David “Darkbeer” Michael has added a couple of interesting pictures to his SmugMug page, which I wanted to share here:
The It’s a Small World facade is now completely under tarps
This sign in the Esplanade proclaims that the Summer of Hidden Mysteries will begin on May 22nd!
Here’s a few images from this week’s Monday in the Parks article on MiceAge:
The Small World facade is starting to go under tarps
Club 33 has re-opened from a short refurbishment
Half of the Bug’s Life float has returned to the Pixar Play Parade. This is all of the float!
The Sunshine Plaza fountain has gotten further in it’s refurbishment. It’s planned to be ready for the summer
I also wanted to note that the Innoventions Dream Home, which was originally supposed to open this month, has been pushed back due to construction issues. The open date is “To Be Determined”.
Let’s take a look at some various things going on through-out the Disneyland Resort from this week’s Dateline Disneyland on MiceAge:
Some construction work going on in the Timon lot in preparation for Cars Land
The Lilo & Stitch exhibit in Innoventions has closed down & is now just an area for kids coloring. The kiosks are still there though
Lastly, the It’s a Small World Toy Shop has closed for refurbishment
We would like to speak from our point of view as Mary Blair’s nieces.
We have been impressed and deeply touched by the eloquence and outpouring from the hearts of so many people who want to keep ‘Small World’ as it is. And now the Artists! Amazing. A HUGE thanks to all of you!
Our thoughts are the same. PLEASE keep the integrity of Small World–the children of all nations and its message of world peace. It is a completely unique experience, in and of itself. Our intention is not a ‘put down’ to the imagineers, who have made Disneyland a fabulous, magical place for children and adults—something for everyone. ‘Small World’ however, doesn’t need fixing. It isn’t broken. Bring back it’s original color and sparkle. Mary loved ‘sparkle’. She also loved children.
We have enjoyed the ‘special memories’ that many have written about Small World. We have one also. In 1978, several months before Mary died, my sister Maggie and I, along with my family, began planning a surprise 50th wedding anniversary party for our parents. Maggie and I met with Mary at a favorite restaurant of Mary’s near her home in Soquel, California to discuss the plans. She introduced us to the hostess saying, ‘these are my two nieces, whom I adore’. We adored her as well.
As part of the party plans, Lee put together a slide show, and we taped our parent’s favorite ‘old’ songs, putting the music from ‘It’s A Small World’ in several places. We did that to honor Mary, but also to make the party more fun. (And no, it didn’t make us crazy.)
When the party was over and most guests had gone, Maggie and I were doing ‘cleanup chores’. We looked up in time to see Mary, a lone figure in the middle of the dance floor. She had a gentle smile on her face, eyes closed, and was turning slowly around and around to the music from ‘It’s a Small World’. Two weeks later she was gone.
Again, our family appreciates very much your kind words and heartfelt feelings.
Our Best,
Jeanne Chamberlain & Maggie Richardson
Today at 2:30pm on KCRW 89.9FM, they had an interview with Imagineer Kim Irvine, talking about the planned It’s a Small World changes.
To describe the interview, here’s an excerpt from this thread on MiceChat by Master Gracey:
The segment just ended… Unsurprisingly, WDI failed to address the issue yet again.
This is NOT about aesthetics — we know that they’re going to make the additions look like Mary Blair’s work — that is NOT the issue.
The issue is that the characters simply don’t fit the theme of the show — not the aesthetic theme, but the theme in terms of message and intent.
But Disney just isn’t willing to address that concern. They keep coming out and saying the same old “Disneyland is not a museum” and Walt Disney liked change with a lot of buzz words like “relevance.”
And as for the America scene — the KCRW host said “By the way, about that Papua New Guinea rainforest scene and whether it will be replaced with a themed display called ‘Up with America,’ Kim told me that no firm decision has yet been made.”
You can direct download this interview from the KCRW website here (half of the interview is something to do with architecture)!
Laughing Place spoke with Dave Smith of the Disney Archives on the planned It’s a Small World changes:
[…] from Dave Smith, Chief Archivist for the Walt Disney Co.
With regard to the current controversy about changes being made in It’s a Small World at Disneyland, allow me, as the Chief Archivist at the Disney company for the past 38 years, to remind those who are complaining that Walt Disney never intended Disneyland to be static. To a reporter when Disneyland opened he said, “Disneyland will never be completed; it will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.” He continued those thoughts to Pete Martin who was working on his biography, saying that Disneyland is “something that will never be finished. Something I can keep developing, keep plussing and adding to. It’s alive. It will be a live, breathing thing that will need change. A picture is a thing, once you wrap it up and turn it over to Technicolor you’re through. The one I wrapped up a few weeks ago, it’s gone, I can’t touch it. I wanted something alive, something that could grow, something I could keep plussing with ideas; the Park is that. Not only can I add things, but even the trees will keep growing. The things will get more beautiful each year.” Walt Disney was constantly changing his park, just as he said he would. And those changes did not end with Walt’s death over 40 years ago. The Disney Imagineers have continued to follow his dream, frequently adding and changing things in the park to give today’s guests the best possible experience. The public expects more from Disney than they do from most companies, and we try to live up to that trust by continually improving a guest’s visit to our park. And, sure enough, those trees have kept growing and getting more beautiful every year.
As a follow-up we asked him this question:
I’ve read many people who have said they’re not opposed to change in Small World – or anywhere at Disneyland for that matter – but they are opposed to this specific change. While obviousy none of them know exactly what will be done, the addition of characters to what has up until now been a character free attraction is itself a change they are opposed to. Many feel it changes the focus away from “children of the world” to “Disney characters” and that’s not what Small World is supposed to be about. Is that something you might be able to speak to?
Dave Smith answered the following:
It is difficult for me to speak to that, since I do not know what characters are being put in the attraction, or what they will look like. But, we have added characters to previous character-free attractions: witness Pirates of the Caribbean (Jack Sparrow), Tiki Room (Iago, at the Magic Kingdom in FL), Treehouse (Tarzan), Big Thunder Ranch (Little Patch of Heaven), Tom Sawyer Island (Pirates Lair), Main Street Cinema (Disney cartoons), Haunted Mansion (Haunted Mansion Holiday), Submarine Voyage (Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage), El Rio del Tiempo (Gran Fiesta Tour, at Epcot), The Living Seas (starring Nemo and Friends, Epcot). Because of the great number of Audio-Animatronics children in Small World, I cannot imagine that the addition of a few characters like Alice in Wonderland will affect the theme.
The Animation World talks back on Re-Imagineering about the planned It’s a Small World changes! Here’s one of the 11 comments made:
“Mary Blair is one of the most remarkable artists of our time, and her work on “It’s a Small World” one of her crowning achievements. The attraction is the result of many talented artists working at the peak of their creative powers. Restoration aside, I can’t imagine improving on the original ride.”
Pete Docter
Director / Monsters Inc.
A local newspaper reporter got it right when she wrote that, after we updated Pirates of the Caribbean last year, “many fans grudgingly acknowledged that… the additions may make the ride more appealing to young park goers.” Now, based purely on rumors that are mostly inaccurate, we are being criticized for touching another one of Walt Disney’s “classics.”
We all agree that “It’s A Small World” is a Disney classic. But the greatest “change agent” who ever walked down Main Street at Disneyland was Walt himself. In fact, the park had not been open 24 hours when Walt began to “plus” Disneyland, and he never stopped. Having started my Disney career at Disneyland one month before the park opened in 1955, I can cite countless examples.
Like all my colleagues at Walt Disney Imagineering, I was pressed into action to help make “It’s A Small World” happen at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. We were all working to complete and open Ford’s “Magic Skyway” and General Electric’s “Carousel of Progress” (I worked on both) as well as “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” for the State of Illinois. But 11 months before the World’s Fair opening, Walt agreed to do “a salute to the children of the world” for UNICEF, and all the Imagineers somehow made it happen.
Mary Blair’s illustrations were, of course, the spark. But this was one of those great Disney “team efforts,” and many Disney legends joined her: Marc Davis; Blaine Gibson; Rolly Crump, Harriet Burns and numerous others. And, of course, Bob and Dick Sherman added that song we can’t get out of our heads. I interfaced with all of them to write and produce a 24-page souvenir book that was sold at the Fair, because Walt wanted to showcase and thank the team for an extraordinary accomplishment.
Now the rumors are swirling that we are “ruining Walt’s creation.” I’ve heard that we are planning to remove the rainforest, add Mickey and Minnie Mouse, create an “Up with America” tribute, to effectively “marginalize” the Mary Blair style and Walt’s classic (all not true).
In fact, just the opposite is true. We want the message of brotherhood and good will among all children around the world to resonate with more people than ever before, especially today’s young people. Our objective is to have everyone who experiences “It’s a Small World” understand (in the words the Shermans’ wrote 44 years ago) that “there is just one moon, and one golden sun, and a smile means friendship to everyone.”
To make “It’s A Small World” even more relevant to our guests, Tony Baxter (who created the concepts for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain and other Disneyland classics) and I arrived at the same place eight years ago. To accomplish our objective, we decided to seamlessly integrate Disney characters into appropriate thematic scenes in the attraction, and do it completely in the distinctive “Mary Blair style.” We spent many long months exploring ways to accomplish this.
We are not turning this classic attraction into a marketing pitch for Disney plush toys (rumors to the contrary). Between Tony, our chief designer Kim Irvine, and me, we represent 128 years creating Disney park entertainment and fun for literally billions of guests around the world. We are not “young marketing whizzes” trying to make a name for ourselves. We were fortunate to have trained, and worked with, all of Walt’s original Imagineers.
In the Shermans’ song, it’s the oceans that are wide, and the mountains that divide. Our goal was, and always will be, to bring people together, and keep this classic “the happiest cruise that ever sailed around the world” (words I personally wrote for that souvenir guide nearly half a century ago).
Or, as Walt Disney phrased it in his introduction to that guide, “a magic kingdom of all the world’s children.”
Martin A. Sklar
Executive Vice President
Walt Disney Imagineering
Imagineering Ambassador
A few more pictures of the Disney characters in the new Hong Kong Disneyland It’s a Small World attraction have surfaced, so let’s take a look at them:
The western scene with Woody & Jessie
The Oriental scene with Aladdin & Jasmine
The Polynesian mermaids, featuring the Little Mermaid
Marie from the Aristocats in the France section
Is that Pocahontas in towards the back of the Canadian section
More pictures of the Hong Kong Disneyland version of It’s a Small World are available on Disney & More!
‘It’s a Small World’ will showcase familiar faces instead of an anonymous cast of characters. The renovation, which some call a ‘gross desecration,’ sparks a preservation campaign.
By Kimi Yoshino, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
March 29, 2008
Disneyland’s “Small World” will soon be getting a little more crowded.
The Anaheim amusement park is planning to add iconic Disney characters to the anonymous international cast of the beloved ’round-the-globe boat ride. The idea has sparked outrage among the family of the attraction’s original designer and prompted a preservation campaign for the ride, which opened in 1966 and closed for renovations in January.
Walt Disney Co. isn’t saying how many familiar characters will appear in the revamped ride or how prominent they will be. But relatives of artist and ride designer Mary Blair sent a blistering letter to Disney executives last week, berating what they called an “idiotic plan” that “represents a gross desecration of the ride’s original theme.”
“The ride itself is a classic ride,” said Kevin Blair, the designer’s son. “They should leave the ride the way it was with the children of the world and leave all the Disney characters out. It just bastardizes the whole ride.”
Walt Disney Imagineering spokeswoman Marilyn Waters said a number of familiar characters would appear in “stylized” form in the overhauled ride and placed into appropriate countries. Mickey and Minnie Mouse are not part of the plan, she said.
The changes carry on Disney’s tradition of “plussing” attractions, Waters said, and help enrich the storytelling and keep the experience relevant for future generations.
“No one approaches our classic attractions with more reverence than Disney Imagineers, who take great care when refreshing beloved attractions,” Waters said, adding that the original intent and celebration of children will be “retained and strengthened.”
Some fans of the original ride, however, fear the changes are a crass attempt by Disney to make the attraction more commercial and sell more plush toys, dolls and other products. Many are posting plots and pleas on savethe smallworld.com and other Disney-related sites.
“I’ll sign any petition, wear any T-shirt or handcuff myself in a human chain to ‘It’s a Small World’ in protest,” wrote one fan. Another penned new lyrics to the ride’s iconic song:
It’s a world of franchise,
it’s a world of fun
Piles of plush mean profit
for everyone
Wonder, Magic of Dream,
in our marketing scheme,
it’s a mall world after all.
The criticism comes as Disney prepares to open its newest version of “It’s a Small World” at Hong Kong Disneyland. Thirty-eight recognizable characters, old and new, will appear in the attraction: Aladdin and Jasmine, from the movie “Aladdin,” will be in the Middle East; Woody and Jessie from “Toy Story” can be spotted in an expanded America section with the Golden Gate Bridge and Empire State Building. The song has also been modified, adding “familiar Disney melodies,” Waters said.
The changes that will be made to the Anaheim ride won’t mirror those in the one in Hong Kong, Waters said.
Ken Bruce, a former employee of Pixar Animation Studios, which Disney now owns, maintains a blog “for Imagineering and animation professionals to critique the current state of Disney theme parks.”
He said the “It’s a Small World” overhaul has sparked fierce debate about change and creativity. Most of the people contributing to his site want “Small World” kept in its original form.
“It’s job No.1 right now as far as we’re concerned,” Bruce said.
“It’s a Small World” is a “very cogent, carefully thought-out piece of thematic storytelling,” Bruce added. “To think that Disney characters are going to invade the place and take away from the rightful stars — the children of the world — is really scary for us. It’s Disney turning their backs on one of the classics and turning it into another marketing scheme.”
Still, for all the outcry, Disney has successfully refurbished other attractions, including “Pirates of the Caribbean.” Last summer, the Anaheim park added several lifelike animatronic Capt. Jack Sparrows — played by Johnny Depp in the movies — prompting complaints from purists.
But after the updated attraction opened, many fans grudgingly acknowledged that the lovable troublemaker had been seamlessly introduced and that the additions may make the ride more appealing to young park-goers who had seen the movies.
Of course, some park-goers who find “It’s a Small World” dull and its song saccharinely repetitive and cloying say Disney can’t do enough to change the attraction, which will reopen in November.
“What is the big deal?” one Disneyland fan wrote on Bruce’s website. “The ride is old, sad and boring. “Disney: Tear the thing down and put in something more interesting please!”
