WDW Magazine December 2014 - Crowds at WDW | Page 103

IT'S A SMALL
WORLD
(Full Ride)
Disneyland
by
EvanTubeHD

Video

History
It’s a Small World has it’s roots in the 1964 New York World’s Fair, where Walt Disney
partnered with corporate sponsors to bring 5 attractions to the fair, using the
opportunity to test attractions that would later be rebuilt at Disneyland.
In addition to Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, Circlevision 360, Magic Skyway, and
Carousel of Progress, a Pepsi-sponsored attraction called Children of the World was
planned for the Unicef pavilion at the fair.
In only 11 months, Walt and his team dreamt up the concept, built and installed the ride
- Marc Davis designed the scenes and characters, his wife Alice Davis made the
costumes for the dolls, Rolly Crump made the toys and animals for the scenes, and
Blaine Gibson sculpted each doll to have the exact same face shape to give a sense of
unity to the children.
Arguably, the biggest impact of the visual style came from Mary Blair, who was the art
director for films like Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and Cinderella – she provided the
whimsically colourful styling that has come to be associated with It’s a Small World over
the years.
The other significant aspect of the ride was the song – written by the Sherman Brothers
to be sung in a cheerful round, and easily translated into various languages. Walt loved
the song so much he not only re