It's a Small World galore, part III

And now, let's go have a look at North America! Here we are in the middle of the Wild Frontier: cactuses, weird-looking rocks, snowy mountains in the background and a frontier town with a chuckwagon that's just parked. Even the sun changed its appearance (see my previous post).
Wait, North America is not just about the Wild West: there are the sleepy towns and the city that never sleeps, and let's don't forget about Canada! (By the way, I think among the skyscraprers of New York City, World Trade Center is still there. They were wise enough to keep it there).

And what's right next to the Statue of Liberty? C'mon Newyorkers, theGolden Gate, of course!

Then, the magic spell on my camera ended and picture started to look blurry again. But I was lucky enough to take one final picture of the Grand Finale, where all children of the world dance in a blu, silver and pink extravaganza! I often wonder if they did the right thing by letting the roof of the building so visible: wouldn't it be better if it were black? Then I come to my senses and realise that a dark black background would have given the ride a much darker look (even though more truthful to Mary Blair's original artwork), while here the core message was friendship and most of all, that the more color and differences the more beauty!

Its' a Small World galore, part II

We just left Italy, attracted by some mysterious kites floating above our heads. Of course, we are heading to Middle East and Asia. See the cloud shapes? we're definetely in India, don't you think? There's even the Taj Mahal at the end of our ride!

On the left a tempting souk teases us with its colorful merchandising (I'm starting to write like a '50's travel brochure...)


Ok, let's cross the ocean and tour beautiful South America: am I the only one to find perfect beauty in the shades of green of the hills in the backgrounds? And the sun takes a South American accent. Next time: North America, the Grand Finale and some thoughts on the colored roof.

It's a Small World galore!

And now it's time for the "It's a Small World" Extravaganza! As you know it's a small world is one of my favorite attractions, a perfect and mysteriously achieved balance between cuteness and plain simple beauty. Everytime I ride the attraction the mixture between colors always leave me breathless. And how many times have I tried to take pictures of that magic blend only to get blurry pictures? Once, in 2005 something magic happened to my camera as I took quite sharp pictures while riding, so I can finally share the interior with all of you who have never rode this masterchief.

Lets begin with a few shots of the European area. Appreciate the neat hill covered with a Scottish texture and right to the left a joyful Lochness Monster (partly hidden). In the foreground, giant flowers. Do I have to say something about the wonderfully balanced colors?...

Let's go back home, to Italy, now! Florence (the bridge), Pisa (the leaning tower), Venice (the gondola)... just perfect! take a look at how well Imagineers managed to blend three Italian icons coming from very different cities in one consistent environment: that's craftmanship!


Right next to Italy lies Switzerland...


and just across the riverbend there's something in the air (didn't know I live so close to China ;-)

It's a Small World, again and again and again!

As you probably already know, I am a huge fan of It's a Small World and Mary Blair's outstanding art. I posted a few days ago some pictures of the Tokyo Disneyland version and said that in my opinion its color scheme is the most faithful to Mary Blair's original drawings, featuring for instance her incredible brigh colors on dark backgrounds. Though I said it happened to be my least favorite version of this beloved attraction. Jump cut to Paris, judge by yourself and leave a comment.

This pictures were taken by Sparkyfra (thanks again) during one his many trip to Disneyland Paris. It was October and the light had a wonderful orange hue wich really added to the beauty of the facade of It's a Small World.




Looking at these pictures I realized imagineers definitely took inspiration from Mary Blair's artwork yet at the same time used a much more consistent palette of brown pinks, reds and yellows, with some bright accents of gold and light blue. The final result is not faithful maybe to the original, but I think it's more balanced and tuned to the place and the peculiar light of it.

It's Small World, Tokyo

If you read this blog quite often, you already know probably that I belong to the half of the world who loves it's a small world so I guess it's no wonder I looked forward to riding it's a small world when I visited Tokyo Disneyland. I heard it was somewhat different from the one I remember and love , the Disneyland Paris one.
Well, it was different, definetely and I'm sorry to say it was not better. The exterior features much brighter colors instead of the light yellows, pinks and blue I'm used to. But that wasn't an issue.

What disappointed me most, was the queueing area, totally unthemed and even a little too claustrophobic (just a passage with white walls) and the large load/unload area, a giant room with nothing but painted walls. I mean, Mary Blair's artwork was still stunning and beautiful but it looked to me as it was just slapped on the walls of a huge hall. A detail: the roof was black dark, while in Paris it's more like a dark blueish violet. I prefer the last one even though I must admit that black is much more consistent to the style of Mary Blair's conceps, in which she usually loves putting together in a vibrant contrast bright colors on a dark black cardboard. I don't know... maybe sometimes being to faithful to a style that looks perfet on paper is not the right thing to do?...

It's a Small World

It's a Small World is definetely one of my favorite rides. In the Disneyland Paris version a little gem not to skip it's the area past the attraction (even thought it's a basically a huge display of the main sponsor of the attraction, France Telecom). You have to walk through a pathway surrounded by very elaborate and colorful reproductions of the most important building in the world. It's a very nice and colorful space and I never miss it!