Disneyland Resort Honors the Sherman Brothers with A Main Street USA Window

Even if you don’t recognize the name, I can assure you, you know the songs. Anyone who has visited a Disney Park or watched many of Disney’s popular movies of the 1960s has been influenced by Richard and Robert Sherman.

Ever seen Mary Poppins or The Jungle Book? Ever experience The Tiki Room or the Carousel of Progress? Or how about that ride with that darn song you can’t get out of your head, It’s A Small World!

The Sherman songs from the Tiki Room, Carousel of Progress (There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow) and Small World are still performed Disney theme parks around the world, making the music as contemporary today as when it was composed.

On March 11th the Academy Award-winning composers will receive the highest honor that the Disneyland Resort bestows. The Sherman brothers, Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, will receive a tribute window on Main Street, U.S.A.

The tradition of honoring individuals with a personalized decorative window was started on Main Street, U.S.A. by Walt Disney and has continued at Disney parks worldwide. A Disneyland window is considered the ultimate honor anyone can receive from "The Happiest Place on Earth."

We were fortunate to be serenaded by Richard at IAPPA last fall. In this photo, Richard is singing It’s a Small World. We actually got two versions; first he sang it the way he & Robert wrote it… as a ballad. But, Walt ask them to “pep it up” a bit because he wanted the song to be more up lifting, so the second version we heard was the more familiar one. And, Richard asked us all to sing along.

“Walt had a wonderful sense of how to use music to tell a story’ said Richard He considered it an integral part of the experience.” By the way, do you know what Walt’s favorite song was?

Between songs Mr. Sherman regaled with stories of his personal experiences of doing business with Mr. Disney. One story revolved around “that song.” While driving to the studio with Walt the brothers mentioned donating the royalties from “It’s a Small World” to UNICEF. Walt stopped the car and yelled, “Are you nuts? That song is going to put your children through college!”

Our congratulations to the Sherman brothers, oh and by the way, Walt Disney’s favorite song was … Feed the Birds from Mary Poppins