Though Mountains Divide...

Q: Dear 100 Hour Board:

How many times does "Its a Small World" play during one time on the ride in WDW??

Animatronic Anonymous (AA)

A: Dear Global Animatron,

At the 1964 New York World's Fair, Disney released his "Children of the World" pavilion ride in an effort to promote global unity and peace. After the fair the ride became "It's A Small World" due to the popularity of the song. To this day the ride consists of over 300 Audio-Animatronics figures and 100 international dolls. It is featured in Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disney and Euro Disney.

But what about that song? You know the one that plays continuously during the ride. The song was written by the Sherman brothers, Richard and Robert, specifically for the New York World's Fair ride. The original idea was to have a cacophony of audio-animatronic children singing their own national anthems. Disney told the Sherman brothers to write ONE song, a "roundelay" as he put it. He wanted people to remember it.

So the brothers created a song that you just can't get out of your head. As Robert puts it:

"Like many songs, It's A Small World has a verse and a chorus. One thing which makes this song particularly 'catchy' is that the verse and chorus work in counterpoint to each other. This means that you can play the same chords over and over again, but with different melodies. The repetitive, yet varied pattern tricks your mind into absorbing the work without it becoming tiresome to your ear."

To have an image of "counterpoint", imagine laying the chords of the chorus on top of the chords of the verse. Measure for measure, the chords would be the same. This makes the capacity to harmonize and countersync the chorus with the verse.

The counterpuntal juxtaposition makes the song more interesting to the ear. The Sherman Brothers wrote many songs this way including Doll On A Music Box/Truly Scrumptious from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

In 1985 Michael Eisner, Disney CEO, created a huge controversy by stating at the Hollywood Bowl that "It's A Small World" is the most played song of all time. Record companies baulked. Robert Sherman came to the rescue by explaining that the song plays non-stop, 16 hours a day on an endless loop in five locations worldwide. It is always playing in at least two locations on the globe. The song has been remixed several times and was part of the Dance Dance Revolution mix.

The song's duration is 2 minutes and 41 seconds. Disney lists the ride as lasting 15 minutes. Thus we can safely say that you will hear the song at least 6 times during a ride. This does not however include time waiting in line. Also this does not include the stops on the ride.

According to Wired News the "It’s A Small World" ride at Disneyland regularly bottoms out because today’s riders, um, displace more water than did patrons of the 1960s, when the ride debuted.

So I think it is safe to say that you will hear the song at least 12 times while waiting, riding and bottoming out on "It's A Small World" ride. Remember the song says, "It's a world of laughter...a world of tears" so whether you like the song or not the writers will illicit one of these two responses.

100HB