Comparison

Did you see Saving Mrs. Banks?

The Sherman Brothers are in that movie. There's a biopic that focuses on them that's not that movie, The Boys: The Sherman Brother's Story, that tells a lot of their story.

How they wrote more motion-picture musical song scores than any other team in film history.
How they wrote the theme for the New York World's Fair, "It's a Small World (After All)."
How they won Academy Awards while working for the Walt Disney Company.
How they were awarded the National Medal of Merit and a spot on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

It's an impressive story and the movie is actually quite good., but there's a different story.

One that tells how the older of the Sherman Brothers, Robert, was in the army during World War 2. He enlisted at 17 years old, a year earlier than allowed, with the permission of his parents. He was with the advance guard that freed Dachau. As a Jewish man, with family from Russia, he realized during the time he spent at the camp, that this was the town where his distant relations were brought. So, many of the Jews that were in the camp were his cousins.

While at the camp he was also shot in the knee. The specifics of how are lost to time.

However, these two events affected him for the rest of his life. One emotionally and one physically. He walked with a cane until his death. Though he came home traumatized, he completed his studies at Bard College and continued pursuing music and songwriting, which was his first passion

Richard Sherman, the younger brother, was also fascinated with music. When he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1953, he joined the band and glee clubs. He also served as a conductor for both clubs. While his stint in the Army was less dramatic than his brothers', both of them were honorably discharged.

Somehow, after all of this, he and his brother composed songs for Disney productions.

Big musicals full of heart and hope.

Musicals that won them Academy Awards, Grammys, National Medals, and inductions into Halls of Fame.
They shook the hands of presidents and kings and received well-wishes from generations.

They collaborated for years, but he and his brother actually didn't get along.

Robert married.

With his wife, they had 4 beautiful children. He led a full life of composing, painting, and leading others into the arts.

The younger brother, Richard, never married.

At one point in 2002, Robert and Richard met for an award, and the younger brother, who never had such a dramatic career overseas in World War 2 or Korea, who was just as successful as and with his brother, but who never achieved the personal milestones that his brother had, stepped out of a car alone. He saw his older brother and his brother's wife, their family and their happiness, and he turned around and left the event immediately.

Robert was growing older.

After many years back in the U.S., he decided to retire to London, where he recuperated from that gunshot to the knee in World War 2, with his wife. He had grown fond of the British while recuperating and found them to be fascinating. This is obvious if you've seen many of the stories he and his brother were known for creating, considering they often centered around English subjects.

From 2002 to 2012, he and his brother corresponded via fax machines and emails. They collaborated on a project that would have been completed in 2012, if not for Robert's death. You see, from 2002 onward, Robert and Richard never saw each other again. Richard just couldn't stand to see his brother.

He couldn't stand to see his brothers' full life while his was empty in comparison.