The Fabulous Disney Babe
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Two of Alice Davis' "it's a small world"
costume designs
A lot of things have changed since then; "it's a small world" was a hit at the World's Fair, and moved to Disneyland, where Walt's favorite scene was removed because of threatened protests: there was a scene, which you can see on the Sing-A-Long Songs video, which features the World's Fair version of the attraction (look at the banners at the beginning and end of the ride on the video) with a few of the African children laughing with hyenas. When the mockup was in Glendale, Walt would have people board one of the boats, which was on wheels on a raised platform, which would then be pushed through the ride, so that it could be experienced without having to fill a temporary warehouse with water. Walt would always make the Imagineer pushing the boat stop at that scene, Alice says.
Another change to the ride was made when Toontown opened: the white outside and the finale were both colorized; the outside with a mix of pastels and the inside with a dark lavender. In the attraction, guests rode through colorful - to the point of busy - representations of children in their native lands, each group separate. The last scene was supposed to reflect the purity of children: "Children are taught to hate, they're not born that way." says Alice. All of the children, from all of the different places and cultures, are singing a song of peace together. When the color was added, the meaning was changed, especially on the outside. The white and gold represented the purity and value of children, who hadn't been taught to hate.
Students of Mary Blair's style will tell you that the Florida attraction is a more pure experience of her artistic style; J., then a student at CalArts, described it as "sailing on a boat through her paintings". Alice admires the work of the present costume designer for "it's a small world" there, praising especially the new Israel scene with the wedding canopy. Marc and Mary admired each other's work, and had been friends since the 1940s.
Alice is currently running the Marc Davis Collectors' Society (http://www.marcdavis.com) and making appearances at the Disney Parks promoting both hers and Marc's long history of work with the Disney company. For information on the Alice Davis signing at Disneyland Saturday, click here.
Discuss It
-- Michelle Smith
Michelle Smith can be reached using the Talkback form below or by emailing her at [email protected].
The Fabulous Disney Babe's column is posted every Friday and when ever else she has something to say. For more on Michelle's background, see her first column. She also offers The Fabulous Tour: Disneyland Secrets and Stories. Click here for more information.
The opinions expressed by our Michelle Smith, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted June 15, 2001