Today Time Magazine published an article about the new "it's a small world" attraction that recently opened at Hong Kong Disneyland. After months of Walt Disney Imagineering telling fans that the attraction is being updated to remain "relevant" for "today's audiences," Walt Disney Imagineer Joe Lanzisero has now said that the attraction and its core message of world peace and the Children of the World is, in fact, still relevant to the audiences of today:
According to Joe Lanzisero, creative senior vice president of Disney's "Imagineering" division, the ride is as relevant as ever. "This is such a universal theme — seeing the world through the innocent eyes of children. Could you think of another time in history where that message is more needed?" he says. "It's a message that's timeless, and it's a message that's now. It needs to be heard."
These continued contradictions from Disney only underscore the validity of the concerns regarding the addition of characters to the original attraction at Disneyland in California. How can "it's a small world" be irrelevant and yet still be relevant to today's audiences all at the same time? And how, in this jumbled mix of contradictory statements, does one explain the presence of Lilo and Stitch? Woody and Jessie? Cinderella and Prince Charming? One can't, and instead of explaining the creative decision to add 38 Disney characters to the Hong Kong attraction, Mr. Lanzisero repeated the only thing Disney has been able to muster thus far: Walt Disney wanted change.
"Everybody is so precious about what we do," Lanzisero objects. "At Disneyland, just a few hours into opening, [Walt Disney] started redoing things. It's no fun just to do the same thing all the time."
But wouldn't Mr. Disney want the changes to make sense? Shouldn't they support and enhance the theme of the show?
How do these 38 Disney character enhance the message of world peace? How do they ensure that the Children of the World are heard?
Article Link: Time: The Fifth Happiest Place on Earth
Images: Disney
