Small World was NEVER about world peace?

mharrington

mharrington

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the "Frozen" thread on here (https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/frozen-coming-to-disneyland.978416/), it went off on a tangent about how Small World was about world peace, but that it went away when Disney characters came in, where it just became a game of "find the Disney characters", that you can't focus on world culture and Disney characters at the same time. One question popped up: "How do mermaids and aliens promote world peace?"

To that question about mermaids, I have to say this: mermaids have ALWAYS been in the ride, with or without Ariel, but only at Disneyland (and all parks beyond). By the logic made, does this mean that the ride was NEVER about world peace? Maybe it was only about world peace when it was originally featured at the World's Fair. There (and I only have the "Wonderful World of Color" episode about the fair to go off of), the last scene in the ride (before the finale) was Latin America; there was no Oceania, meaning no ocean, no Australia and no South Seas.

It was not until the ride was moved to Disneyland in 1966, that the Oceania scene was added. And where was the ride located? Fantasyland. So maybe the message of world peace was dropped after it was moved to Disneyland, and featured mermaids, and was moved to Fantasyland. So maybe Small World ONLY represented world peace at the World's Fair.

What are your thoughts?
 
mharrington

mharrington

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Tony the Tigger said:
Arbitrary “rules” invented by fans have no bearing, IMO.
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The fans claimed that Disney dropped the world peace message in favor of a hide-n-seek game when they added Disney characters in. One person asked what mermaids (referring to Ariel in particular) had to do with world peace, and that led me to wonder if the inclusion of mermaids made the world peace message mean nothing?
 
Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
mharrington said:
The fans claimed that Disney dropped the world peace message in favor of a hide-n-seek game when they added Disney characters in. One person asked what mermaids (referring to Ariel in particular) had to do with world peace, and that led me to wonder if the inclusion of mermaids made the world peace message mean nothing?
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No, we didn’t say Disney dropped the world peace message in favor of a hide-and-seek game. We said the the message arguably gets lost due to the inclusion of the characters. Disney never officially dropped the world peace message.

The inclusion of a few mermaids amongst a sea (pun intended) of dolls from different countries has no significant impact on the message.
 
Rich T

Rich T

Well-Known Member
The thread title literally says (as a question or incredulous comment) the ride was NEVER about world peace. Of course this is a false statement. It doesn’t matter what the ride is about today (World peace with Disney characters reminding you to buy something or get the hell out of the park).
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Californian Elitist said:
No, we didn’t say Disney dropped the world peace message in favor of a hide-and-seek game. We said the the message arguably gets lost due to the inclusion of the characters. Disney never officially dropped the world peace message.
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I said that and they did until called on it. Before the negative publicity around the changes at Disneyland, the Hong Kong Disneyland attraction was specifically described as a game of hide and seek. The attraction was being built to help introduce Chinese visitors to more Disney characters. It was all about the characters.
 
Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
mharrington said:
In the "Frozen" thread on here (https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/frozen-coming-to-disneyland.978416/), it went off on a tangent about how Small World was about world peace, but that it went away when Disney characters came in, where it just became a game of "find the Disney characters", that you can't focus on world culture and Disney characters at the same time. One question popped up: "How do mermaids and aliens promote world peace?"

To that question about mermaids, I have to say this: mermaids have ALWAYS been in the ride, with or without Ariel, but only at Disneyland (and all parks beyond). By the logic made, does this mean that the ride was NEVER about world peace? Maybe it was only about world peace when it was originally featured at the World's Fair. There (and I only have the "Wonderful World of Color" episode about the fair to go off of), the last scene in the ride (before the finale) was Latin America; there was no Oceania, meaning no ocean, no Australia and no South Seas.

It was not until the ride was moved to Disneyland in 1966, that the Oceania scene was added. And where was the ride located? Fantasyland. So maybe the message of world peace was dropped after it was moved to Disneyland, and featured mermaids, and was moved to Fantasyland. So maybe Small World ONLY represented world peace at the World's Fair.

What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Truly you have a dizzying intellect.
 
The Empress Lilly

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
SW is slightly fantastical, stereotypical, of a certain childish delight and point of view. Animals play with you, Dutch live in tulip flowers and mermaids swim the seas.

All of that is entirely different from reducing the ride to a backdrop for new stars, Disney IP characters.

I find their inclusion most distracting (above all Ariel), and, indeed, detracting. Corporate brand building and innocence are a poor match.
 
el_super

el_super

Well-Known Member
The Empress Lilly said:
All of that is entirely different from reducing the ride to a backdrop for new stars, Disney IP characters.
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That's just a slightly more cynical take though. Disney characters are recognized by children around the world over. They have become cultural touchstones, something that bridges generations and makes a connection between adults and the innocence of childhood. They are something that we all share and understand together.
 
DrAlice

DrAlice

Well-Known Member
It's about world peace. It was. It still is.

I find the change to the musical score the most disturbing. For me, the addition of movie theme songs takes away more from the experience than anything else. The addition of characters is ok. I mean, they aren't necessary, but I don't feel that they distract that much, as they largely fit the style of the original dolls. It's the music that bothers me. Every. Single. Time.
 
Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
I don't see anything wrong with the characters there as long as they are singing along for world peace and not hocking their merchandise. Notice how none of them are singing.

They took the master piece of the Sherman Brothers and scribbled all over it for marketing. It is a prayer for peace sung by the world's children but don't forget to buy our movies made after 1989!
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
mharrington said:
What are your thoughts?
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First, let me say that I love Small World. It's one of those must-do rides for me, and I quite enjoy the song. It's a classic all the way around.

But honestly, Small World was not about "world peace". It got built for two primary reasons, in this order;

1. Selling Pepsi-Cola to tens of millions of 1964-65 World's Fair visitors.
2. Adding free ride capacity to Disneyland after the Fair.

That Walt had a team of brilliant and extremely talented Imagineers to take that concept and create an utterly charming and enduring classic is just testament to Walt's ability to build highly effective teams and to know what the audience wants.

They ladled it with fabulous artistry and this cutesy theme of "singing children of the world", but it was really there to sell Pepsi. That Walt got to ship it back to Disneyland for more ride capacity was a nice bonus. Now, if you'll excuse me, as a member of the Pepsi Generation I am going to go have one in this heat and toast Miss Crawford...

mo6qldqx01971.jpg


The two girls sitting beside Miss Crawford basically sum up all of my emotions about life, with a nice dose of snarky side-eye from the lad to their port side. I'm a very simple man. 🤣

I usually hum this jingle when I pour myself a Pepsi-Cola. Which Pepsi jingle do you hum?....

 
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Animaniac93-98

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
DrAlice said:
I find the change to the musical score the most disturbing. For me, the addition of movie theme songs takes away more from the experience than anything else. The addition of characters is ok. I mean, they aren't necessary, but I don't feel that they distract that much, as they largely fit the style of the original dolls. It's the music that bothers me. Every. Single. Time.
Click to expand...

The whole reason for the "Small World" song was to create a musical motif that could be arranged in different ways to represent other cultures, but remain consistent throughout the ride to sound better and underscore its message.

Adding a bunch of movie songs defeats that purpose.
 

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