Back in August it was rumoured that Disney was lining up cameo appearances by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke for its upcoming Mary Poppins sequel, and now Van Dyke has confirmed to THR that he will be appearing in Mary Poppins Returns, and even has “a little song and dance number”.
“This one supposedly takes place 20 years later and the kids are all grown up,” said Van Dyke, who played chimney sweeper Bert in the 1964 original. “It’s a great cast – Meryl Streep, Angela Lansbury and that guy [Lin-Manuel Miranda] from Hamilton. I’ll be going to London in the spring to do my role, and I get to do a little song and dance number.”
Mary Poppins Returns will reunite Into the Woods director Rob Marshall with Emily Blunt, who is taking on the iconic role of Mary Poppins. She is joined in the cast by Meryl Streep (Into the Woods), Ben Whishaw (Spectre), Emily Mortimer (The Newsroom), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton), Colin Firth (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Angela Lansbury (Murder, She Wrote) and Christian Dixon (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them). It is set for release on Christmas Day 2018.