9 Classic Tunes from the Late Disney Songwriter Robert Sherman
Over the course of his career, Robert B. Sherman and his brother Richard wrote some of the most endearing and indelible songs tied to the Disney legacy, including their "It's a Small World (After All)" theme park ditty and the music for Mary Poppins that earned them two Academy Awards. In honor of the elder Sherman, who passed away this week at the age of 86, let's traipse down memory lane and revisit some of the Sherman Brothers' most enduring contributions.
"Let's Get Together" (The Parent Trap)
"It's a Small World (After All)"
"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (Mary Poppins)
"Chim Chim Cher-ee" (Mary Poppins)
"A Spoonful of Sugar" (Mary Poppins)
"I Wan'na Be Like You" (The Jungle Book)
"Portobello Road" (Bedknobs and Broomsticks)
"The Age of Not Believing" (Bedknobs and Broomsticks)
"Winnie the Pooh" Theme
If you ask me movie music doesn't get much better than the Mary Poppins songbook, though the Sherman Bros. enjoyed long careers that also included composing music for films like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Aristocats, and Charlotte's Web. (For more on Robert and Richard Sherman, check out the 2009 doc The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story.) Leave your favorites in the comments below.
'It's a Small World' Songwriter Robert Sherman Dies at 86 [THR]
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Comments
RIP Robert Sherman. The brilliance of Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book more than make up for that nightmarish earworm It's a Small World.
There's always been a soft spot in my family for "little black rain cloud".
Could not agree with you more.
I've seen Bedknobs and Broomsticks many times, but the only song from there I ever remember is actually Substituary Locomotion, not the two chosen. I'd have added in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang since nobody knows the actual words but everybody knows the tune. Also as instantly recognizable are Winnie the Pooh's Heffalumps and Woozles and The Wonderful Thing about Tiggers.
All that said, in any list the top spots must all go to Mary Poppins songs. Add in Feed the Birds, Let's Go Fly a Kite, I Love to Laugh, Jolly Holiday and Step in Time. (Though my adult favorite has become Sister Suffragette.) But #1 would have to be It's a Small World, a song known by BILLIONS!
Thank you for including "Let's Get Together". My sister and I used to act that one out. Also thanks for pointing me to the documentary about them!
I grew up on their music, and could not imagine this wonderful life without their songs. They wrote some of the best music I have ever heard and of course those beautiful songs for Hayley Mills and Annette. I don't know what the Disney studio has been thinking, not having them write songs for their animated films, but of course that is probably why the Disney studio is nothing special any more, it's just another studio. The passing of this wonderful brother who gave us so much enjoyment is really sad news to me, but his music will live on and on in our lives.
Oh, by the way, Let's Get Together has been my #1 favorite song all my life, and still is, and Castaway, the beautful ballad the Shermans wrote for Hayley Mills is another one of my top ten favorite songs of all time. Their music is as magical as the Disney Studio used to be!