Robert B. Sherm-an, the composer of the Mary Poppins song Super-califragilisticexpialidocious and other Disney classics, has died in London aged 86, his publicist said on Tuesday. “He died peac-efully yesterday,” a spokeswoman for Stella Richards Management said.
New York-born Sherman and his brother Richard worked as staff composers for Disney between 1960 and 1973, during which time they wrote more than 200 songs for 27 films and two dozen television productions.
These included Chim Chim Cher-ee, another hit from the 1964 film Mary Poppins, which won them an Oscar for best song. They also won the Acade-my Award for best score for the movie. Bob Sherman wrote the lyrics and his br-other, known as Dick, composed the music, following in the footsteps of their son-gwriter father Al Sherman.
They were also responsible for hits like It’s a Small World and I Wan’na Be Like You from The Jungle Book, and composed the scores for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Charlotte’s Web among others.