It's a Small World debuted not in a Disney theme park, but at the 1964 New York Fair, where the ride was sponsored by Pepsi Cola as a tribute to UNICEF. Featuring design by Mary Blair and what might have become from the world's most famous "ear worm" theme song from Robert and Richard Sherman, It's a Small World set a new, enduring standard for dark rides, elevating them from carnival attractions to having the potential for delivering top-quality narrative experiences. (Here's Richard Sherman performing some of his famous Disney hits, including It's a Small, Small World live -- in a very different style -- at the 2009 IAAPA convention in Las Vegas.)
It's a Small World takes riders on the happiest cruise that ever sailed in all five "Magic Kingdom" theme parks around the world. The original version stands today at Disneyland in California.
Along with additional versions in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom...
Tokyo Disneyland...
Disneyland Paris...
and Hong Kong Disneyland.
In 2009, Disneyland added several Disney characters to its version of the ride, creating a kind-of "Where's Waldo?" element for riders, as they try to find the Disney characters amid Mary Blair's original singing dolls. We talked then with Walt Disney Imagineering's Kim Irvine about that makeover.
Let's take a trip on the current Disneyland version of It's a Small World:
We should note that this also is the 50th anniversary year of Walt Disney's other New York Fair attractions, including Carousel of Progress (the General Electric "Progressland" pavilion), Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln (the first Audio Animatronic to depict a once-living human being, displayed in the fair's Illinois pavilion), and the Ford's Magic Skyway. Some of the Skyway's scenes live on as the Grand Canyon Primeval World diorama on the Disneyland Railroad. Happy 50th birthday to those innovative Disney attractions, too!
Maybe earplugs will help when when we go to the MK with the grandkids this spring?
...and then there was the time when my daughter who was then 5 years old wanted to go on it 3 times in a row. The first time my wife rode it with us. The second time my wife excused herself for a bathroom break, and then we couldn't find her after the ride (This was in the days before cellphones made us all instantly accessible.), so my daughter who was tired of waiting and near a meltdown asked for a third ride. I had no choice.
After that ride, we found my wife, and because it was the end of the day, we decided to go back to the hotel room, and I carried my daughter out of the park on my shoulders - while she hummed and sang what she could remember about the theme song right above my ears.
...and during the monorail ride,
...and on the tram out to the parking lot,
...and in the car until she fell asleep.
They say insanity is hereditary - you get it from your kids. It's true.
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