Disneyland installs Disney ads in the 'It's a Small World' ride
Filed under: Technology, Transportation, Travel
Last week, Disneyland re-opened its legendary, 45-year-old "it's a small world" boat ride after a lavish renovation. It looks fantastic: Colors are vibrant, lighting as rich as sugar frosting, and sounds crisp with CD quality. But there's one crucial difference between the new ride and the one you remember from your childhood: It's now stocked with Disney characters from the DVD shelf.
The ride has always been a slow-moving drift through rooms populated by dolls and robots incessantly chanting the same 48-bar tune that's dressed up with orchestrations from various world regions. They're meant to represent many of the world's most prominent cultures through the most genial stereotypes imaginable. My first exposure to many world cultures was through the attraction, which I first rode as an infant. Indeed, it was originally created as an attraction for the 1964 World's Fair--the cheerful, kid-populated world party was meant to be a promotion for UNICEF. Now, though, its philanthropic origins mostly forgotten, this classic has been retrofitted to be a showplace for the most popular characters from Disney's animated canon.
Peter Pan and Tinker Bell fly above Alice in Wonderland in the United Kingdom section. Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket appear in Italy, accompanied by the cleverly embedded strains of "When You Wish Upon a Star." The new character additions mostly fall along roughly nationalistic lines (Mulan in China, Aladdin in the pan-Asian area), Some emphatically American characters now intrude, imperialistically, in international sections: Lilo and Stitch, from Hawaii, preside on a surfboard in Polynesia, and Donald Duck surfaces in Mexico.
As Saturday Night Live is shilling for Pepsi and 30 Rock hiding ads in its characters' dialogue, it was only a matter of time before Disneyland amped up the product-placement trend. After all, what is Disneyland but one giant ad for the Disney stable of characters? Disneyland itself was created in the image of its ads on ABC's prime time programming, after all.
That "Small World" was originally built as a charity-minded effort in the years following the Cuban Missle Crisis is perhaps best forgotten. The concept of making room for Disney trademarks in the ride--one of the few to appear in all five of the company's worldwide resorts--began at Hong Kong Disneyland. The Disneyland version marks its first appearance Stateside.
There are now very few classic Disney rides that haven't been retrofitted to carry some kind of cross-promotion burden at Disneyland--Johnny Depp has been injected into Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion shills "The Nightmare Before Christmas" during the end of every year, making them a kind of ad-within-an-ad.
When I rode the revitalized Fantasyland attraction several times last week, the children on my boat were no longer lulled into awestruck silence as they once were during the ride. Now they are seeking out known Disney commodities in a 10-minute game of Where's Waldo. They don't work to identify the countries they pass, but to be the first to spot the Disney regular.
Will that foster international awareness among the next generation of American children? It's hard to say. But the new ride is likely to make Disney a little more money in souvenirs than it did when it was populated solely by sing-songy cherubs.
Peter Pan and Tinker Bell fly above Alice in Wonderland in the United Kingdom section. Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket appear in Italy, accompanied by the cleverly embedded strains of "When You Wish Upon a Star." The new character additions mostly fall along roughly nationalistic lines (Mulan in China, Aladdin in the pan-Asian area), Some emphatically American characters now intrude, imperialistically, in international sections: Lilo and Stitch, from Hawaii, preside on a surfboard in Polynesia, and Donald Duck surfaces in Mexico.
As Saturday Night Live is shilling for Pepsi and 30 Rock hiding ads in its characters' dialogue, it was only a matter of time before Disneyland amped up the product-placement trend. After all, what is Disneyland but one giant ad for the Disney stable of characters? Disneyland itself was created in the image of its ads on ABC's prime time programming, after all.
That "Small World" was originally built as a charity-minded effort in the years following the Cuban Missle Crisis is perhaps best forgotten. The concept of making room for Disney trademarks in the ride--one of the few to appear in all five of the company's worldwide resorts--began at Hong Kong Disneyland. The Disneyland version marks its first appearance Stateside.
There are now very few classic Disney rides that haven't been retrofitted to carry some kind of cross-promotion burden at Disneyland--Johnny Depp has been injected into Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion shills "The Nightmare Before Christmas" during the end of every year, making them a kind of ad-within-an-ad.
When I rode the revitalized Fantasyland attraction several times last week, the children on my boat were no longer lulled into awestruck silence as they once were during the ride. Now they are seeking out known Disney commodities in a 10-minute game of Where's Waldo. They don't work to identify the countries they pass, but to be the first to spot the Disney regular.
Will that foster international awareness among the next generation of American children? It's hard to say. But the new ride is likely to make Disney a little more money in souvenirs than it did when it was populated solely by sing-songy cherubs.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 9)
2-17-2009 @ 2:37PM
Carlann Jaeger said...
This was always my favorite ride (I am 67) and it was my grandchildren's favorite also when they made their first trip to Disney World in December. What a shame it now is a commercial for Disney characters--it was so beautiful the way it was.
Reply
2-18-2009 @ 3:08AM
Mary said...
It was bad enough when they "made over" the Tiki Room in DW - now they have to mess with this?! I know Disney is a giant walk-through ad for them, but it didn't feel that way growing up. Now it's more commercial, less magical.
2-18-2009 @ 5:15AM
Mel said...
actually the characters represent the origin where they came from. For instance Alice in Wonderland, she would represent London
2-17-2009 @ 10:35PM
JG said...
Pinocchio is Italian, not German.
Reply
2-17-2009 @ 8:42PM
Barbara said...
We have Florida Resident passes to Disney, Epcot, etc., and next year I don't think we will renew our memberships. ALL of the parks in Florida are worn down, out of date and DIRTY. The parks used to be so clean and trash-free, it did indeed seem like a Magic Kingdom. Now, it's starting to look like a slum. I know times are tough all over, but at least keep the fairyland alive and pristine for the Children, sans Advertisements! Sad.
3-01-2009 @ 8:46PM
Extinct American said...
I see nothing wrong with this.. If it keeps them in bussiness great. THe small kids might like this ride better with the ones they know in it.
Reply
2-19-2009 @ 11:39PM
A smart ass said...
They would have stayed in business regardless of the change. Learn your econmics...
2-17-2009 @ 2:46PM
Cecil Beare said...
I see no problem with adding Disney characters into the Small World Ride; it is, after all, their park. It shows Disney is around the world. I always wished, however, that they had name plates for each country they represented - many people can't identify what country is represented by the costume or language.
Reply
2-17-2009 @ 10:37PM
casey682 said...
Its A Small World does not represent country or continent. of the world but regions of the world. and what is wrong with putting the Disney characters in the ride it lets the kids who only know the characters get an idea of what region of the world they come from.
2-20-2009 @ 12:09AM
Observer M said...
This comment is an excellent example of how educated the American people are about other cultures and countries. People who are not Americans don't need to see name plates in front of dolls wearing costumes that identify them with the corresponding countries in order to tell which countries they respresent.
2-17-2009 @ 3:00PM
rebecca said...
I feel it just goes to show how money hungry disney has become I used to work there and we would get in trouble if we didnt upsell there products when someone bought something its hard to say hey you just spent 300 dollars would you like to add something else disney has become all about the benjamins its the small world was made to promote unicef not disney itself hello thats what the whole rest of the park is about, its a real shame and walt is probably turning over in his grave
Reply
2-17-2009 @ 3:07PM
Rickster said...
This helps to explain why this country is in the state that it's in.....if they can't brainwash you into buying something or charge you an exorbitant amount to see it or make as much money as possible off of you they want no part of it. Screw the fact that this was origanally a place where kids came first, lets get some advertising out to their parents and hook the kids on our products so we can continue to sell them on our stuff. Disneyland now would have Walt turning over in his grave.
Reply
2-17-2009 @ 3:08PM
Ann said...
When my daughter was young, she learned about foreign countries by associating them with Disney Characters..."That's Arabia, the land of Aladdin!" It actually helped her remember.
The Where's Waldo thing also sharpens the critical eye. These are not bad things. Product placement is everywhere in life - not just at Disneyland - and it is up to the parent to point it out for what it is, particularly when it promotes a useless or overpriced item.
I do agree that it would be nice to have artful signs to name the country or continent. I overhear adults getting it wrong!
Reply
2-17-2009 @ 9:11PM
MERRIL MORRISON said...
WHAT A SHAME....THE LAST TIME I WAS AT THE ORLANDO DISNEY I RODE THIS RIDE ABOUT 7 TIMES AS THERE WAS NO LINE. IT WAS A HISTORY LESSON FOR SOME AND IT IS A TERRIBLE CHANGE, JUST TERRIBLE. I AM 66 AND I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO LOOK ELSEWHERE FOR BETTER MEMORIES.
Reply
2-17-2009 @ 3:19PM
Bill G. said...
Lousy Shills. Mickey Mouse and many other characters had passed their legal life as copyrighted and the courts gave them a free ride.
Reply
2-17-2009 @ 3:36PM
Supriya said...
How quickly do people forget that it is because of the success of Pinocchio, Donald Duck, and Peter Pan that Disney could even create a ride for UNICEF in the first place! If Disney wants to plug ITS OWN characters into a classic ride then they've earned the right to do so! Its THEIR ride in THEIR park. In my opinion, they are simply honoring the beloved characters who put Disney on the map and gave Disney the ability to do tremendous things with their success.
Reply
2-17-2009 @ 5:59PM
Tiff said...
Disneyland would not exist without its characters. What's wrong with putting them in a ride?
2-18-2009 @ 12:30AM
bfdf55 said...
As many of the inserted characters have (or could have) their own attractions, there is no need to stuff them into attractions populated by other characters. IASW was already totally populated by it's own cadre of unique characters.
Adding a number of out-of-context Disney to IASW would presumably allow for inserting some of the IASW figures in Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White, Star Tours, Pirates and other attractions throughout the park. While I cannot conceive of where they could possibly be rationally included, there are obviously plenty of people who would find no problem with it.
2-17-2009 @ 11:40PM
sparkles said...
Yes, it is THEIR ride and THEIR park, but it is OUR money. The price of admission to Disney World for a family of four is about $1500 for the week. That doesn't even include the cost of the DISNEY hotel and all the FOOD purchased in their park. I think once they take our money we have completed the transaction. There is no need to keep selling us once we are there.
2-17-2009 @ 9:26PM
Red said...
Ok, first off I don't see what's wrong with putting in the Disney characters. When you said advertising, I was expecting to see billboards, like you're driving down the freeway. Disney is one of the few things this whole world has in common. And if it's anyone's fault for their prices and making money, it's the consumer that pays those prices. They are still about the kids - in everyone. I went for my 19th birthday and they treated me with the same fun spirit and pampering that they'd cater to a five-year-old, and it was so much fun.
And as far as the character placement, in all fairness, it did say Aloha on the sign right before Lilo and Stitch showed up, and Donald was in the Three Caballeros movie, so that's why he showed up with the two other birds in Mexico.
Why can't everyone just sit back and have fun instead of analyzing and criticizing everything they lay eyes on?
Reply