It was incredibly sad to lose Ralph McQuarrie over the weekend, but even sadder, for me at least, is the loss of Robert Sherman, one of the musical writing team of The Sherman Brothers, who gave us the backbone of the classical Disney music catalog. With his brother Richard, he gave us Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Winnie the Pooh, and hundreds of other songs without which my childhood, and the childhood of my children, would not be the same. They also penned the songs for some of Disneyland’s greatest attractions- The Enchanted Tiki Room (a personal favorite), the Carousel of Progress, and yes, they composed the dreaded theme song to It’s a Small World. Love it or hate it, the Sherman Brothers left a huge mark.
But Robert Sherman was so much more than that. Born in 1925, at age 17 he enlisted in the army and fought in World War 2. His unit was responsible for the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. On the very day President Roosevelt died, Sherman was shot in the knee, and then given an honorable discharge, but his wound would impair his movement for the rest of his life, forcing him to walk with a cane.
The Sherman Brothers lived in house at the Disney studios for decades, penning classic songs for Walt and even after his death. In fact, in Walt’s final months, he would famously often call the Shermans into his office and have them play “Feed the Birds” from Mary Poppins to comfort him.
Robert was sometimes seen as the more prickly of the two brothers, and his brother Richard the more gregarious, but their lives were so complex, and so intertwined, and were the basis of a recent documentary called “The Boys.” It was recently available on Netflix streaming— watch for it to pop up there again sometime soon.
His death was announced early Tuesday morning via Facebook by Sherman’s son Jeffrey.
Hello to family and friends,
I have very sad news to convey.
My Dad, Robert B. Sherman, passed away tonight in London. He went peacefully after months of truly valiantly fending off death. He loved life and his dear heart finally slowed to a stop when he could fight no more.
I will write more about this incredible man I love and admire so much when I am better rested and composed. He deserves that.
In the meantime, please say a prayer for him. As he said, 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.
I love you, Dad.
Safe travels.
Love,
Jeff
Robert and Jeffrey Sherman, his son, via Facebook
And so we must bid adieu to a true original. There’s some beautiful and sad symmetry in the deaths of both Sherman and McQuarrie– both of them indelibly shaped the people they worked worth, George Lucas and Walt Disney, and catapulted their genius visions to the next level by transcending word and thought into their chosen art forms. Without McQuarrie, Star Wars would not be what it was. Without Bob Sherman and his brother Dick, Disney would simply not have been Disney.