Mary Poppins' "A Spoonful of Sugar" was inspired by the polio vaccine.

Arts & Culture

W hen inspiration strikes, you have to just go with it — no matter how unexpected the circumstances. Few knew that better than Robert B. Sherman, who, along with his brother Richard, made up one of the best-known songwriting duos in Hollywood history. In addition to The Jungle Book, The Sword in the Stone, and other Disney classics, they collaborated on 1964's Mary Poppins — including the song "A Spoonful of Sugar," which was inspired by the polio vaccine. This was recounted by Robert's son Jeffrey, who in late 2020 shared his story of receiving the vaccine as a child. When asked whether it hurt, Jeffrey told his father, "They put it on a sugar cube and you just ate it. He stared at me, then went to the phone and called my uncle Dick."

Robert recalled the incident similarly: "I realized at the moment that I had the spark of a winning song," he wrote in his autobiography Moose: Chapters From My Life. "I couldn't sleep all night. The lyric mulled around in my mind. The next day, at work, I showed up half an hour earlier than usual so that I could pop the idea on my brother." Created by virologist Jonas Salk, the polio vaccine (originally administered as a shot) was released in 1955, after which Salk was hailed as a miracle worker and refused to patent it. An oral vaccine, the type Jeffrey Sherman received, was developed later by biomedical scientist Albert Sabin. Within 25 years, the polio vaccine eliminated transmission of the disease in the United States.

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By the Numbers

Countries where polio was endemic in 1988

125

Oscar nominations received by Mary Poppins, the most of any Disney movie

Did you know?

Julie Andrews wasn't the first choice to play Mary Poppins.

Despite giving one of the best-known performances in film history, Julie Andrews wasn't who the studio had in mind as the iconic musical's title character. Both Walt Disney and Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers had Bette Davis as their top choice — understandable, given that the two-time Oscar winner (and the first actor to receive a total of 10 nominations) was essentially Hollywood royalty. Angela Lansbury was considered as well. That changed when Robert B. Sherman, who co-wrote the movie's songs, saw Andrews on TV one night in 1962. "Before she finished her first song, I knew that Julie was the one," he recalled later. "My brother, Dick, agreed. The next day, we learned that Walt and half the studio had the same idea we did." Andrews went on to win an Academy Award of her own for the role.