it’s a small world … no more
For any of you who have gone to DisneyWorld/Land/wherever and had “it’s a small world” running around in your head forever (and swore at whoever wrote that frickin’ song) this is for you.
Unfortunately the songwriter (or ½ the team) passed away.
Robert Sherman. After WW2 Robert joined with his younger brother Richard to form a songwriting team and in 1958 they became staff songwriters for the Disney studio. They composed “it’s a small world” for Disney’s It’s a Small World attraction at the 1964 New York World’s Fair and, as the song remained uncopyrighted at the request of Unicef, is most likely the most widely known of all their work (and probably the most aggravating).
Anyway.
I would venture to guess his name is not a household name but here is why you should take a minute and bid him a farewell:
The songs in Mary Poppins: chim-chim-chiree, feed the birds (the underrated song in the movie), supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, spoonful of sugar (and others)
The songs in Jungle Book (of which every frickin’ song is amazing): I want to be like you, trust in me, bare necessities (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ogQ0uge06o)
And those 2 movies remain two of the greatest movies of all time (animated or non animated).
In addition.
Bedknobs & Broomsticks, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the Aristocats, Winnie the Pooh … all had his songs in them (among many others).
Part of what made Disney movies so magical, and timeless, were the songs. You could sing along … hum along … be a part of the movie. And. It all created memories. Good stuff.
The Guardian has an excellent tribute with links to songs: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2012/mar/06/disney-robert-sherman
Every once in a while I want to give a shout out to some great memories and the people who brought them to us.
Thanks for some great memories Robert.
Colonel Hathi Elephant March (Jungle Book): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrQQZuLru9s
This is a huge error. The song indeed was copyrighted and renewed as well. Look up record number RE0000548478 at http://cocatalog.loc.gov/ (the U.S. Copyright Office online catalog) and you will see that the song (contrary to popular belief and many postings) was indeed copyrighted in 1964 and renewed 27 years later in 1991. With the modified copyright laws, it will stay in effect for the life of the authors plus fifty more years. Richard Sherman is still alive although his brother Robert died in 2012. So the copyright will go on for many more years. This seems to be popular folklore which is (as many urban legends) completely untrue.
Jon