Whether writing about spoonfuls of sugar or small worlds, songwriter Richard M. Sherman knew how to dribble magic over a song. The legendary musical force behind more than 200 songs in 27 Disney films died Saturday of age-related illness at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills. He was 95.
Sherman’s death was confirmed in a statement on the Walt Disney Company official website, which called him, “One of the most prolific composer-lyricists in the history of family entertainment, and a key member of Walt Disney’s inner circle of creative talents.”
A Legacy of Musical Magic
Along with his brother Robert B. Sherman, who died in 2012 at age 86, Richard Sherman penned some of the most beloved songs in Disney’s soundtrack repertoire. “Mary Poppins,” “The Jungle Book,” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” were among their most high-profile projects. Songs like “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” “A Spoonful of Sugar,” and the Oscar-winning “Chim Chim Cher-ee” are ingrained in music history across generations.
The brothers also wrote what is arguably the most-played song ever, “It’s a Small World (After All),” which the Library of Congress estimates has been played more than 50 million times since its 1964 debut. The earworm quality of Sherman’s work can be attributed to his upbringing with a songwriter father, Al Sherman, a famed Tin Pan Alley name.
“He taught us a general rule about songwriting,” Sherman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a 2013 interview. “You had to grab people in eight bars. So we learned how to do a catchphrase, an intriguing opening line. We had a rule: Keep it simple, sing-able and sincere, but with a big O around it to be original. Irving Berlin and Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote by those rules and so did we.”
From New York to Hollywood
Richard Sherman was born June 12, 1928, in New York City but relocated with his family to Beverly Hills, California, in 1937. As a draftee in the military, Sherman served as conductor for the Army band and glee club from 1953-1955. He and Robert, eager to follow their father’s path, earned their first hit, “Gold Can Buy You Anything But Love,” when Gene Autry recorded it in the early ‘50s. Their next hit, “Tall Paul,” recorded by Mouseketeer Annette Funicello, sold more than 700,000 copies, which piqued the attention of Walt Disney.
Brought on as staff songwriters for The Walt Disney Studios, the Shermans crafted a prolific song list for films including “The Absent-Minded Professor,” “The Parent Trap,” “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree,” and “The Aristocats.” Always, Sherman said, he and his sibling tried to keep that originality O prevalent in their songs.
“Bob and I worked together for 50 years,” he told the AJC. “We were always digging for that way of saying something in a new way. It’s a matter of expressing yourself and making yourself understood – that’s the fun of it.”
Awards and Honors
The Shermans’ work was nominated for nine Academy Awards; they won two at the 1965 ceremony, both for “Mary Poppins” (best original score and best original song for “Chim Chim Cher-ee”). For decades, they created music for Disney-based TV shows, films, and theme park attractions. In 2005, they were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Richard Sherman remained active in writing, penning the 2010 song “Make Way for Tomorrow Today” for “Iron Man 2” and new material for the Winnie the Pooh adjacent “Christopher Robin” film in 2018. His muse, he told the AJC, was everywhere.
“I drive along in the car and hear melodies in my head,” he said. “I don’t pick them out on the piano. It’s a language that God gives you and you work with those things. I can hear music every time I talk.”
Richard Sherman’s death marks the end of an era, but his songs continue to bring joy and magic to audiences worldwide.