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Disney's Small World ride turns 50, that's a lot ofsingingBy Los Angeles Times, adapted by Newsela staffAug. 13, 2014

Fireworks light up the sky over the It's a Small World ride at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, on July 16, 2014. The popularattraction has ferried visitors at the Anaheim theme park for 50 years. Photo: Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times/MCT

1000L NO QUIZ

9/4/2014 Newsela | Nonfiction Literacy and Current Events

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LOS ANGELES — In 1963, Alice Davis was working as a seamstress, stitching ladies underwear in thedowntown Los Angeles garment district. One day she got a call: Walt Disney wanted to see her.

When she got to Disney’s office, the theme park pioneer told her he was planning a new ride for the 1964 NewYork World’s Fair. He promised the ride would bring joy “to every child from 1 to 100.”

Davis designed the costumes for the ride — It’s a Small World. Now, 50 years later, it’s one of Disneyland’smost popular attractions. Its boats have carried 290 million visitors, or about 111,000 a week for half a century.

Ride Small World and you’ll be taking a slow-moving and peaceful boat ride through the countries of the world.Each room features dolls in traditional garb dancing and singing the title song:

“It’s a world of laughter / A world of tears / It’s a world of hopes / And a world of fears / There’s so much that weshare / That it’s time we’re aware / It’s a small world after all …”

Song's Sunny MessageSmall World has survived over the years as a simple, low-tech attraction with a sunny message of peace.Adding to its popularity: the ride is 15 minutes long, air-conditioned, and the line moves fast.

Its song is famously catchy or annoying, depending on your point of view.

Amusement park rides don’t usually last this long. Colossus, a huge wooden roller coaster at Six Flags MagicMountain in Valencia, California, was the world’s tallest and fastest wooden coaster when it opened in 1978.Today, Six Flags is preparing to tear it down.

“Ultimately, technology is going to fade,” theme park consultant Phil Hettema said. “What sticks with people is astory.”

The concept for Small World was born more than 50 years ago when the World’s Fair came to New York. WaltDisney was asked to build an attraction for UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund.

Disney wanted a ride with a wholesome, inspiring theme, Davis said.

“He wanted something special for little girls,” she said.

"So Simple, So Clean"Disney imagined a boat journey with more than 200 mechanical dolls, dressed in traditional clothes from aroundthe world. The theme song, written by Richard and Robert Sherman, plays an average of 1,200 times a day.

The Sherman Brothers wrote the song as a message of hope following the Cuban Missile Crisis. During thecrisis, the United States nearly went to nuclear war with the Soviet Union, a nation made up of Russia and othersmaller countries.

Artist Mary Blair, the lead designer, died in 1978. She now appears in Small World as a blond doll with glasses,flying in a balloon over the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

A simple theme and detailed artwork have kept then ride popular all these years, according to Rolly Crump, 84,who helped Blair design it.

9/4/2014 Newsela | Nonfiction Literacy and Current Events

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“The technology today is burning people out,” he said. “This ride is so simple, so clean," he explained, adding itgives people a warm feeling of nostalgia for the way things used to be.

Small World opened in 1966 at Disneyland, where it has been among the 10 most-visited attractions. It has beenreproduced in Disney parks in Orlando, Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong.

Some Modern AdditionsIn 2009, Disney renovated the original ride in Anaheim, California, adding modern Disney songs and moviecharacters, such as Ariel, Flounder and Nemo in the South Seas section; Woody and Bullseye in North America;and Tinker Bell flying over Tower Bridge in London.

The changes angered some traditionalists but did little to dampen the ride’s popularity.

Disneyland art director Kim Irvine, who oversaw the revision work, said she believes Small World’s appeal isgetting riders to see the world through the eyes of children.

“It’s innocent and pure and tells a story that everyone would love to believe in,” she said.

Juanita and Mark Harrigan used to bring their daughter to Small World about 25 years ago. On a recent summerday, they introduced the “fun and relaxing” ride to their 20-month-old granddaughter.

Cindy Oporto estimates she’s been on Small World about 50 times. Her 2-year-old son, Logan, recently took hisfirst trip on the musical boat journey.

“He likes the singing and the animals,” she said.

A Dream Come TrueDavis, the former seamstress, said landing a job on the Small World ride was a dream come true for a girl whogrew up without dolls during the Great Depression, a period during the 1930s of widespread joblessness.

“It was marvelous, the joy of my life,” she said.

Fifty years after the ride’s birth, it’s marking a new milestone — “It’s a Small World,” the movie.

Jon Turteltaub, who is directing the movie, first rode Small World in 1966. He recently introduced his ownchildren to it.

Small World is innocent and sweet, he said. It provides a rest, “a respite from the noise of our society.”

He hopes to use computer-generated imagery to create “a world of laughter, a world of tears.”

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