He was half of the songwriting duo Walt Disney often referred to as "The Boys."
In this short post I’m not going to even try to go into the many accomplishments of Mr. Sherman’s astounding career. What I will do is tell you about how, along with the music written by his brother, Richard, his lyrics have had a lasting effect on my life.
Along with a handful of others, Robert Sherman is the reason I am the Disney fanatic that I am today.
The very first movie I ever remember seeing at the theater was “Mary Poppins.” I went with my Uncle Gene. As an impressionable 4 year old I left the theater singing classic lyrics to songs like: “A Spoonful of Sugar” and “Let’s Go Fly A Kite”.
I continued to enjoy that very same set of songs while listening to one of the very first LP record albums I ever owned. It was full of “Poppins” hits sung by Mary Martin and the Do-Re-Mi children’s choir. It was listening to this album over and over again that caused me to fall in love with the song “Feed The Birds.”
In 1967 the Sherman brothers came into my life again with the songs in what is my 2nd favorite Disney move of all time, The Jungle Book. (it was #1 until “Lion King” was released in 1995).
Some of my other favorite Disney movies that featured the Sherman brothers’ songs are “The Sword In The Stone” and “The Aristocats”.
They also wrote songs for some of my favorite movies that aren’t from Disney. They teamed up once again with Dick Van Dyke in, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” and provided the memorable musical score for the animated films, “Snoopy Come Home” and “Charlotte’s Web.”
Of course the place where most people around the world hear Sherman Brother’s songs on a daily basis is Disney theme parks. Their most infamous composition is the theme music for the quintessential Disney park attraction, It’s A Small World”.
A simple and haunting little melody with lyrics that point out and celebrate all that the people of the world have in common and the emotions they all share.
I am sorry to say that even though I’ve been to Walt Disney World twice I have yet to ride “Small World”. But it is definitely on my “to do” list for my next trip, whenever that may be.
But I have experienced the attraction that would be 2nd on the list when it comes to the Sherman brothers’ connection to Walt Disney World. I have been on “The Carousel of Progress”. The marquee song of that attraction is “There’s A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow.”
The lyrics were written by Robert Sherman and the music by his brother Richard for the attraction which was first exhibited at the 64 New York World’s Fair. The song and the attraction is one of the direct links to Walt Disney that remains in Walt Disney World.
One of the first public performances of the song was as part of a promotional film Walt Disney made for General Electric, the attraction’s sponsor at the World’s Fair. The picture at the top of this post is a still shot from that film.
Finally, my most recent enjoyment of Sherman Brothers music is a compilation album called “Poppin Guitars: A Tuneful Of Sherman.” It’s a tribute album of unique guitar arrangements of the Shermans’ songs.
Even though it’s an album of instrumentals and thus mainly a tribute to the compositions of Richard Sherman, when I listen to it I can’t help but sing along with lyrics like: “You come on like a dream, peaches and cream”, “Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious, or “ Feed the birds, tuppence a bag. Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag.. Just like Walt Disney, that last one is my all time favorite Sherman Brothers song.
I wouldn’t be able to sing any of those words if it wasn’t for one man…Robert Sherman.
Thanks Mr. Sherman. You will be missed.
