Changes

"it's a small world" was originally created by WED Enterprises for the 1964 World’s Fair. Only a year before the fair opened, Pepsi asked Walt Disney to help them create an attraction for their pavilion. Pepsi was trying to create a an exhibit that would pay tribute to UNICEF, and although Disney was already working on attractions for Ford Motors (the Skyway), GE ([[The Carousel of Progress]]) and the state of Illinois ([[Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln]]) Walt agreed to take on the Pepsi exhibit.

The genesis of the "it's a small world" itself actually began with as Walt Disney himselfDisney’s idea. Walt wanted to create a boat ride entitled “The Children of the World", which would feature various children singing their own national anthems. Working from therewith that idea, Marc Davis began sketching various ideas for the attraction , before Disney decided to bring in artist Mary Blair. Blair had previously worked as an art supervisor and color stylist for many Disney films, including the Three Caballeros , which Disney particularly liked. While Blair worked on the basic design of the dolls and the color scheme for attraction, other WED Engineers were hard at work. Many of the scenes and characters found in the attraction were designed by Marc Davis, and while his wife Alice was in charge of designing all of the costumes for the dolls to wear. Rolly Crump and Jack Ferses were in charge of creating the "toys" (everything that wasn't a doll) for the attraction, while Claude Coats designed the river pattern that the boats would follow. Blaine Gibson, sculpted each of the dolls, giving each one an identically shaped face.

Although Walt's original idea called for all of the dolls to sing their own national anthem, this idea proved unsuccessful. The dolls singing different songs led to a disoriented and unpleasant soundtrack. Walt then instead turned to the Sherman Brothers to create a song for the attraction. He showed the brothers a scale model of the attraction and told them he wanted something like "Row Row Your Boat", which would be catchy and also easily translatable. Harriet Burns (another WED employee) has since stated that she heard Walt say “it’s a small world after all”, to describe the tone that he wanted the song to have. Perhaps taking inspiration from this, the Sherman Brothers wrote a a song titled "it's a small world after all". Although the brothers were initially unsure about their song, Walt told them "That will work" (which Disney employees knew was high praise). In fact, Walt liked the song so much that he ended up changing the name of the attraction to match it.

To draw guests into the Pepsi pavilion, Rolly Crump designed the 120-foot high Tower of the Four Winds. The tower featured a total of The 52 different mobiles which “represented the constant energy of the young". In order to create the attraction on time for the fair, construction crews had worked seven days a week. Although Pepsi was not a fan of the attraction Disney had created, the pavilion proved to be extremely popular. Over its two year run , an estimated 10 million people rode "it's a small world", making it one of the post popular attractions at the World's Fair. One of the things factors that made the ride so popular was the high capacity that it had. By using multiple boats every hour to get guests on the attraction, there was almost never a wait. This ride system would later be used in other Disney attractions including [[Pirates of the Caribbean]].

Following the conclusion of the World's Fair in 1965, Disney decided to move "it's a small world" to Disneyland. Although the scenes were transported from New York and placed in the same order, the attraction that opened in Disneyland was very different than the one that had been at the fair. Since the show building that was built for the attraction was one third larger than its predecessor, when rebuilt, there was an increase in the space between the various attraction scenes. Because of this , WED Engineers were able to add new scenes to fill in the empty spaces. For example, Rolly Crump designed scenes depicting the North Pole and the Pacific Islands, to fill in some of the unused space. The Another difference between the attractions is the fact that the Europe scene was also about 1/3 larger in the Disneyland version of the attraction then it had been in New York.

The 120-foot high Tower of the Four Winds, (which drew guests into the Pepsi Pavilion at the World's Fair ) was not moved to California with the rest of the attraction. It would have cost Disney an estimated $80,000 to ship to California, so the tower was simply demolished. The exterior of the attraction in Disneyland was however once again designed by Crump, who took inspiration from Mary Blair's artistic style. Blair had actually come up with a facade herself, but it was deemed to be too difficult to maintain. Crump's design featured a stylized three dimensional facade, with abstract towers, minarets, and turrets. Several depictions of landmarks can be seen on the facade including, the Eiffel Tower and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Walt Disney himself came up with the idea for the large smiling clock located on the outside of the building. When The Disneyland version of the clock strikes the quarter hour, attraction also included various dolls that come out of the clock (and dance to a version of the attractions theme song) when the clock strikes the quarter hour.

"it's a small world" opened on October 1, 1971 with the rest of the Magic Kingdom. The attraction was one of the many Disneyland attractions that were copied for inclusion Walt Disney World. Although the two versions of the attraction are very similar and feature nearly identical plots, there are some differences between them. Perhaps most noticeably, the exterior facade in Walt Disney World is much simpler in its design. The elaborate and memorable facade on the outside of the Disneyland attraction is actually located in the loading area of the Walt Disney World version. The dancing clock can also be found in the loading area, although dolls do not come out and dance on the quarter hour. The "Goodbye Room" in the Disney World version of "its it’s a small world" is also unique. In Disneyland, the room holds postcards and goodbye phrases from around the world. In the Magic Kingdom however, parting phrases are painted onto large flowers, leading guests to the exit.

Although "it's a small world" has not changed much since it opened, the ride did go under a significant renovation from May 2004 until March 2005. The attraction received a new state-of-the-art sound system, new paint, and new lighting. The loading queue was also changed, giving guests more cover and protection from the elements.