The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story

Their music is unforgettable. Their name is legend. Immerse yourself in the lives and film legacy of the prolific songwriting duo whose music was featured in classic films such as Mary Poppins (1964) and Mowgli, the Wolf Boy (1967).

Watching Disney documentaries and being delighted with the tributes it has paid to the professionals behind the great works, simultaneously watching Frank and Ollie (two more than fraternal friends, excellent designers) and the Sherman brothers (two musically talented brothers, but not they got along well, they separated for years) wonderful masterpieces, well-deserved tributes, sincere, transparent, necessary and passionate works... This troubled union generated great successes...

This is the third Disney documentary I've seen in the last couple months (this includes this film, "Walt and El Groupo" and "Waking Sleeping Beauty") and all three were enjoyable bits of nostalgia. However, unlike these other two films, the Shermans were most famous for their work but they wrote music for a wide variety of projects--not just ones for that studio.

The film begins in a way that took my by surprise. Apparently it was made by one of Bob Sherman's sons and one of Dick Sherman's sons. Neither knew each other and their families never really interacted--despite their fathers being brothers and long-time writing partners! Now that is weird and caught my attention, as it seems that over the years the two became more and more estranged from each other and were so unalike. What follows is a nice nostalgic look at these men and their lives and shows the many ways in which their music has shaped films and our culture.

The film is well made, fascinating and great for Disney fans and non-fans. While not as amazingly good as "Waking Sleeping Beauty", it is some documentary.

"The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story" is a terrific documentary produced by the sons of the famous composing team of Robert and Richard Sherman ("Mary Poppins," "The Jungle Book," "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang") about their fathers and their complex relationship.

Robert, for example, the older brother and "poet," who wrote so beautifully of sweetness and optimism, was in the very first group of GIs to liberate the Dachau concentration camp, which had a profound impact on him and his relationships, especially with his brother.

And how do these famous songs come about? When one of the composers' sons came home and said he had some sort of anti-polio treatment at school, the father assumed it was a shot and said, "That must have hurt." The son replied, no it was medicine he swallowed after they gave him a lump of sugar to take beforehand. Voila! The birth of the famous "Mary Poppins" tune, "A Spoonful of Sugar (Helps the Medicine Go Down)."

Fascinating stuff on so many levels, it will interest music aficionados, Disney fans, students of Hollywood history and even those who really know very little of these particular gentlemen.

Well worth your time.

And, Hollywood, if you're listening -- how about a movie telling their story? Terrific stuff.

This little shown intimate portrait of the Sherman Brothers seems to have been largely overlooked in favor of the more broadly drawn "Waking Sleeping Beauty". That is most unfortunate because this is much more profound both as a peek into the creative functioning of the Disney empire...and as a fascinating unvarnished love letter to the astonishingly prolific and inspired team that gave the studio product so much of it's sparkle...

This is an exquisite film with the interviews and clips arranged for maximum impact...(the DVD is even more of a treasure trove...the out-takes and extended scenes being just as valuable as the material that made the final cut). The tear jerking moments depicting "The Boys'" relationship with Walt Disney...and his love for "Feed the Birds" has been hinted at before...but this film brings it into a clear focus that makes it a must see for everyone who ever loved one of the studio's films...or ever hummed along to one of the teams immortal creations.

There will be some people upset that this ends up being less of a happily ever after fairy tale than they would expect. This documentary lovingly depicts the somewhat strained relationship between two brothers who were very different people and how they were able to come together in one glorious project...the creation of songs that will live as long as there are children to re-discover them.

Co-directed by the sons of "The Boys" this is also a delicious portrait of the lives of two families...and of Hollywood Magic in the mid 20th century...

The moving reminiscences and archival clips are alone worth the price of the Disc!

Starting in 1961 with an inauspicious tune called "Strummin' Song" from Walt Disney's live-action "The Horsemasters", brothers Robert B. And Richard M. Sherman, sons of Russian-Jewish immigrants, became the in-house, go-to songwriters for the Disney Company. They turned out one melodious, deceptively simple ditty after another until they eventually hit upon Oscar gold with their score for "Mary Poppins". As it turns out, the fabulously talented Shermans are not unlike most siblings: there are rivalries between the two, personality differences which cause them to clash, and they're not really the best of friends. This incredibly moving documentary, directed by the duo's sons, Gregory and Jeff Sherman, was a valiant attempt to get Robert and Richard to reconcile their feelings for one another--and to acknowledge their extensive body of work, which is often unfairly criticized as being sappy or sugary. Indeed, it may seem a bit of a stretch to compare the Shermans to John Lennon and Paul McCartney...but after hearing such wonderful songs as "Feed the Birds" (Walt's personal favorite), "On the Front Porch" (Robert's favorite), "A Spoonful of Sugar", "Winnie the Pooh", and "It's a Small World", among others, their resume becomes a virtual collection of childhood memories. The Shermans deserved this valentine to their talents as sentimental and romantic songwriters par excellence, and the family story which plays out behind-the-scenes underscores their sunshiny output with realistic melancholy. It is quite an achievement. ***1/2 from ****