"No firm decision has yet been made."

Today on KCRW 89.9 FM in Southern California, Kim Irvine spoke out
regarding the "it's a small world" changes.

Kim Irvine talked a lot about the aesthetics of the "it's a small world" changes, again dodging the real questions fans are asking regarding the appropriateness of Disney characters in a show themed to the Children of the World -- not popular animated films.

The end of the segment was interesting though. The segment host, short on time, tagged on at the end:

By the way, about that Papua New Guinea rainforest section, 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.

No firm decision has yet been made? Didn't Marty Sklar tell us that the Rainforest replacement and "Up with America" scene rumors were "all not true"?

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).

Pausing to Say Goodbye

As of now most of you are aware, Ollie Johnston, the last survivor of Walt Disney's Nine Old Men, passed away earlier today. May his life and work continue to entertain and inspire for generations to come. May the thoughts and prayers from all go out to his family, friends, and other loved ones.

Contradictions eight years in the making.

From 89.3 KPCC: Changes to Disney Ride Upset Some Purists (March 28, 2008)

For the record, Disney spokeswoman Marylyn Waters says that changes to the ride are still in the brainstorming stages.

From Marty Sklar's open letter (April 4, 2008)

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.

How can a project be eight years in the making, but still in the brainstorming stages?

Bringing out the big guns.

Twice now Disney has sent out prominent Company figureheads to defend the changes being made to "it's a small world." These people are high-ranking individuals that, over the years, Disney fans have come to respect due to their impact on the Walt Disney Company. In open letters sent to Disney fan site LaughingPlace.com, Imagineer Marty Sklar and Disney Archivist Dave Smith have both come out to try to hush the backlash Disney has received from the fan community surrounding the changes being made to "it's a small world."

Both of these Disney legends have tried, and failed, to persuade fans that these changes are okay by reminding us that Walt Disney was the biggest proponent of change in his Magic Kingdom.


MARTY SKLAR

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.

DAVE SMITH

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.

The point these big guns are missing is that this has never been an effort to end change, but change must be appropriate to theme - something that Walt Disney worked so hard to establish, strengthen, and maintain at his park.

The question that Marty Sklar and Dave Smith have been unable to adequately answer is how will Disney characters strengthen the theme of "it's a small world"?

How will famous animated characters strengthen the message of world peace that the anonymous, united Children of the World are signing?

How will Stitch and Cinderella make this prayer for peace more clear and more relevant to today's audiences?


What do you say, Marty? Dave? Anybody?

Of Cabbages and Kings

With less than a month until "it's a small world" opens at Hong Kong Disneyland, speculation continues to mount about how close this dramatically different version of the attraction will be to what is set to hit Disneyland near the end of this year/early next year. The most that Disney has said is that characters are coming. No real word on the endangered Rainforest. Just that Disneyland will not be getting a clone of the Hong Kong Disneyland attraction. Amongst the speculation is questions over how these characters will be placed within the existing scenes with the supposition being that placement could mean the different between changing and not changing the attraction's intent and message.


This image of Cinderella and Prince Charming shows a clear departure from the intention of "it's a small world" as a showcase of world cultures through the innocence of children. While the surroundings are not know, the positioning of the dolls alone and in front of the Castle makes them the stars of enough of the attraction to get such a photograph. Scenes such as these will turn "it's a small world" from an attraction about the children of the world into a showcase of various Disney properties.


Beautiful Africa represents the other end of the spectrum of how the characters are being implemented at Hong Kong Disneyland, and how they can potentially be implemented at Disneyland. Can you spot the characters from The Lion King? At the center of the scene, up on the cliff is Simba sitting atop Pumbaa with Timon balancing several plates of bugs next to them. All three are being watched over by the spirit of Mufasa, seen here as the sun. This is the subtle, seamless integration, approach. At first the scene appears to be nothing more than the Africa scene, completely character free. It is not until further inspection that one actually spots the Disney characters. Hidden treasures to the observant guest have been a long standing tradition with Disney, but there are two factors that prevent these characters from entering the realm of Hidden Mickeys or other hidden gags and tributes.

The first factor that prevents a truly seamless integration is the characters who are the focus of a scene and clearly steal the show. This would be the Cinderellas and Prince Charmings of the additions. These prominently placed characters will instantly notify guests that Disney characters have taken up residence at "it's a small world". This recognition will encourage guests to be on the look out for other Disney characters as they progress through the attraction.

Second of the factors is simple advertising. The addition of several dolls represents an investment on the part of Disney that the company wants to see returns on. At the official Hong Kong Disneyland website a side item calls on guests to "Keep your eyes open! The Hong Kong Disneyland version of 'it's a small world' is the first ever to feature Disney friends - the attraction includeds 38." (Of a more interesting note, a bullet on the main body of the page that read "Search for all the 38 Disney Characters that make their first appearance in this attraction, including Peter Pan, Aladdin, Pinocchio, and much more as they come to life as Small World Dolls." has been removed sometime between the publishing of the article, 9 April 2008, and 29 March 2008, when the quote was retrieved by the author.) These items make clear an intention besides enjoying a showcase of the world. Guests to Hong Kong Disneyland are being asked to participate in a game not unlike "Where's Waldo?" while sailing through "it's a small world".


The additions of Disney characters will ultimately shift the direction and purpose of "it's a small world" at Disneyland. Characters featured prominently steal the show from the children of the world. Those hiding amongst the children and scenery will engage guests in a game the attraction did not intend to play. In the end, between a new showcase and a game, what is lost is Walt Disney's powerful message of "all that we share" told through Mary Blair's striking visual style.

"It's time we're aware..."

Have you done your part?