How did Mary Poppins promote vaccine acceptance? Songwriter Robert B. Sherman (December 19, 1925-March 6. 2012) listened to his son Jeffrey’s story about getting a polio vaccine at school, and this gave him the inspiration to take it back to his brother, Richard M. Sherman. Together, they developed the song “A Spoonful of Sugar” for the 1964 American musical film Mary Poppins.
In a short interview with NPR (National Public Radio), Jeffrey related the story of how his father and uncle had been struggling with writing some of the songs for Mary Poppins. Jeffrey had come home from school to find his father, Robert, stewing, desperately trying to come up with a jingle. A ditty, something to make Mary Poppins more amazing. Robert had had one of his collaborations declined by Walt Disney, so he felt a little down. He asked Jeffrey how his day had gone.
Jeffery told his father that he’d gotten his polio vaccine at school. His father hadn’t understood that the polio vaccine wasn’t an injection, and he asked his son, “Did it hurt?” And Jeffrey explained that the school nurses had put the vaccine onto a sugar cube for the kids to take.
This is how the song “A Spoonful of Sugar” and its famous line “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down” were born. I’ve linked below to the short, live radio version of the interview. And to a YouTube clip of the song itself if you would like to learn more about this fun little tidbit of history. I had no idea before stumbling upon this lovely, weird fact, and I wanted to share it with y’all.
One response to “Mary Poppins Promoted Vaccine Acceptance”
Thank you for your kind words.