Thoughts on Walt
Page 6 of 26
Richard Sherman tells Walt stories at Disneyland's
100th birthday celebration
Richard Sherman on Walt Disney
December 10, 2001
| He's in me - in my heart - all the time. But I wish he was here. |
Richard Sherman is one half of the famous Sherman Brothers songwriting team - the other half being Robert Sherman. The Sherman Brothers began their career at Disney in 1961 with Annette Funicello's Strummin' Song. Since that time they've written hundreds of songs for Disney films, television shows, theme parks and attractions Some of their film work includes Summer Magic, 101 Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, The Happiest Millionaire, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Tigger Movie and Mary Poppins. Their theme park songs include There's a Great, Big, Beautiful Tomorrow and It's a Small World, and The Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room. The Sherman Brothers are also the author of a book about their career and their time with Disney called Walt's Time: From Before to Beyond.
LaughingPlace.com: What made him stand out so much from all the other great entertainers of his day?
Richard Sherman: He was a man who knew talent. He could catch people with talent and put them together in teams and pull out of them things they never dreamed they could do. He inspired people. He was a great storyteller in his own right. And he was just sort of magic with people, particularly his talented teammates, and that's why I felt so honored to be part of that team. We were walking with giants
LP: Can you describe your first personal encounter with Walt Disney?
RS: The first time we met Walt Disney was when we had written a little song for Annette Funicello to sing in a show called The Horsemasters, a little television show. We came into his office and he said, "now first of all this story is about two identical twins." He started describing the story of the Parent Trap, and we were terrified. We were meeting a legend for the first time and he was going off in a different direction. And so Bob, my brother - who is very brave - said "Mr. Disney, we came here to play you a song for Annette Funicello to sing in The Horsemasters.". And he said, "Oh, then why'd you let me go on like this?" And wow, were we upset about that because we thought he was ticked off at us. So we went into the other room where his piano was and I sang Strummin Song which was a song we'd written. And he looked at this executive who brought us in and he said "Yeah, that'll work. Now I wasted a lot of time on this other song so why don't you give these guys a script and see if they can come up with something for this other picture." So that's how we got the assignment to do the songs for the Parent Trap.
LP: What do you personally miss the most about Walt Disney?
RS: I miss his magic. I miss his friendship, his warmth, his guidance, his vision, his enchanting way of knowing the right stories to tell at the right time. And his leadership. I mean, he was magic, he was wonderful. He's in me - in my heart - all the time. But I wish he was here.
LP: 35 years after this death, do you think the world has a real sense of just how special Walt Disney was?
RS: I think if they come to his parks and see the creations that he personally did, I think they see the magic and feel the magic - yes.
(l-r) Robert Sherman, Walt Disney, Don DeGradi
Richard Sherman, Bill Walsh
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