Movie Review: The Boys - Sherman Brothers Story
Disney Songwriters Composed Music For Mary Poppins, Jungle Book
Aug 11, 2009 Dominic von Riedemann
If you've ever sung along to insanely catchy tunes like "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," "Feed the Birds" (reportedly Walt Disney's favourite song), the Oscar-winning "Chim Chim Cher-ee" (all from Mary Poppins), "It's a Small World After All," or "I Just Wanna Be Like You" (from The Jungle Book) you know the Sherman Brothers. Robert and younger brother Richard wrote musical scores for many classic films, including 1961's The Parent Trap, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Snoopy Come Home, and Tom Sawyer.
"It's so catchy that, I swear that song was crafted for Chinese torture," director John Landis (who used the Shermans for Beverly Hills Cop III) said about "It's a Small World After All."
However, the Shermans' public "happy siblings" act was a facade to hide a strained working relationship and a never-ending family feud. Their respective families never spoke to one another for decades, sitting at opposite sides of a theatre during movie premieres.
In the Disney documentary The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story, filmmakers – and cousins – Jeffrey and Gregory Sherman tell their famous fathers' life story while showing the forces that ripped them apart (despite still composing together, Robert resides in London, England while Richard lives in California).
Using interviews from the Sherman brothers, plus appearances by composers John Williams and Alan Menken, actors Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, executive producer Ben Stiller, Roy E. Disney and director John Landis, the film celebrates the Sherman's achievements while exposing the battles and misunderstandings that divided a family for nearly half a century.
Disney Produces The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story, Directed by Gregory and Jeffrey C. Sherman
Gregory and Jeffrey C. Sherman's closeness to their subject acts as advantage and hindrance. They're able to get their fathers to open up more than most other documentary filmmakers would have, but The Boys has a peculiarly cathartic quality to it, as if the cousins are eager to air the family's dirty laundry in public.
Certainly there's no shortage of drama in the way the brothers interacted. Robert was the pensive lyricist, physically and emotionally scarred by his experiences during World War II: he took a bullet in his left leg, plus he was the first American soldier to enter Dachau concentration camp. Richard was the ebullient piano player: quick to laugh but also quick to anger. It was that constant conflict that not only drove their success as songwriters, but hurt them personally.
Ironically, the most bitter aspect of the Shermans' family feud resulted from Richard doing his older brother a favour: helping him move out of his family home during an emotional trauma.
However, one would wish that The Boys would concentrate less on the Shermans' family feud and more on the music. There are no shortage of talking heads telling the viewer how great the Shermans were as songwriters, or offering vignettes of their working life. But there's a story placing the Shermans as part of America's musical heritage just begging to be told, and this film misses the opportunity.
The Final Analysis
Disney's involvement with this documentary has more than a hint of self-service. As with 1995's Frank and Ollie, this film not only gives the studio the chance to flaunt its history, but also promotes the carefully-crafted image of Walt Disney as genius and benevolent father-figure to all the talented artists he employed.
However, there's no denying that the Sherman Brothers' story deserves to be told, and Disney deserves props for not only allowing footage from non-Disney films in the documentary (most significantly, the Albert Broccoli-produced Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) but also alludes to the increasingly poisonous atmosphere at Disney after Walt's death.
The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story gets an 7/10.
Fun Fact: Look for an upcoming interview with the makers of The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story.
The Boys poster
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