To some, "It's a Small World" is a special song that brings back childhood memories of trips to Disney World and Disneyland. For others, it’s a song that gets stuck in your head and used by children to annoy parents during the road trips back home. For The Walt Disney Company, it means a great deal and the company is celebrating the song’s 50th anniversary next month.
Disney just launched SmallWorld50.com, which allows visitors to record their own version and even build a doll based on the figures in the ride. According to People, the virtual dolls will be used to help the United Nations Children’s Fund. Disney is also going to make a donation to UNICEF for every video and doll, up to $100,000 in total. The studio is also donating another $150,000 to the organization.
The song was written for the 1964 World’s Fair by Richard and Robert Sherman, the songwriting brothers behind Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book and other scores for the company during the 1960s. Richard Sherman told ABC News that they didn’t really think the song would stay popular for half a century.
The “It's a Small World” attractions are now at every Disney park, so the song is played somewhere in the world 24 hours a day. During a 16-hour day at any of the parks, the song is played 1,200 times on average.
Disney will be marking the exact 50th anniversary of the song and attraction on April 10.