Robert Sherman, creator of such tunes as “It’s A Small World” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”, has died in London at age 86. He was half of a sibling partnership that specialised in creating scores for many of the most poular musical films we love today.
With his brother Richard Sherman, the pair created some of the best known songs that were incorporated into movies and animations such as Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and the The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Perhaps one of the best known, and in my opinion, the most annoying was the theme park song of “It’s a Small World.”
Sherman’s agent, Stella Richards, said that Sherman died peacefully in London on Monday.
Son Jeffrey Sherman paid tribute to his father on Facebook, saying he “wanted to bring happiness to the world and, unquestionably, he succeeded. His love and his prayers, his philosophy and his poetry will live on forever. Forever his songs and his genius will bring hope, joy and love to this small, small world.”
The Sherman Brothers’ career was long and prolific. It was also one full of awards as they won two Academy Awards for Walt Disney’s 1964 smash “Mary Poppins” — best score and best song, “Chim Chim Cher-ee.” They also picked up a Grammy for best movie or TV score.
Their hundreds of credits as joint lyricist and composer also include ”The Slipper and the Rose,” ”Snoopy Come Home,” ”Charlotte’s Web” and “The Magic of Lassie.” Their Broadway musicals included 1974′s “Over Here!” and stagings of “Mary Poppins” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” in the mid-2000s.
“Something good happens when we sit down together and work,” Richard Sherman said in a 2005 interview. “We’ve been doing it all our lives. Practically since college we’ve been working together.”
The brothers’ awards included 23 gold and platinum albums and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They became the only Americans ever to win First Prize at the Moscow Film Festival for “Tom Sawyer” in 1973 and were inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 2005.
President George W. Bush awarded them the National Medal of Arts in 2008, commended for music that “has helped bring joy to millions.”
Robert Bernard Sherman was born in New York on Dec. 19, 1925, and raised there and in Beverly Hills, California.
The brothers credited their father, composer Al Sherman, with challenging them to write songs and for their love of lyrics. His legacy of songs includes “You Gotta Be a Football Hero,” ”(What Do We Do On a) Dew-Dew-Dewy Day” and “On the Beach at Bali-Bali.”
Robert Sherman’s affection for Britain was nurtured during his service with the U.S. Army in World War II. Wounded in Germany in 1945, he recovered in hospitals in England, developing a fondness and familiarity with the country that stuck with him. He wrote for British characters in “Mary Poppins” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” and spent the last years of his life in London.
After the war, the brothers started writing songs together. They began a decade-long partnership with Disney during the 1960s after having written hit pop songs like “Tall Paul” for ex-Mouseketeer Annette Funicello and “You’re Sixteen,” later recorded by Ringo Starr.
They wrote over 150 songs at Disney, including the soundtracks for such films as “The Sword and the Stone,” ”The Parent Trap,” ”Bedknobs and Broomsticks,” ”The Jungle Book,” ”The Aristocrats” and “The Tigger Movie.”
Quite a life….and yes, I’ll forgive him for “It’s A Small World” even though I once got trapped on the damn ride for 45 minutes.
