Queena Kim
March 28, 2008
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Some fans of the "Happiest Place On Earth" aren't feeling so happy these days. Rumors are swirling that Disneyland is making some dramatic changes to the "It's A Small World" Ride. The iconic ride that celebrates the children of the world is closed for refurbishing. When it reopens this fall word is that you'll see Disney characters like Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Nemo in the ride. Disney purists and art aficionados told KPCC's Queena Kim the company isn't just messing with a ride, it's messing with art.
Queena Kim: To understand the fight to preserve "It's A Small World," you have to step back in time... (sound of clock) ... to the 1964 World's Fair in New York, when the ride made its debut.
Walt Disney: Now it's time to join the passengers on a musical cruise, to visit the children of "It's A Small World."
Kim: With the Cold War looming large and the country in the midst of Vietnam, Walt Disney wanted to promote the idea of "the children of the world, living in peace," and he tapped legendary Disney animator Mary Blair to design the project.
Jade Gordon: He saw her as this ultra-modern artist that he wanted to work with.
Kim: Jade Gordon is a member of the performance troupe "My Barbarian," which staged a tribute to Mary Blair at Disney Hall's Redcat Theater.
Gordon: But the men that she worked with were not always happy with the fact that Walt gave her so much responsibility, and really championed her.
Kim: This was the 1940s, and Blair was one of the few women at Disney.
Gordon: They didn't understand what he saw in her, 'cause she had such an intense, bright, powerful image of what she thought the films should look like. And, they actually thought she was just too out there and too crazy, and she a nickname; they called her "Marijuana Blair."
Kim: Gordon says people didn't really believe that Blair smoked pot, but she got her nickname because of her psychedelic aesthetic. Blair gave Peter Pan his unrealistically bright rust-colored hair, and think of the bold colors in Alice in Wonderland. At a time when animation strived to look real, Blair pushed for a more contrived aesthetic.
The children she drew, which came to be known as the "Blair Child," had heads that were too big for their bodies, and eyes that were too small for their heads. In the 1940s, animators called her aesthetic "childlike." Today, we see her influence in the works of artists like Andy Warhol, Keith Herring, and in Pixar movies like Toy Story.
Gordon: You know, ultimately, this is what all of her ideas, and her paintings and drawings, it kind of culminated in this project. It was like the living three-dimensional culmination of everything that she had done before. It's also a documentation of an era, aesthetically, politically.
Kim: And this hits the heart of the controversy surrounding the rumors that Disney is adding Nemo, Peter Pan, Lilo, Stitch, and the rest of the Disney gang to the iconic ride.
Alan Lutz: I can't confirm it, but it's got the fingerprints of the marketing department to it, which wants to sell more plush and toys, and stuff like that.
Kim: Alan Lutz, editor of website the Miceage, a Disneyland fan site that first reported on the rumors.
Lutz: It's two basic changes; they're adding a character in each land that's a Disney character. And the second thing that they're doing is they're taking out the rainforest section at the end and putting in "a salute to America."
Kim: For the record, Disney spokeswoman Marylyn Waters says that changes to the ride are still in the brainstorming stages. Waters declined to speak on air, but said the changes aren't being made to boost toy sales as much as to update the ride for today's audience.
But with all the hubbub – the celebrity gossip site TMZ had more than 18,000 people vote against the changes – Disney has released a few details. Mickey and Minnie will not be making an appearance. But Alice in Wonderland will be showing up in England. Waters says it's modeling "Alice In wonderland" on a sketch made by Mary Blair. But that approach still doesn't satisfy Kevin Blair, Mary Blair's son.
Kevin Blair: Even if they tried to modify the characters to be more in tune with my mother's style of art, they wouldn't fit. They're not the children of the world. It does not fit the theme. You get to see Mickey, and Lilo, and Stitch in a lot of other places around the park. Once again, this will marginalize the children of the world theme, and bastardize my mother's original art.
Disney: These toy soldiers guard Copenhagen's Tivoli Garden.
