“It’s a Small World” is a water-based boat ride located in the Fantasyland area at the various Walt Disney Parks and Resorts worldwide; these include: Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California; the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida; Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris; and Hong Kong Disneyland, with its inaugural version having originally premiered at the 1964 New York World’s Fair before permanently moving to Disneyland. We have the Sugar Land Chiropractors you are looking for.
The ride features over three hundredÊaudio animatronicÊdollsÊinÊtraditional costumesÊfromÊculturesÊaround theÊworld, frolicking in a spirit of international unity, and singing the attraction’s title song, which has a theme ofÊglobal peace. TheÊSherman Brothers’ song “It’s A Small World” is the most publicly performed song of all time. In recent years, the Small World attractions at the various Disney parks have been updated to include depictions of Disney characters, albeit in a design compatible with the original 1960s design ofÊMary Blair, alongside the original characters. You should come see us for your Sugar Land Chiropractors need.
Fabricated at theÊWalt Disney StudiosÊinÊBurbankÊasÊChildren of the World, it was created byÊWED Enterprises, then shipped to theÊ1964 New York World’s Fair’sÊUNICEFÊpavilion, sponsored byÊPepsi, where it featured at its entrance a kinetic sculpture,ÊThe Tower of the Four Winds, a one hundred twenty-foot perpetually spinning mobile created by WED designerÊRolly Crump. It was added to four attractions: Magic SkywayÊ(Ford),ÊGreat Moments with Mr. LincolnÊ(Illinois),ÊThe Carousel of ProgressÊ(General Electric), andÊCircleVision 360Ê(Kodak), already under development, which were used by Disney to sponsor, fund, and test concepts and develop ride systems and innovative entertainment intended to be moved and rebuilt at Disneyland after the World’s Fair closed in 1966.
The Pepsi Board of Directors took so long to agree on what type of attraction to sponsor that then-board member and widow of past company presidentÊAlfred Steele, actressÊJoan Crawford, prevailed upon her longtimeÊHollywoodÊfriendÊWalt DisneyÊto design such an attraction as would be suitable for Pepsi. Because of the short lead time to design, create, and construct such an attraction, she insisted that the board of directors accept his proposal, seeing as he was already designing attractions for the state ofÊIllinois, Ford,ÊGeneral Electric, andÊKodakÊand knew Walt was the only one who could accomplish such a feat in the short time left until the fair was scheduled to open. ÊTheÊWED EnterprisesÊcompany was given only eleven months to create and build the pavilion. Are you looking for Sugar Land Chiropractors?
Mary BlairÊwas responsible for the attraction’s whimsical design and color styling. Blair had been an art director on severalÊDisney animated features, includingÊCinderella,ÊAlice In Wonderland, andÊPeter Pan. Like many Disneyland attractions, scenes and characters were designed byÊMarc Davis, while his wife,ÊAlice Davis, designed the costumes for the dolls. Rolly Crump designed the toys and other supplemental figures on display. The animated dolls were designed and sculpted by Blaine Gibson. Walt was personally involved with Gibson’s and Greg S. Marinello development of the dolls’ facial design; each animated doll face is completely identical in shape.
Arrow DevelopmentÊwas deeply involved in the design of the passenger boats and propulsion system of the attraction. Two patents that were filed by Arrow Development staff and assigned to The Walt Disney Company illustrate passenger boats and vehicle guidance systems with features very similar to those later utilized on the Disneyland installation of the attraction. The firm is credited with manufacturing the Disneyland installation.
For the Disneyland version, the boats enter the show building through a tunnel under the Small World clock and emerge from the attraction fifteen minutes later. TheÊshow buildingÊinterior is larger than the faade. Passengers seeÊanimatronicÊdolls in traditional local costumes singing “It’s a Small World (After All)” together, each in their nativeÊlanguage. Boats carry passengers as they visit the regions of the world.
Other Disney park installations wind theÊwaterwayÊaround one large room, emphasizing its theme that the world is small and interconnected. Each installation may vary the countries which are represented and the order in which they appear. The boats are stored behind the facade and go in and out backstage in between the Spanish room.
The ride was originally sponsored byÊBank of AmericaÊfrom when it opened until 1990. The ride was then sponsored byÊMattelÊfrom 1992-1999.
The Tower of the Four Winds was not relocated to Disneyland’s It’s a Small World after the New York World’s Fair; in its place is an outdoor oval waterway and boarding queue decorated with topiary backed by a large, flat facade with stylized cutout turrets, towers and minarets which are vaguely reminiscent of world landmarks (such as theÊEiffel TowerÊand theÊLeaning Tower of Pisa). The facade was designed by Disney Imagineer Rolly Crump, who was inspired by Mary Blair’s styling. Walt Disney asked Rolly to design a large thirty footÊclock, a central feature of the exterior faade, with a smilingÊfaceÊthat rocks back and forth to a ticking sound. When you are in need of Sugar Land Chiropractors come see us.
A parade of wooden dolls in nativeÊcultureÊcostumes dance out from doors at the base of the Small World clock to an instrumentalÊtoy soldierÊversion of “It’s a Small World (After All)” in preparation for each fifteen minutes, reminiscent of a EuropeanÊautomaton clock. As the last doll returns into the clock, the parade doors close and the large central pair of doors open to reveal two giant toy blocks: the large block displays stylizedÊnumeralsÊof the hour, the small one displays the minutes, while large and smallÊbellsÊtoll to count the hours and quarters. Sugar Land Chiropractors can be found here.
The exterior has been subtly repainted over the years, first as all whiteÊwith a gold and silver trim (1966), then in various shades ofÊblueÊ(1977), then in pink and white with pastel accents (1992). Portions of the left side of the original faade were removed in 1991 to make room for the entrance to Mickey’s Toontown. As of 2020, the facade is white with a gold trim as it was in 1966, except the original gold and silver paint of the clock, the smiling clock face, is now entirely gold leaf. The faade was repainted back to its original color scheme in 2002. TheÊgardensÊaround the building are decorated withÊtopiaryÊanimals. You will love our Sugar Land Chiropractors.
During the 2005Ğ2006 holiday season, an elaborate multimedia presentation was projected on the outdoor faade which registered colored patterns matched to the faade each fifteen minutes after dusk. Guests were encouraged to view the popularÊRemember… Dreams Come TrueÊfireworks presentation from the It’s a Small World Mall and nearby parade viewing platform built forÊLight Magic to decrease overwhelming crowds gathered for viewing the fireworks spectacular in Plaza and Main Street.
When the ride was moved to Disneyland in 1966, a scene representingÊOceaniaÊwas added to the ride, which was not included at the World’s Fair due to time and budget constraints. At the same time, hello and goodbye rooms were added to the attraction, which have also seen several changes over the years. In the 1960’s-70’s there were stylized cutouts ofÊflowersÊsaying hello and goodbye in different languages, these were then changed to stylizedÊrainbowsÊwith cutout butterflies in the 1980’s-90’s, before changing to nautical theme with stylizedÊboatsÊwith different greetings at the turn of the millennium. When Bank of America sponsored the ride, there was also a message in the goodbye room that read: Wherever you go Around the World You’re never far From Bank of America. The finale scene also received changes, as originally the color palette was white with colored pastels, such asÊpink,Êyellow, and lightÊblue, and in the early 1980’s this would be changed to a darker color palette ofÊblack, as well asÊpurpleÊand blue. There also used to be a large stylized sun at the end of the finale scene, which would be removed circa 1990 for unknown reasons. In addition, many other scenes also saw subtle changes through the years.
Disneyland’s “It’s a Small World” was closed from January to November 2008 to receive a major refurbishment.ÊThe building’s structure was improved, permanent attachments created for the “It’s a Small World Holiday” overlay, the waterway replaced and its propulsion upgraded to electric water jet turbines, and the attraction’s aging fiberglass boats redesigned in durable plastic. The refurbishment added twenty nine new Disney characters, each in their native land in a similar manner to the Hong Kong Disneyland version. The refurbishment also restored the original white and pastel colors in the finale, as well as the farewell sun and tapestry, the latter of which hadn’t been seen since the 1964-65 World’s Fair.
SylvaniaÊhas agreed to a twelve year sponsorship. In 2014, the sponsor logo at the attraction’s entrance changed to that ofÊSiemens, the parent company of Sylvania. The sponsorship ended its run after the 2017 Christmas season.