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It's a Small World

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For other uses, see Small world.
It's a Small World
Ride statistics
Attraction typeBoat canal
DesignerWalt Disney; Mary Blair
Vehicle typeBoat
Duration11-14
Disabled access Wheelchair accessible
It's a Small World
Ride statistics
DesignerWED Enterprises

It's a Small World (formatted “it's a small world” by The Walt Disney Company) is a popular attraction at several Walt Disney theme parks: Disneyland (in California), the Magic Kingdom (in Florida), Tokyo Disneyland, and Parc Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland (opens 27 April 2008). The ride features a multitude of audio-animatronic figures in the style of children of the world singing the ride's title track (composed by the Sherman Brothers), which has a theme of global peace.

History

In 1956, Walt Disney attended a conference, along with many other notable celebrities of the time, at the invitation of President Eisenhower. The conference was about founding a national organization to help promote world peace through international civilian travel. (This dream became a reality in 1956, when Eisenhower founded the People to People Student Ambassador Program.) Inspired by the ideas from the meeting, Disney returned to California and set to work, creating the It's A Small World ride at Disneyland.

Like several other Disneyland attractions, It's a Small World originated with the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair (it was Pepsi's pavilion.) After the fair closed, the ride was transferred to Disneyland along with three other attractions from the fair that year; Primeval World Diorama, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and the Carousel of Progress.

The attraction's design was done by Mary Blair, who was also an art director on several Disney animated features (including Cinderella and Peter Pan). Like many Disneyland and Walt Disney World attractions, scenes and characters were designed by Marc Davis, while his wife, Alice Davis, designed the costumes for the dolls. Blaine Gibson sculpted the animatronic figures, while Harriet Burns painted them. Many of the dolls were created by Joyce Carlson who is honored with a shop window along the Magic Kingdom's Main Street U.S.A. The sign there reads: "Dolls by Miss Joyce, Dollmaker for the World." Rolly Crump designed the Tower of the Four Winds (a huge structure controlled by the four winds, which stood at the entrance to the attraction at the World's Fair).

The name of the ride was originally "children of the world". When Walt Disney demonstrated it to songwriters Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman, the ride's soundtrack featured numerous national anthems all playing at once. Disney said, "I need one song."[1] In response, the brothers wrote one of the best known Disney tunes of all time: It's a Small World (After All).[2] It is argued that the song may be the most performed and translated song on earth.[1]

On January 22, 2008, Disneyland closed its version of the ride until 'Fall 2008' for refurbishment.[3][4] Rumors of removing the rainforest scene for a United States scene were squashed by a memo from Marty Sklar, but various Disney characters will seemlessly be added throughout the attraction, which has received mixed feedback. [5] [6] On April 16, 2008 on the Jeff and Jer San Diego radio show revealed that because of the weight gain in the United States the boats are breaking and are begining to sink.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).. They will appear in areas where their stories originated. It will also have expanded Asian and North American sequences and the promise of "a spectacular 'curtain call' with some extraordinary optical lighting effects not seen on any other Disney ride" [7].

Set sail in an imaginative journey as you take an enchanted boat ride through the regions of the world featuring colorful dolls, your favorite disney characters, elaborate sets and memorable music. The song "it's a small world (after all) will play in 9 different languages. Among those languages are Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and Tagalog are unique to hong kong disneyland. Over 30 countries represented in this attraction. It is to be the largest indoor ride at hong kong disneyland. The place of it's a small world at hong kong disneyland is beyond the disneyland railroad and it is just beside the building of Golden Mickey.[8]

Holiday season

"it's a small world holiday" lighting display.

Since 1997, Disneyland has featured "it's a small world holiday" during the Christmas and winter seasons. The attraction is usually closed in October to receive temporary holiday decorations inside and outside, only to reopen in early November before the start of the busy Holiday tourist season. The overlay has proved very popular and at one point during its run needed the use of FASTPASS machines (which have since been removed). The attraction is the same boat voyage through many regions of the world featuring choruses of children singing. During the ride, the main theme song is not played fully, but instead the children of the world sing "Jingle Bells" and a bridge of "Deck the Halls" added to the main theme. The holiday overlay has since been implemented at Tokyo Disneyland.

During the 2005–2006 holiday season, in order to remove some of the massive crowds from the main plaza during the popular Remember... Dreams Come True fireworks spectacular, a second viewing station was installed at It's a Small World. At the same time, the outdoor facade incorporated a sophisticated, elaborate multi-media presentation projected on the colored patterns of the outer façade each quarter hour after dusk.

The song

The well-known catchiness of the song is due not only to its constant repetition for the duration of the ride (which lasts about fifteen minutes, not including time in line), but Robert B. Sherman explains that the structure of the song may also play a role:

Like many songs, It's a Small World has a verse and a chorus. One thing which makes this song particularly 'catchy' is that the verse and chorus work in counterpoint to each other. This means that you can play the same chords over and over again, but with different melodies. The repetitive, yet varied pattern tricks your mind into absorbing the work without it becoming tiresome to your ear [1].

Additionally, the World's Fair version of the song is the one commonly heard on various Disney compilation albums. The song also inspired a Disney Read-Along.

The song was later given two covers for the dance video game Dance Dance Revolution Disney Mix: a Eurobeat cover by ABeatC All Stars and a Happy Hardcore instrumental remix entitled "IT'S A SMALL WORLD (Ducking Hardcore MIX)" by TOMOSUKE and U1-ASAMI, which featured sampling of Donald Duck and was the hardest song in the game.

Attraction facts and figures

Disneyland attraction version:

  • Animated/unanimated figures: 400
  • Slogan: The happiest cruise that ever sailed 'round the world.
  • Ticket Required: "E"

Magic Kingdom (Walt Disney World) attraction version:

  • Grand Opening: October 1, 1971 (Opened with Magic Kingdom park)
  • Grand Re-Opening: March 18, 2005
  • Flume capacity: 500,000 US gallons (2,000 m³) of water
  • Animated/unanimated figures: 472
    • Audio-Animatronics Dolls: 289
    • Toys: 147
    • Animated Props: 36
  • Slogan: The happiest cruise that ever sailed the seven seas.

Parc Disneyland attraction version:

  • Slogan: The happiest cruise that ever sailed around the world.

Hong Kong Disneyland attraction version:

  • Grand Opening: 28 April, 2008
  • Ride Area: 83,500 sq ft (Planned)
  • Animated/unanimated figures: About 500
    • Audio-Animatronics Dolls: Unknown
    • Disney Characters: 38
  • Slogan: Rediscover the world of laughter.

Pop Culture References

Due to the popularity of the song, the song and ride have been spoofed many times in popular culture.

  • In the hit 1994 film The Lion King, the primary antagonist, Scar asks Zazu to "sing something with a little *pause* bounce in it." Zazu responds by beginning to sing It's a Small World when Scar cuts him off by saying, "No! Anything but that."
  • In Shrek, when Donkey and Shrek are in Duloc, the song that the puppets sing is a spoof of It's a Small World.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "It's A Small World by Disneyland Chorus" (HTML). Retrieved 2006-05-21.
  2. ^ Smith, Dave (2006). Disney A to Z: The Official Disney Encyclopedia. Disney Editions. p. 354. ISBN 0-7868-4919-3.
  3. ^ ""it's a small world" ride page" (HTML). Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  4. ^ "Disney's 'Small World' to get big retrofit" (HTML). Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  5. ^ Los Angeles Times, March 29, 2008, Disneyland is jeered over ride restyling
  6. ^ Marty Sklar responds to It's a Small World issue. www.laughingplace.com" http://www.laughingplace.com/News-ID10029590.asp
  7. ^ The HKDL Source : Three New Attractions in 2007 and 2008
  8. ^ http://park.hongkongdisneyland.com/hkdl/en_US/events/landing?name=smallworldPage
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