Robert Sherman's Catchy Tunes

Robert B. Sherman wrote songs that are bound to stick in your head for hours – maybe even days – after you hear them.



Sherman was one half of the Sherman Brothers songwriting team, along with younger brother Richard. In addition to "it's a small world (after all)" – the most played song on earth – they wrote other Disney park classics like “The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room” and “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow,” theme song for Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress.

Before you write them off, you should know that they also wrote more movie scores than any other songwriting duo in history. And they were responsible for some of the greats…

Mary Poppins

For this Oscar-winning family favorite, the Sherman Brothers contributed classics like “Just a Spoonful of Sugar,” “Feed the Birds” and Academy Award winner “Chim Chim Cheree”… not to mention this practically perfect and precocious little number:



Chitty Chitty Bang Bang



The Jungle Book

The Sherman Brothers wrote most of the songs for 1967’s The Jungle Book after being brought in to replace the original composer. Though they aren’t responsible for “Bare Necessities,” the brothers did leave us singing along with “King” Louis Prima on “I Wanna Be Like You”:



From The Aristocats to Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Charlotte's Web to Winnie the Pooh (and “The Wonderful Thing about Tiggers” too), Robert and Richard Sherman and their catchy tunes have kept generations of singing along. Robert Sherman's death on March 5, 2012, marks the end of a magnificent musical era.

Written by Linnea Crowther