announced revered composer Richard Sherman passed away on Sunday from “age-related illnesses.” He was 95 years old. Dubbed a “key member” of Walt Disney’s creative inner circle, Sherman was born on June 12, 1928.
He and his older brother Robert (who passed in 2012) were part of a double act called the Sherman Brothers that started writing songs together after being challenged by their father Al, himself a popular songwriter. Robert founded the Music World Corporation in 1958, which would come to work with Disney’s broadcast music company Wonderland. The success of the brothers’ single “ ” (as sung by Mouseketeer Annette Funicello) drew Walt Disney’s attention, and he hired them on as songwriters for Walt Disney Studios.
It was there the pair created and released “It’s a Small World After All” for the 1964 New York World’s Fair, and it’d be played throughout in Disney theme parks, eventually becoming one of, if not the most, popular songs for the company. Over the decades, Richard and Robert made songs that would go on to shape and define Disney.“ ” in Mary Poppins and“ ” in The Jungle Book remain some of their best-known songs to this day behind “Small World,” and the duo had other films like The Sword in the Stone, The Aristocats,and The Parent Trap (both the 1961 and 1998 versions) under their belt.
And that’s just from Disney: after going freelance following Walt’s death in 1966, the brothers also made music for Charlotte’s W.
