Talk:It's a Small World

Walt Disney World

I chose to remove the at Walt Disney World section of the article again as although the information is correct, Walt Disney World is a resort - hence the proper name Walt Disney World Resort - and I agree that Walt Disney World is more recognisable than the Magic Kingdom but if you insist on placing at Walt Disney World after the Magic Kingdom, firstly it should be at Walt Disney World Resort and secondly all of the other corresponding resorts should be added after the other theme parks, for example Disneyland at Disneyland Resort, Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort. I hope you can see my point. :) --Speedway 12:15, May 30, 2005 (UTC)

I think adding "Walt Disney World" after Magic Kingdom is appropriate because, unlike Disneyland or Tokyo Disneyland, it's not as obvious where "Magic Kingdom" is. (I remember when, after Epcot opened, you had to explain the difference between "Disney World" and "the Magic Kingdom"; I may be incorrectly assuming that people might still be unclear on the difference between the two.) —tregoweth 19:21, May 30, 2005 (UTC)

No, I completely see your point of view! Its just that this is an encyclopedia and if people chose to click on Magic Kingdom it would tell them it is in Walt Disney World. You are correct, its just that the encyclopedia is quite formal and if you explain where one park is, the same goes with all the others. Sorry for the inconvenience, you haven't done anything wrong. --Speedway 19:37, May 30, 2005 (UTC)

Lyrics

I don't know if it's appropriate to add it on the main page since the main page focus on the Disneyland, anyway here is the Cantonese version of the song:

人人常歡笑 不要眼淚掉 (Everyone smiles always, don't cry with tears)

時時懷希望 不必心裡跳 (Have hope at any time, with no fear in your heart)

在那人世間 相助共濟 (And let's help each other in this earth)

應知人間小得俏 (For we all should aware that the world is small)

Chorus: 世界真細小小小 (It's a small small world)

小得真奇妙妙妙 (Although small, how amazing it is)

實在真係細世界 (It's really a small world)

嬌小而妙俏 ([It is] Small and fun)

柔柔陽光照 兼有朗月耀 (There is warm sunshine, there is bright moonlight)

良朋同歡聚 相依相對笑 (Friends join and laugh together)

萬里難隔阻 心裡情長照 (Even miles away our hearts still shine at each other)

應知人間小得俏 (For we all know that the world is just that small)

(Chorus)

夜裡群星照 反照世事妙 (Stars shine at night, show that how amazing things are)

奇妙人間樂 我地樂遙遙 (And we are joyful in this world)

在那人世間 守望相看 (So let's help each other in this earth)

應知人間小得俏 (For we all should aware that the world is small)

(Chorus)

遙遙人相隔 心裡不相焦 (Though we are far apart, we aren't anxious about that)

萬里連心路 用愛造長橋 (Our love as a bridge[link] for a thousand-miles long road)

路遙難隔阻 千里共你我他 (Showing that you and me and s/he can't be far apart)

應知人間小得俏 (For we all know that the world is just that small)

(Chorus)

Sorry for my bad translation (hope someone can help polishing it), actually it is a very good and meaningful translation which keeps the song's original meaning. This Chinese (Cantaonese, not Mandarin) version is well-known is Hong Kong. There may be versions in Putonghua or Mandarin in China or Taiwan, but I'm not sure about that. One last thing to add, It's Mr. James Wong (1941-2004), a really talented artist in many aspects wrote this piece of lyric.

I see on Wong Jim that he was credited with the song, I guess this version will go into Hong Kong Disneyland's version of the ride? --blm07 09:11, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

Song lyrics are copyright and we shouldn't post them without permission. Strictly they shouldn't be posted even on a talk page. 199.71.183.2 18:01, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

Languages

If anyone knows what specific languages are used on the ride, that would be a great thing to add to the article. -Branddobbe

I couldn't find anything official, but this page says English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Swedish. -- Djinn112

I seem to remember a great deal more than that. -Branddobbe 05:10, Jan 28, 2004 (UTC)

In DL, MK, and TDL it is sung in the five languages mentioned above, English is sung in a couple of different accents. I'd like to add the songs in each language to my page here. Samples of the four other languages are on my page, can anyone transcribe them? Disneyland Paris may be a different story, its sung in French for the finale, but I'm not sure about what else. --blm07 09:07, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks to the Disney Music forum, the Italian, Japanese and Spanish versions have been put up on my page. I'm thinking the article here on Wikipedia may have to be split up since the Paris version is vastly different from the other versions. For instance it says the Europe room has Dutch, Spanish, and French and in Africa there are vocals which aren't true for the American and Tokyo rides. Also, Scandinavia isn't a separate room. There are other differences as well. --blm07 09:11, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

I've started a new section for Paris and added the citation template to a couple of the languages mentioned in the article since I've never heard of them being in the ride. They might possibly be in the Paris version, so I've left them in case someone else knows and can move them to the Paris section. --blm07 04:06, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Clock & sound system

I have yet to see a clock that told the time in words. Do you mean Roman numerals or Arabic numerals? Chinese, Egyptian? Rmhermen 21:17, Feb 9, 2004 (UTC)

Oh, come on. If I asked you to write the time using numerals, you would write "21:17" or "9:17", wouldn't you? I don't think anyone would entertain the idea that the time would (or could) be written "XXI:XVII" or with other number systems unless it was specifically stated. If the clock had hands, I'd have to mention whether it used Roman or Arabic numerals. GUllman 21:56, 9 Feb 2004 (UTC)

You never mentioned that the clock didn't have hands. How are the numbers displayed? Rmhermen 13:26, Feb 10, 2004 (UTC)

Sorry, it guess it does have a rather unique way of displaying time. I'll try again and take suggestions from others who have seen it. GUllman 21:47, 10 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Hey! Do you see the change? I know that the renovations will include a state-of-the-art sound system. You know what that means? AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! MAKE IT STOP!! WikiPediaAid

The new sound system has long since been implemented...I worked a testing shift while they converted the Holiday soundtrack over to the new sound system's media in Oct '03 Andysund 21:22, 10 November 2006

Most performed song

"the most performed and translated song on earth". We'd need a citation for that, especially given the competition from Happy Birthday to You. DJ Clayworth 21:37, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Got your citation. Currently this article has no outstanding citations neededEagle talk 05:56, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

Just a note, the citation is to a statement made by one of the song's writers. One could assume that he is somewhat biased. Furthermore, in his statement there is little quantitative evidence given, except that it is "featured on an amusement park ride which plays non-stop, 16 hours a day on an endless loop in four (soon to be five) locations worldwide" and "Since 1983, there has not been a moment when "It's A Small World" wasn't playing in at least two locations on the globe."

With evidence like this, the statement that this is "the most performed and translated song on earth" can not be taken seriously. Kid Bugs 03:23, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Well, has anyone made the same claim about another song? "Happy Birthday to You" is sung privately, but it is rarely performed in public since it is still under copyright. GUllman 22:35, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

"it's a small world" song cover

Not really sure if this should go in the article or not (I'm guessing not, but at least it's something to maybe note here), but Kumi Koda and Heartsdales did a cover of the song on Kumi's album secret. --66.31.12.62 02:21, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Citations

I found references to both of the two outstanding citations that were needed on this article. If others are needed drop me a note on my talk page. (after marking it with {{fact}} so I can tell what you want) ThanksEagle talk 05:59, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

Picture of Sherman Brothers and Walt

The picture of the Sherman Brothers and Walt is not from it's a small world but There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow demo in a film made for General Electric, sponsor of the Carousel of Progress attraction; should this picture be attached to this article?

Jvsett 17:51, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

If it is indeed not from "it's a small world" then it should be removed from the article, as it wouldn't have any relevence to the article. --Andysund 02:35, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

Terrible formatting

I really do not like the formatting for the section titled "Attraction facts and figures". The previous picture takes up so much space and, right under the title, you get numerous lines of nothing. This really has to be fixed.--AcademicBrain314159265 01:51, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

"it's a small world" → It's a Small World — Assuming that this is a trademark of Disney, this should follow the capitalization guidelines of WP:MOS-TM: "Lowercased trademarks with no internal capitals should always be capitalized." If not a trademark, the proposed title still follows standard capitalization for proper nouns. Dekimasuよ! 13:09, 1 May 2007 (UTC)

Survey

Add  # '''Support'''  or  # '''Oppose'''  on a new line in the appropriate section followed by a brief explanation, then sign your opinion using ~~~~. Please remember that this is not a vote; comments must include reasons to carry weight.

• Oppose. The main It's a Small World should be used as a title for the article on the song. Georgia guy 14:02, 1 May 2007 (UTC)
  • As far as I can tell, there isn't an article on the song. This would still need to be moved to a compliant title. Dekimasuよ! 14:29, 1 May 2007 (UTC)
• Support, per nom. - Cyrus XIII 18:35, 1 May 2007 (UTC)
• Support per nomination. —  AjaxSmack  02:29, 2 May 2007 (UTC)
• Support the official name is "it's a small world" but nobody else than Disney use it. We could only mentionned in the article what's the official name but for easier research the article must be named It's a Small World. I would informed you that the french name is with simple quote insted of double-quote...--Gdgourou 08:43, 2 May 2007 (UTC)
• Indifferent, I think it's fine where it is, but if its against the guidelines, then maybe it should be moved. I do however believe it should be "it's a small world" at the top of the infobox (and however it is around the world in the other infoboxes). I don't think there is a article for the song, so it is mentioned in this article. --blm07 08:53, 2 May 2007 (UTC)
• Support per nom, precedent, and the mos (er, MoS). Disney's typographic preference could be mentioned in the opening, but, it should be capitalized per WP style throughout the rest of the article. Neier 09:34, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

This article has been renamed from "it's a small world" to It's a Small World as the result of a move request. --Stemonitis 13:44, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

Does that look weird to anyone else? Powers ^T 14:50, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

Yes, it looks weird to me too, since the name of the ride is always lower case in literature by and about Disneyland. Although I know we should teach correct grammar, I couldn't think of a better excuse to disregard the rules than "C'mon, it looks so cute and childlike" or "The title is a self-reference joke -- the 'I' is small, get it?" without citing an official reason why lower case was used. GUllman 22:58, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Hana no Ko Lunlun

I recently added an entry to the popular culture section in regards to the similarities between the It's a Small World theme song, and the main hook to the theme of the Japanese anime Hana no Ko Lunlun. I can't provide a citation for this because it's my understanding that links to sites such as YouTube are not allowed on Wikipedia. If you look around there, you will find it. This is really the best I can do. I'm sorry if it's not good enough. Brittany Ka 20:07, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Most performed song

I changed the entry to read 'claimed to be the most performed song'. The reference documents very well that Sherman thinks it is the most performed song, but it certainly doesn't show that any unbiased person agrees with him. Frankly I find his logic highly faulty. Sure, IASWAA may have been performed more times than Yesterday; but has it really been performed more times than Happy Birthday to You? Or The Star Spangled Banner?

Just by my own calculation, if IASWAA is played every two minutes at five venues then it's performed about 2000 times a day. In the US alone nearly a million people have birthdays every day, and there are many tens of thousands of schools who probably sing the Star Spangled Banner. 199.71.183.2 18:06, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

Actually, the song's loop lasts about 50 seconds, and the parks are normally open for about 13 hours a day. There are only 4 IASW rides open, and the song is played in 10 or 11 separate places in each ride. So if the song is played 10 times every minute for 13 hours a day, that is 7800 times a day in each attraction. Wouldn't that make it about 31200 times a day total? No, I have no way of knowing if it really is the most performed song, yes, I am bored. --blm07 18:39, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

Ok, I'm pretty sure the 50 second version is played throughout the attraction and the 2 minute version is played only during the finale. --blm07 19:02, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

So as a compromise, I'm changing it to read "What would disputably be known as..." There is really no way to verify anything about Happy Birthday or The Star Spangled Banner, however I highly doubt the Star Spangled Banner gets performed near as much. As for the length of the song in the attraction, it only uses a 60 second version throughout the entire attraction (I was a trainer on the attraction in Disneyland as well as a Subject Matter Expert for it). The version in the Finale is the same length, just a different order in the lyrics. The other thing you have to take into account is that the attraction's soundtrack is run at various times after park closing as well, for attraction testing, sound recalibrations, general maintenance, and an attraction ride through that is a required part of the opening procedures. All in all, the song is played and heard by someone a lot more than people realize. So just like Happy Birthday to You, it's impossible to measure (While in the United States alone there are nearly a million birthdays every day, you can’t honestly say that everyone who has a birthday gets sung that song.) As far as the most translated song, this goes without saying simply because birthdays are celebrated differently throughout the world, and I don't seem to remember hearing anything about "Happy Birthday to You" in my ethnomusicology class as being a staple in world-wide musical culture (Yes, I’m a music education major). However, considering the very nature of the song "It's a Small World," the song demands it’s translation into several languages simply for placement within the attraction, not to mention the popular arrangements for choral music. This makes the song even more justifiable as being the most translated song, as well as more performed. Additionally, Disney songs in general are considered as a popular modern sub-genre that is heavily translated and arranged for different languages and cultures. Just some food for thought. Andysund 07:08, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

I cleaned up the paragraph a bit and added a cite from disney A to Z about the song being one of the well known by Disney. Hope it helps... Belwig (talk) 04:11, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

Disneyland version closed pending upgrades/renovations

The Disneyland one is currently closed. --Dante Alighieri | Talk 20:43, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

It was closed due for it's annual holiday transition and is open again. The major refurb occurs in early January. LordBleen (talk) 20:03, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

Muse Song - "Invincible"

Would it be worth mentioning that the music video for the song Invincible by the English group Muse has a very Small World-esque feel to it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invincible_(song)#Music_video --220.237.136.224 (talk) 22:15, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Global peace?

I think it could be argued that that song's theme better describes global harmony rather than global peace, as mentioned in the first paragraph. Any thoughts? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Belwig (talk • contribs) 03:04, 2 February 2008 (UTC)