Richard and Robert Sherman

Call them classics or call them ear worms; the best songs of the Sherman Brothers will probably last for as long as people keep singing. Richard and Robert Sherman were the sons of songwriter Al Sherman, who wrote many Tin Pan Alley songs (but don't ask me to sing one he wrote because I don't know any). The brothers became closely associated with the Walt Disney Studios, and many have written that they essentially served as Walt's musical voice. They wrote songs and scores for films like The Parent Trap, The Sword in the Stone, The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and the original three Winnie the Pooh shorts as well as the non-Disney films Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Charlotte's Web. Mary Poppins is their magnum opus, containing classics like "A Spoonful of Sugar," "Jolly Holiday," "Superidontfeelliketypingthewholething," "Chim-Chim-Cher-ee," "Step In Time," and "Let's Go Fly A Kite." My own favorite song from that film is "Feed the Birds," an exquisite, almost heart-wrenching melody that contrasts with the upbeat, bouncy nature of many of the brothers' most popular songs. Speaking of upbeat and bouncy, many of the Sherman Brothers' well-known songs were written for Disneyland and various other Disney parks, where they play to this day. "There's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow," "One Little Spark," "All Aboard the Mine Train," and "The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room" (yes, the title has three tikis despite the cast saying it five times in the song) all have catchy, delightful, sugary melodies. But their most notorious song is "It's A Small World (After All)," which is an admittedly nice melody when you hear it once. Unfortunately, as anyone who has gone on the ride knows, it plays nonstop for 15 minutes (in the Disneyland version at least; the pathetic Disney World version is shorter). I don't outright hate it as many others seem to, and even the Sherman Brothers themselves have a sense of humor about the song; in one interview (from the Musical History of Disneyland 50th Anniversary set), they quip that their doorbell is set to the song and that they have to pay each other every time they hear it. Robert passed away in 2012, but Richard wrote the song "Make Way For Tomorrow Today" for the film Iron Man 2, proving that he can still write buoyant tunes. Even if you think the Shermans' songs are cloying and saccharine, you still have to admire their talent for creating memorable melodies.

The Jungle Book (score by George Bruns)
Mary Poppins*
Tom Sawyer (with John Williams)