Robert B. Sherman, the Disney songwriter who helped pen such classics as 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious', the Oscar-winning 'Chim Chim Cher-ee' and 'It's a Small World (After All), died on Monday. He was 86.
With his younger brother Richard, Sherman was part of one of the most successful songwriter duos in Disney history. His songs appeared in The Sword in the Stone, Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, The Lion King and Winnie the Pooh.
Along the way, the Shermans collected two Oscars and a Grammy for Mary Poppins, 9 more Oscar nominations, 4 Grammy Award nominations and 23 gold and platinum albums.
'It's a Small World (After All)' - originally written for the 1964 New York World's Fair - has become one of the most played and translated songs of all time. It's the official anthem at Disneyland, much to the horror of its adolescent employees.
"We've driven teenagers crazy in every language," Robert once quipped.
Despite their success, the two brothers had a strained relationship as profiled in the 2009 documentary The Boys - The Sherman Brothers Story.
Robert B. Sherman, One Half of Disney Songwriting Duo The Sherman Brothers
Robert was born on December 19, 1925, the same night his songwriter father Al received a large royalty cheque for his song 'Save Your Sorrow' which immediately covered the Shermans' hospital bill. After several years of crossing the country, the Shermans settled in Beverly Hills, California and Robert attended Beverly Hills High School.
Robert's talent was already apparent: at age 16 he wrote Armistice and Dedication Day, a stage play about how people's lives were changed by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. It raised several thousand dollars in War Bonds and earned a citation from the War Department.
At age 17, he got permission from his parents to join the US Army. Robert was the first Allied soldier to enter the Dachau concentration camp but his military career was cut short when he was shot in the knee on April 12, 1945, the same day American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt died. The wound forced him to walk with a cane for the rest of his life. During his recuperation, Robert became fascinated with British culture and history; a hobby that served him well when working on Mary Poppins.
After the war, Robert's father Al challenged him to start writing songs with his brother Richard. Robert married Joyce Sasner in 1953 and they had four children together.
The Sherman Brothers struck gold in 1958 when ex-Mouseketeer Annette Funicello recorded their song 'Tall Paul'. This brought them to the attention of Walt Disney who hired them as staff songwriters that same year. Swiftly becoming Walt's favourite songwriters, the Shermans worked exclusively at Disney until Walt's death in 1966.
Walt handed them their biggest assignment: turning P.L. Travers' children's novel Mary Poppins into a movie. The Shermans were on fire, writing classics like the Oscar-winning 'Chim Chim Cher-ee', 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' and Walt's all-time favourite, 'Feed the Birds.'
Despite problems with Travers ("She was such a witch," Robert once grumped), the Shermans had no problems taking advice. When star Julie Andrews felt she needed a more upbeat song during the film, Robert used his son's story about a polio vaccination to develop the tune 'A Spoonful of Sugar.'
After Disney: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Tom Sawyer and The Slipper and the Rose
Becoming disenchanted with the increasingly poisonous atmosphere at Disney in the years following Walt's death, the Shermans started working with other studios: their first non-Disney assignment was 1968's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for Albert Broccoli.
In 1973, the Shermans became the first Americans to win First Prize at the Moscow Film Festival for the screenplay of the film Tom Sawyer. They received another career boost in 1974 when ex-Beatle Ringo Starr re-recorded their song 'You're Sixteen' - a song originally recorded by Johnny Burnette in 1960. That same year, their play Over Here! became the top-grossing show on Broadway.
In 1976, their film The Slipper and the Rose - a retelling of the classic Cinderella story - was chosen for the Royal Command Performance which was attended by Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
A period of relative inactivity - marked by Robert and Richard's simmering feud - ended in 2000 when the Shermans wrote the score for Disney's The Tigger Movie. The Shermans rekindled their partnership, debuting a stage version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at London's Palladium in 2002 and Mary Poppins: The Stage Musical in 2004. In 2003, Robert indulged his love of all things English and moved to London where he remained until his death. He is succeeded by his wife Joyce and his children Laurie, Jeffrey, Andrea and Robert Jr.
According to his filmmaker son Jeffrey, Robert Sherman "wanted to bring happiness to the world and, unquestionably, he succeeded."
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
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