Caricature by Pete Emslie
Few people leave behind as many admirers as the legend we lost earlier this week, Richard M. Sherman. He and his brother Robert B. Sherman were responsible for music and lyrics created for an astonishing number of original film and TV musicals, winning two Academy Awards for Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins. Even as the big-screen musical genre was losing ground, the Shermans continued providing movie audiences (and soundtrack collectors) with fresh, solid musical scores for such films as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Tom Sawyer, and The Slipper and the Rose. Several featured Sherman screenplays as well as songs.
Walt Disney became aware of their keen story sense from the moment Walt Disney Records founder Jimmy Johnson arranged a meeting with them. Walt described the storyline for what would be The Parent Trap (the title of which was due to their song). When Walt was reminded that they were there to present Annette’s “Strummin’ Song” for 1961’s The Horsemasters (the sheet music sits on Walt’s office piano to this day), Johnson suggested that the brothers write some tunes for the Hayley Mills hit.
Walt recognized that the brothers possessed the ability to create songs that advance the story and reflect the characters. One cannot remove a song from most Sherman scores without damaging the overall work. They worked closely with the creative team at Disney and later at Hanna-Barbera in the seventies, where they enjoyed a welcoming atmosphere and collaborative spirit much like their experience with Walt. On Oscar night in 1965, they were presented with one of their Oscars by Debbie Reynolds, who would perform the voice of Charlotte (in Hanna Barbera’s Charlotte’s Web).
Richard enjoyed greeting and entertaining the public, friends, and colleagues, sitting at a piano to sing a favorite song, and regaling fans with the less well-known ones, usually ending the tune with a “plink-PLUNK” on the keys. He also left behind at least an album’s worth of songs he sang either in character or in his own warm voice. Several collections of classic Disney scores include bonus tracks of his demo recordings. In 2018, he sang his title song for the 2018 film Christopher Robin, as well as appearing onscreen in a music video for “Busy Doing Nothing.”
He and Robert frequently attended the recording sessions for their songs at Sunset Sound studios, which is still going strong at Sunset and Cherokee in Hollywood. When Tutti Camarata was producing the “second cast” recording for Mary Poppins with Marni Nixon (who we featured in this Spin) and Bill Lee, the group discovered that the performer hired to sing “I Love to Laugh” wasn’t capturing the vocal adequately. After Richard demonstrated what they were listening for, it was decided that he should just go ahead and record what ended up on the album.
Here, Leonard Maltin introduces a clip of Robert and Richard with Walt, singing for “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” in a promotional film for General Electric and the Carousel of Progress, from the Walt Disney Treasures DVD series:
Richard Sherman was honored at several events for his 90th birthday, including this one in which Shannon Warne sang the song he wrote for Disneyland’s 60th anniversary, “A Kiss Goodnight,” which was made into a book illustrated by another Disney Legend, Floyd Norman.
Richard and Robert’s father was a hit songwriter in the early days of pop music, Al Sherman, who lived to enjoy witnessing some of the success of his sons in the same field. Among the many Al Sherman hits was the Eddie Cantor tune “When I’m the President,” sung in this cartoon by Betty Boop:
Richard told me that Al’s favorite of all their scores was Charlotte’s Web (1973), a highly personal collection of songs in a film about life, friendship, and the bittersweet passage of time. Debbie Reynolds brought tears to the eyes of the cast and crew at the recording session when she performed her classic version of “Mother Earth and Father Time,” a song that, in the Sherman tradition, was deceptively simple yet infinitely textured and layered.
How very special are we to have had Richard Sherman and Robert Sherman in our countless lives all over this small world–for now and for always.
Richard (far right) and Robert Sherman were presented with their Mary Poppins Oscar for Best Original Score by future Charlotte voice, Debbie Reynolds. Fred Astaire presented their award for “Chim Chim Cheree.”
GREG EHRBAR is a freelance writer/producer for television, advertising, books, theme parks and stage. Greg has worked on content for such studios as Disney, Warner and Universal, with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. His numerous books include Mouse Tracks: The Story of Walt Disney Records (with Tim Hollis). Visit 
“Mary Poppins” was probably the first movie I ever saw, sixty years ago. At least it was the first to make a deep impression on me. I’ll never forget the moment when Mary, Bert and the children jumped into the sidewalk painting and found themselves immersed in a magical world. For that moment until today, I’ve never ceased to be enthralled by the idea of pictures coming to life.
“The Jungle Book” would have been the first fully animated Disney feature I ever saw. My mother had the sheet music songbooks for both films, and I became very familiar with them, playing “Colonel Hathi’s March” over and over again on the piano until my parents begged me to stop. Thus the names of Richard and Robert Sherman were well known to me at an early age. They were all over my favourite records, on the sheet music of my favourite songs, and in the credits of my favourite movies.
This early exposure had an impact. I’m aware that there are people who hate musicals, who roll their eyes and groan whenever someone in a movie bursts into song. To me this seems as perverse as hating puppies or ice cream. I’ve always felt that when a song begins, that’s when the movie starts to get really good — all the more so if the Shermans were involved. In fact, through most of my childhood I tended to lose interest in any movie that wasn’t a musical — unless, of course, it had a cool monster in it.
And the Shermans’ songs were so extraordinarily well written, too. Not a word, not a note, is out of place or wasted; the lyrics are clever without ever seeming contrived; every sentiment comes across as genuine. Their songs flow organically from the story, lending it depth and heart. If as I grew older I came to appreciate Gilbert and Sullivan, Flanders and Swann, Cole Porter and Stephen Sondheim, it was largely due to the foundation the Sherman brothers laid for me in my early childhood.
I extend my condolences to Richard Sherman’s friends, family and colleagues now that his long, happy and successful life has reached its conclusion. They should feel overwhelmed with joy that they were fortunate enough to have known him, and that goes as well for those of us — millions upon millions — whose lives were touched by his songs.
What an amazingly well-written and heartfelt memorial! Top job!
While the Shermans proved that their talents were a good fit for family audiences, there was also a maturity and sophistication in their work. They were masters of whimsy, but they were also capable of great pathos as well as witty word play (“posing cozy on their rosy status quos”). For their most part, their scores adhere as of one piece–the songs in one particular venue fitting together to reflect the time period or nationality. Their songs could capture a British sensibility (Poppins, Bedknobs, Chitty, Busker Alley) or down home Americana (Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Charlotte’s Web) or even flights of romantic fantasy (The Slipper and the Rose, my personal favorite of all of their scores) as well as the flavor of a specific historical era (Over Here, Happiest Millionaire). The Shermans truly could write a song for any and every occasion. They deserve to be remembered among the great song writers and score composers–Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Kern and Hammerstein, Steven Sondheim, Kander and Ebb, Lerner and Loewe, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Leonard Bernstein, Alan Menkin–the list could go on forever, but you get the idea. What I appreciate most is their underlying optimism (“sometimes castles fall to the ground, but that’s where four-leaf clovers are found”) and perseverance (“after all, it’s a step in the right direction”). Even their love songs are noteworthy (“just two subjects, you and me, in my private monarchy”). Nostalgia abounds as well (“a river’s gonna flow cross the land, cross the land, oh, a river’s gonna flow to the sea, and a boy is gonna grow to a man, to a man, only once in his life is he free”). Somehow they always managed to tailor their work to the story and characters in a way that enhanced all of the components at once. A rare talent, indeed!
I’ve grown up hearing the Sherman Brothers’ songs in everything from music albums and the Disney Sing-Along Songs videos to movies like “Mary Poppins,” “The Jungle Book,” “Charlotte’s Web” and the Winnie the Pooh featurettes. They were a big part of my childhood, and I still love them. Some of my favorite Sherman Brothers songs include “I Wanna Be Like You,” “A Veritable Smorgasbord,” “The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers,” “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”
I heard Richard say in an interview that their dad taught them that songs should have the three S’s: they should be Simple, Singable and Sincere. That really sums up the Sherman Brothers’ songs.
R.I.P, Richard Sherman. Thank you and your brother Robert for writing songs that made us happy.
When I heard that Richard Sherman died, my eyes became Niagara Falls.
As a Disney fan since birth, I should discuss how I first acquainted myself with the music of The Sherman Brothers. I think I was 1 year old when I discovered The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. That film hooked me into the Pooh franchise, the Disney brand, and the Shermans musical accompaniment all at once. Not bad for a package film, I’d say.
But, if I’m being honest, I’m glad Richard M. Sherman managed to outlive his older brother. At least when they reunite, it can be something he can brag about.
For now, I’d like to bring up some sage advice: It’s a small world after all, so grab a spoonful of sugar, head out into the rather blustery day, and say hello to that great big beautiful tomorrow. Just trust in me.
What an incredible tribute and a touching way to relive the Sherman Brothers song book that has touched all of our lives.
So well done, Greg. There is no one better to have crafted this.
We will miss you, Richard. Thank you for sharing your gift with the world.
Thank you, from our family. Less than a year ago, I was at one of our Chinese food lunches with Richard and my cousin Gregg. I asked him why he felt his and dad’s music has resonated all over the world, through geographical and cultural divides, for generations. He said, he and Bob would talk out/structure the song concept -“the idea came first, then the music and lyrics.” Dick said he’d then sit at the piano with these thoughts, and while Bob got out his pad and one, Dick would, “Breathe in the world and have the idea flow through his fingertips on the piano keys. They are missed, but their shared beauty and wisdom will live on forever. Happy June. Jeff Shernan
Thank you for sharing your story. The world is a better place because your father and uncle shared their many gifts with us.