Oscar-winning songwriter Richard M Sherman, who is known for his collaborations with his brother Robert B Sherman on the songs for Mary Poppins and It’s a Small World (After All), has passed away at the age of 95. According to reports, the musician passed at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills due to an age-related illness.

The Sherman brothers held a job that no longer exists: in-house songwriters for a studio. In their case, the studio was Disney, and the brothers were hired for that steady gig after their 1958 song Tall Paul became a hit for Mouseketeer Annette Funicello. According to sources, in the early 1960s, they penned tunes for Hayley Mills in Disney films The Parent Trap, In Search of the Castaways and Summer Magic, as well as songs for The Absent-Minded Professor and Moon Pilot.

Walt Disney, always aware of synergy, made sure his family comedies had a tune with radio-play potential. The Shermans wrote for the animated Sword in the Stone, which was a big hit, but their career really skyrocketed the following year.

Their Small World song debuted at the New York World’s Fair, in a boat ride past audio-animatronic puppet children singing and spinning to the song continuously. After the World’s Fair, the attraction transferred to Disney theme parks. The song remains the ultimate earworm.