After nearly 60 years of being a Disneyland staple, the iconic “It’s a Small World” ride is getting a new set of lyrics for a new generation of park visitors.
Disney Parks announced on its blog today that the updated lyrics will premiere at Disneyland in time for the park’s 70th anniversary. The verse was written by late composer Richard M. Sherman before he died last May at 95. The new lyrics were first unveiled in the short film “The Last Verse” last November, with the verse reading: “Mother Earth unites us in heart and mind/and the love we give makes us humankind/Through our vast wondrous land/When we stand hand-in-hand/It’s a small world after all.”
As part of Disneyland’s anniversary, the short film “The Last Verse” will play daily at the Main Street Cinema theater. The park will also unveil a Walt Disney audio-animatronic figure before it becomes part of the “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” show rotation.
Sherman and his brother wrote the original “It’s a Small World” song for the ride’s original 1964 debut. After the ride became popular at the New York World’s Fair, it was moved to Disneyland in 1966 and has stayed in Anaheim, Calif. ever since, taking visitors on a relaxing ride around the world with animatronics.
Sherman and his brother were nominated for nine Oscars throughout the ’60s and ’70s, winning for the song “Chim Chim Cher-ee” in “Mary Poppins.” They were also nominated for their musical work on “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” “Bedknobs and Broomsticks,” “Tom Sawyer,” “The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella” and “The Magic of Lassie.”
The new lyrics debut at the Disneyland “It’s a Small World” attraction beginning July 17.
