It's a Small World

[Mike]

It's a Small World - Songfacts

This picture I took at Disneyland February 24th. 2006

Disneyland - It's A Small World - Grand Opening: May 28, 1966

Ride length: approx. 12 minutes

The outer facade of the building is a gigantic clock, on the quarter-hour, stick puppets representing different cultures parade out of the clock, then a bell tolls as a pair of giant doors swings open to reveal two large toy blocks one block with the hour, and one block with the minutes, written in highly stylized numerals.

The exterior has been slightly redesigned and repainted over the years, with gold trim, then in myriad pastel colors, in white with pastel accents, and is currently all-white with gold trim as it was in the 1960s.

The garden around the building is decorated with topiary animals.

Inside the building, the ride features stylized animatronics dolls in national costumes singing the title song in numerous languages at Disneyland, boats carrying the riders visit the regions of the world in separate rooms: The Arctic regions, Canada, Scandinavia with the song sung in Swedish. Europe, with the song sung in German, English with an English accent, French and Italian. Asian with the song sung in English and Japanese. Latin America, with the song sung in Spanish. Africa, with the rhythm of the song marked with drums then sung in English. Oceania and Australia, with the song sung in underwater gurgling and English with an Australian accent, the rain forest with Polynesian drummers. A grand finale with representatives from all the cultures of the world dressed in white versions of their native costumes and singing in English in chorus. A cowboy and American Indian standing together are the only dolls during the ride that represent the United States.

The ride and its song are intended to be sweet, though many find the repetitive song annoying, despite this, “it’s a small world" remains one of the most popular attractions in the parks.

During November and December the ride is decorated with Christmas decorations with a chorus Jingle Bells and Deck the halls that are added to the theme song.

The attraction was designed by Mary Blair. Scenes and characters were designed by Marc Davis, while his wife, Alice Davis, designed the outfits of the dolls.