Dear web traffic due to inexact search terms, jodete. Anyways, not all comeuppance are bad and we do like to think good here.

The person I allude to is one of the Sherman Brothers’ who wrote more motion-picture musical song scores than any other songwriting team in film history, not the Seattle Seahawks conerback. Their work was mostly on Disney films. Recently, they were portrayed in the film, Saving Mr. Banks.

From the Pat Williams biography of Walt Disney, we learn from Richard Sherman something about what moved Disney in the twilight of his life:

… during the last year or two of Walt Disney’s life, he would stop by the Sherman Brothers’ office at the close of every Friday. “We had our own little private ceremony,” Richard told me. “He’d ask us what we were working on, and we’d tell him. Then he’d say, ‘Play the song, Richard.’ And I knew which song he meant.

“Walt would look out the north window of his office while I played the song. And when it was over, he’d say, ‘Yep, that’s what it is all about. Have a good weekend, boys.’

… “It’s a song about the bird woman who sells bread crumbs in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral. The old woman says, ‘Feed the birds, tuppence a bag.’ That’s the theme of the picture: It doesn’t take much to do an act of kindness— just tuppence, just a penny or two.

“That’s what everyone learns by the end of the film. The children just needed some love and attention from their parents. They didn’t care about their mother’s causes or their father’s money. They just wanted to know that Mum and Dad were interested in them. And that’s what Mary Poppins taught them. It’s a subtle thing, but Walt loved the meaning of that song. That’s what he was all about.

“Even after Walt left us, I continued to play the song every Friday afternoon in his honor. It was a very personal thing for me. I’d feel his presence.

I was once caught in a vortex of the Sherman Brothers’ most prolific song for 95 minutes due to a technical malfunction on a Disney ride. The world was definitely too small that night.

The ‘Feed The Birds’ lyrics from Mary Poppins are copied at end of post.

Mary Poppins:
Early each day to the steps of Saint Paul’s
The little old bird woman comes
In her own special way to the people she call,
“Come, buy my bags full of crumbs;
Come feed the little birds,
Show them you care
And you’ll be glad if you do
Their young ones are hungry
Their nests are so bare
All it takes is tuppence from you
Feed the birds, tuppence a bag
Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag
Feed the birds,” that’s what she cries
While overhead, her birds fill the skies

All around the cathedral the saints and apostles
Look down as she sells her wares
Although you can’t see it,
You know they are smiling
Each time someone shows that he cares

Though her words are simple and few
Listen, listen, she’s calling to you
“Feed the birds, tuppence a bag
Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag”