It’s a small world after all

Like most children of the 1980s and ’90s, my moral sensibilities were not formed from Sunday school or citizenship classes. Not even my parents or my immediate family had as much effect on my personal development as a certain little big-eared mouse and the Walt Disney Company with its treasure trove of animated wisdom.

To me and legions of other kiddies, Disney was our god and Disneyland was our Mecca.

Which is why when I read last week that Disneyland had revamped its famous “It’s a Small World” ride to include characters from its movies and had altered the timeless tune, I was not only shocked, I was confused.

My faith had been shaken.

The ride dates to the 1964 World’s Fair when it was commissioned by UNICEF to capture a spirit of global camaraderie and world peace. The concept was based on uniting children of the world in the name of peace.

Last Friday Disney unveiled the new, revamped ride, which involved changes that some feel compromise the theme of the ride.

The changes include inserting Disney characters into the different scenes and involves scrapping the old rainforest scene in favor of a new room about America.
The problem with the change is that it completely undermines the spirit that the ride was originally supposed to embody. It makes a statement about what values we want to instill in our children, and what we as a country view as important.

The change from visions of world cultures to trademarked Disney characters is infuriating. Where there used to be only dolls championing international understanding, now there are Disney labels selling toys.

Perhaps more than anything is a metaphor for a new world – a true Disney world – where the focus is less on fostering world peace and more on selling products.
But isn’t that the reality of this new small world? That Disney’s logo can be plastered on T-shirts and CDs and movie stars the world over? Maybe they are on to something. Maybe this is in fact the world of the future – a consumer-driven logo-obsessed world. Goodbye world peace. Hello, product placement.

Even more disappointing is the fact that the new exhibits come at the expense of old, beloved ones.

The new addition includes a section dedicated to an idealized America that mixes allusions to the old Hollywood Bowl with “Toy Story” characters. What’s more is that the ride real estate that it occupies used to house the scrapped rainforest scene.

Well, at least Disney got something right. Perhaps that’s what we really should be teaching the kiddies: that a greedy, expansionary “American Spirit” is literally gobbling up the world’s rain forests and natural resources.

Changing Disney’s most global ride from a tribute to world peace to a celebration of consumerism and national pride undermines everything that “It’s a Small World” stands for, because in the age of globalization, a small world shouldn’t be small-minded.