skills. Remember: Every one of these folks that hits the limelight, beat out thousands of others. We think our vocation is competitive? Showbiz says "Hold my beer."
- martinesq 11mo ago> Steve Martin is one of the best banjo players out there And he’s great with a lasso! I love his albums with Edie Brickell, he’s good with Steep Canyon Rangers, and more recently have heard him shine with Alison Brown (banjo), Sierra Hull (mandolin), and others in his latest tour. If you’re looking for the top banjo players technically, you might check out Béla Fleck, Jens Kruger, Noam Pikelny, Tony Trischka, Bill Keith, Don Reno, and Earl Scruggs. I’ve personally heard superhuman performances by Jens Kruger in-person and I grew up on Scruggs.
- kstrauser 11mo agoI have a fond memory of my dad taking me to see Roy Clark when I was a little guy.
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- Coeur 11mo agoHere's the mentioned segment from "Diagnosis: Murder": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WeZKOPcaeA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WeZKOPcaeA
- andrewstuart 11mo agoSuch a likeable person.
- tclancy 11mo agoA nice tribute at https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/dec/13/dick-van-dyke-centenarian-100-mary-poppins-chitty-chitty-bang-bang https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/dec/13/dick-van-dyke-c...
- austinjp 11mo agoSeemingly a universally liked man. So much so, that dolphins rescued him when he fell asleep on his surfboard aged 84. https://archive.is/pZTz3 https://archive.is/pZTz3
- agumonkey 11mo agoWhen nature is on your side you now you have it good
- thefaux 11mo agoThe intelligence and benevolence of many marine mammals is vastly under appreciated.
- spankibalt 11mo agoReportedly, dolphins are notorious rapists. So maybe there's more to this story...
- yetihehe 11mo agoMaybe intelligent species have a lot of variance? There are good and bad dolphins, like there are good and bad people.
- avazhi 11mo ago[flagged]
- wanderingjew 11mo agogettin some real shit hacker news commentors say energy with this one
- mrexroad 11mo ago> It clearly wasn’t ’that bad’ for most human history given how prevalent it was. But in the modern world we are trauma merchants. What in the actual fuck kind of logic brought you here to that conclusion? I worry for you and whatever content you’ve consumed over the years that allowed you to build up this theory.
- gbraad 11mo agoTHE Dick van Dyke, from Mary Poppins, Diagnosis: Murder, ans so many more?! I always thought it was just a coincidental same name as I never saw videos about this. Oh my! This guy is amazing
- ChrisMarshallNY 11mo agoVery much so. Really decent chap, too. Terrible cockney accent, though...
- wingmanjd 11mo agoNo one mentioned it to him during production, so he didn't know.
- tzs 11mo agoHere’s a great quote by him: > In my 30’s, I exercised to look good. In my 50’s, to stay fit. In my 70’s, to stay ambulatory. In my 80’s, to avoid assisted living. Now in my 90’s, I’m just doing it out of pure defiance
- SoftTalker 11mo agoHe was also an alcoholic for many years. Must be made of pretty good stuff to survive this long.
- moron4hire 11mo agoOf all of my grandparents and great grandparents, they all lived really hard lives eating high fat diets, drinking and smoking, and lived into their 80s. Genetics is really the biggest determining factor outside of going completely off the rails with binge eating and drug use. Now, that's not to say that healthy living is pointless. Their quality of life from late 60s on was not great: alcoholism, poverty, multiple heart attacks, emphasima, a stroke here and there, from which they eventually, sort of, not really recovered. They were deeply unhappy people who never really seemed to have time or care for their families. I definitely don't want to live like that. So treat yourself right, but not because you're trying to reach a certain age.
- mrandish 11mo ago> Genetics is really the biggest determining factor outside of going completely off the rails with binge eating and drug use. So true. I'm fortunate that both my parents have long-life family histories. Both families were old-fashioned Southern Baptists who didn't drink, smoke, dance or, apparently, believe in having fun of any kind :-). But that just kept them from messing up their good genetic luck. I'm an old-fashioned atheist but have chosen to never drink, smoke or do drugs just because I never saw a compelling reason to. Now I'm pushing 60 and have so far had zero serious health issues. Hoping to keep a good thing going.
- Imustaskforhelp 11mo ago
- Instantix 11mo agoAnd then Commodore made the A3000 not high enough to take the Video Toaster. How to shoot yourself in the foot...
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- fortran77 11mo agoFamily Guy: https://youtu.be/k_AMQOTPqL8?si=j0fjQfmS-GcEP8Hj https://youtu.be/k_AMQOTPqL8?si=j0fjQfmS-GcEP8Hj And https://youtu.be/OsSJnV7Ik9o?si=7aXnOKN8Jc28h-Mo https://youtu.be/OsSJnV7Ik9o?si=7aXnOKN8Jc28h-Mo
- cafard 11mo agoProps to ggm for finding a tech angle.
- ZHUDAN509 11mo agoRespectable people
- qoez 11mo agoAmazing that he was 80 in that clip
- linsomniac 11mo agoA few months ago I found The Dick Van Dyke Show free to watch on Youtube. I had seen a number of the episodes in passing over the years, but never really watched it. It's really quite a good show. Highly recommended, even if YouTube's viewing experience for TV series is sub-par.
- mrandish 11mo agoSome of those older comedy shows had really good writing. The Bob Newhart shows were also excellent.
- tronicjester 11mo agoBob Newhart was Mr. Rogers for adults. Good show!
- thrill 11mo ago“How an elephant got in my pajamas I’ll never know.”
- neilv 11mo agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSeaHfkd3M8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSeaHfkd3M8
- dobladov 11mo agoThe whole "The Dick Van Dyke Show" is available for free on YouTube, I highly recommend it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-HsXBPWH3Y&list=PLtbMv4lXX2mvfaoOh5OUqrOYotNcONk6q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-HsXBPWH3Y&list=PLtbMv4lXX2...
- dhosek 11mo agoGood starting points would be the Christmas Special (Alan Brady Presents), “It May Look Like a Walnut” and “That’s My Boy” (just off the top of my head). There are two episodes where we got to see Van Dyke’s Stan Laurel impersonation which was absolutely amazing. Given how much he drank and smoked back in the 60s and 70s it’s a miracle he’s still on earth, but he is definitely a treasure.
- IAmBroom 11mo agoMy understanding is that he was alarmingly drunk when they went to film his dance sequence with the chimney sweeps in Mary Poppins. Alarming in a "Mad Men" era of drinking...
- NetMageSCW 11mo agoIs it commercial free? Also available in Prime Video and Peacock Premium if you have those.
- haritha-j 11mo agothe dick van dyke show is an absolute masterpiece
- dhosek 11mo agoThere are few (maybe no) moments of Dick Van Dyke that aren’t a joy to watch. I grew up on reruns of the Dick Van Dyke Show and discovered Andy Kaufman thanks to Van Dyke’s short-lived variety show, Van Dyke and Company. Watching his dance moves (it’s a little amazing to realize how many dance numbers the Dick Van Dyke Show featured) is like watching an animated character dance, he was able to move his body in ways that suggest he has no bones. As a kid, I wanted to be Dick Van Dyke when I grew up and as an adult, I want to be Dick Van Dyke when I’m old.
- heresie-dabord 11mo ago> a joy to watch The man is a brilliant comedian. He knew some of the greats; he is one of them. The Comic (1969): https://youtu.be/c8NGqKaPCog https://youtu.be/c8NGqKaPCog
- Forgeties79 11mo agoHe’s also digital animator. The dude is unbelievable. What a creative mind
- ks2048 11mo agoI just saw a tweet saying his birth was closer to the death of Thomas Jefferson (1826) than it is to today. Wow.
- jihadjihad 11mo agoIt’s a fun fact that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on the same day, July 4 1826, 50 years to the day after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
- lickmygiggle 11mo agoIronically enough, Adams’ last words were reportedly, “Jefferson lives”
- ericvsmith 11mo agoFor those who don't know the story: it's ironic because Jefferson died first.
- bonoboTP 11mo agoYeah, he's very old for a person and the US is very young for a country.
- sethammons 11mo agoThe grandson of the 10th US president died this year. The US is barely three generations old. That guy could say his grandfather shook hands with Thomas Jefferson.
- lifeisstillgood 11mo agoI think it was Bertram Russell who said he was raised by his grandfather, who knew Napoleon. The modern world is a lot more crammed together than we think it is
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- wetpaws 11mo ago[dead]
- satvikpendem 11mo agoI've heard of him but have never seen any of his content, what should I watch?
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- riffraff 11mo agoit's quite possible you may unknowingly have seen him in Mary Poppins, where he plays _two_ roles, and I was mind blown when I noticed the second after 30 years or so.
- exasperaited 11mo agoHe sang probably the greatest song in musical film — Hushabye Mountain in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfdRr7MWax4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfdRr7MWax4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeCBVerpYj8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeCBVerpYj8 If you have never seen this film, I don't care how old you are, you should watch it. It is overshadowed by Mary Poppins but it is a work of art — a funny, charming, astonishing visual feast of a film and he is magnificent in it. His performance as the jack-in-a-box alone is worth an Oscar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_l2ii_25tc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_l2ii_25tc
- justin66 11mo ago> If you have never seen this film, I don't care how old you are, you should watch it. I’m not sure about the all ages part. We watched it in first or second grade and I can still remember wondering how a movie with a flying car could be so boring.
- IAmBroom 11mo agoThat's on you. I did the same when it came out, and was thrilled.
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- justin66 11mo ago> That's on you. And now that you've brought this to my attention, the weight of this responsibility - that I didn't like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in elementary school - weighs heavily on my heart. Thanks a lot.
- systemtest 11mo agoI am getting a paywall so I will skip this article.
- Bengalilol 11mo agoBonus: here are two videos where he spoke at SIGGRAPH 2004 Part 1 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1J9kfDCAmU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1J9kfDCAmU> Part 2 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0IGjoo5gRg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0IGjoo5gRg> \m/ happy birthday Mr Van Dyke! source: <https://www.reddit.com/r/amiga/comments/obe3v6/95_year_old_dick_van_dyke_uses_lightwave_3d_and/ https://www.reddit.com/r/amiga/comments/obe3v6/95_year_old_d...>
- k310 11mo agoMy clearest recollection (don't know the episode) is when he attends an event, probably in place of Alan Brady, that turns out to be a big fund-raiser. The Hostess addresses him as Mister Petrov. When asked for a donation, he is stupefied, and can only say "I have this blank check" ... no spoiler ... The comedy show within a comedy show is a cool dramatic and operatic trick. Magnificent delivery.
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