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Computer Animator and Amiga fanatic Dick Van Dyke turns 100

145•ggm•8h ago
Here's a video from 2004 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1J9kfDCAmU

It's his 100th birthday today.

Comments

sgt•7h ago
Such a legend! I bet he still has his Amiga somewhere in his Hollywood hills mansion.
ggm•7h ago
For 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

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•6h ago
a Corridor Crew YouTube video describing/recreating that sodium vapour process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQuIVsNzqDk
reactordev•3h ago
Kind of a tangent comment
metadope•1h ago
Tangents are a sine of the times.
wuhhh•6h ago
Wow I had no idea, what a cool guy! Loved Mary Poppins as a kid, his British accent though… xD
gsf_emergency_6•6h ago
https://www.sciencealert.com/dick-van-dyke-credits-his-longe...
bestouff•5h ago
> The beloved actor credits his remarkable longevity to his positive outlook and never getting angry.
Tade0•3h ago
Makes 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•6h ago
I 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•2h ago
I 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•2h ago
Many 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•42m 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.

dboreham•39m ago
For completeness: Billy Connolly was also a banjo player.
ndstephens•25m ago
Just looked it up and saw he did an album cover for Steely Dan. It reminded me that Chevy Chase was an early drummer for Steely Dan (well, before they became "Steely Dan")
Keyframe•1h ago
He even outlived Ligtwave!
Coeur•5h ago
Here's the mentioned segment from "Diagnosis: Murder": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WeZKOPcaeA
andrewstuart•4h ago
Such a likeable person.
tclancy•4h ago
A nice tribute at https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/dec/13/dick-van-dyke-c...
austinjp•4h ago
Seemingly a universally liked man. So much so, that dolphins rescued him when he fell asleep on his surfboard aged 84.

https://archive.is/pZTz3

agumonkey•1h ago
When nature is on your side you now you have it good
gbraad•3h ago
THE 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•2h ago
Very much so. Really decent chap, too.

Terrible cockney accent, though...

wingmanjd•14m ago
No one mentioned it to him during production, so he didn't know.
tzs•2h ago
Here’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

Instantix•2h ago
And then Commodore made the A3000 not high enough to take the Video Toaster. How to shoot yourself in the foot...
EvanAnderson•45m ago
It seems like there was so much foot shooting at Commodore. I know we have the benefit of hindsight but it still seems egregious...
fortran77•2h ago
Family Guy: https://youtu.be/k_AMQOTPqL8?si=j0fjQfmS-GcEP8Hj

And https://youtu.be/OsSJnV7Ik9o?si=7aXnOKN8Jc28h-Mo

cafard•1h ago
Props to ggm for finding a tech angle.
ZHUDAN509•37m ago
Respectable people
qoez•27m ago
Amazing that he was 80 in that clip

Computer Animator and Amiga fanatic Dick Van Dyke turns 100

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