Wednesday, March 05, 2008
News: Mary Blair's It's A Small World Scheduled for Revision
Today, the Disneyland blog Re-Imagineering is reporting that plans are underway to revise the classic Disneyland attraction, It's A Small World. Mary Blair's incredible mural for Tomorrowland was covered over by plastic panels several years ago, and now the iconic ride which is seen by many to be her greatest achievement for Disney is next in line to be monkeyed with. Created for the 1964 World's Fair, It's A Small World presents a simple and clear message of world harmony. Introduction of Disney characters and a new section devoted to patriotic images of the USA would clearly undermine the original spirit of the ride.Read the report at... Re-Imagineering: A World of Tears.
For more on Mary Blair's incredible artistry, see our posts on... The Mary Blair Song Book Part One, Part Two and Part Three; Little Verses Part One and Part Two; and Baby's House.
.
Labels: disneyland, mary blair, news
Stumble It!
posted by Stephen Worth @ 10:49 AM
Read Comments Or Post Yours
links to this post
About The Animation Archive
- Animation Archive Blog Home
RSS Feed- Project Mission
- Why Do We Need An Animation Archive?
- Top Ten Topics of 2007
- Reader Feedback
- Join ASIFA-Hollywood
- Downloadable PDF Brochure
- Downloadable Color Poster
- Animation Master Postcards
- NPR Story On The Archive
- Los Angeles Times Story
- Website Terms of Use
- Map To The Archive
- Email Us
- AIM/Skype: ahaarchive
How You Can Help
- How To Contribute
- Ralphs Card Program
- Volunteering At The Archive
- Not In The Area?
- Write A Bio For The Biopedia
- Write A Letter of Support
- Top Ten Reasons To Support A-HAA
Join The Email List
Read Recent Posts
- Illustration: Mabel Lucie Attwell's Peter Pan and ...
- Mailbag: Nice Surprises From Our Friends
- Illustration: Wartime Colliers Magazine
- Biography: Scooper Conlon's Scrapbook
- Meta: Traffic
- Illustration: Felix Lorioux's Cinderella
- Event: Afternoon of Remembrance
- Filmography: Ko-Ko the Clown in Jumping Beans 1922...
- Comics: The Animation Business in Boy Comics 1942
- Cartooning: Cartoons Magazine January 1916
$100,000 Animation Drawing Course
- 1: Construction/The Head
- 2: Squash & Stretch/The Head
- 3: Proportions/Check Your Work
- 4: 2 Legged Characters/Full Body
- 5: Line of Action/Silhouttes
- 6: Advanced Head Construction
- 7: When Generic Is A Good Thing
- 8: Proportions Affect Design / Contrasts
- 9: Hands- SImplifying Complicated Things
- 10: Models- Substance & Style
- Animation Lessons:
The Beat (Student Loops) / 12x Beat: Oswald Dance / 10x Beat: Flip's Double Bounce Walk - Nuts & Bolts:
Functional Drawing / Constructing Roger Ramjet / Constructing Bugs Bunny / Top Cat Turnaround Study / Heckling Hare Construction (and Student Critique) - Advanced Subjects:
Fundamentals of Composition for Layout Artists Part One / Part Two / Character Design Primer / Maintaining Guts From SB to LO Part One, Part Two and Part Three
Search This Site
Animation Archive Sponsors
Animation Archive Alliances
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive
The Animation Archive is a project of International Animated Film Society: ASIFA-Hollywood, a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization. We are building a museum, library and digital archive for the benefit of animation professionals, cartoonists, designers, students and the general public. Our database of images, biographic info and films contains thousands of entries- animated cartoons, artwork, and filmographies. Contributions and volunteers are needed to make the dream a reality.
2114 W Burbank Bl Burbank CA 91506 818.842.4691 Office Hours: Tuesday through Friday 1pm to 9pm
© The International Animated Film Society: ASIFA-Hollywood. The material on this website is protected by copyright. It is not to be copied or distributed without the prior written authorization of the Board of Directors of ASIFA-Hollywood. We appreciate links to our blog, but please link to one of our web pages. Do not directly link to any media file.
8 Comments:
Thanks for getting the word out. The more publicity this desecration gets the better!
Mr. Banks - Re-Imagineering
:( Disneyland (how it looked in the '50s) used to be cool! Blair's artwork and contributions are immortal and it's such a heinous crime to scrap ORIGINAL Disneyland material for some "marquee-value" commercial bull. As if the Disney Parks today weren't ruined enough!
That's disgusting. Why would you mess with a ride that's been around for forty years. It hasn't lost any of it's charm, or become outdated or boring when than when it came out.
It never was an action packed thrill ride, it's an unmatched whimsical ride into a cartoony world.
Why mess with it? Why compromise the original idea half a century later? It is how it was intended, and anything else is just stupid. It's like retracing old cartoons and illustrations in a new style and thinking you're doing them a favor.
Whoever is in charge at Disney needs to stop screwing stuff up. High School Musical and crap like that is bad enough, but don't start butchering beloved classics. Bambi II?!? How can you possibly make a second Bambi?
And now ruining a beloved ride at the world's most beloved theme park?!? What's wrong with the world?!? This stuff has been working fine for this long...and I don't see anyone saying "Crap! I wish they'd change this stupid thing around."
Don't let them do it Steve!
I in tend to write a news story about this. And believe me, any story about Disney cutting the rainforest to make room for something celebrating America in a formerly Unesco-sponsored attraction (with a possible condemnation by said organisation a possibility) will explode all over all European newspapers on a slow news day.
So, can anyone assure me this is a legitimate story?
Ugh. I wish Mary Blair could rise from the grave and go kick some ass down at Disney. What a shortsighted, vaguely jingoistic bad decision!
"Ugh! I wish Mary Blair could rise from the grave and go kick some ass down at Disney"
She'll have to wait until Walt is done. I wonder why Roy E. Disney isn't raising a big fuss about this. Usually he's the first to raise a stink about these kind of things.
ANY changes to "It's a small world" would be an OUTRAGE! This is unimaginable! Up until they closed is for the repairs I was taking my daughter there every week,just for that attraction!
The inhabitants of "it's a small world" are dolls representing all the people on our planet: real, living, breathing people like ourselves.
The Disney Charcters, loveable and delightful as they are, are NOT REAL PEOPLE, and they do not represent real people: they are marvelous larger-than-life fantasy creations. They dwell in our minds but exist in their own various imaginary worlds, not ours.
They are so distinctive that even bringing one of them into another's special world would be violating and incongruous. We would not believe Simba in Snow White's cottage, or Stitch at Cinderella's ball.
(Although thinking about the project in question, that sort of incongruous mixing might not be far off: "Beauty and Ursula and the Beast," Or "Pinocchio and Nemo's Weird Adventure.")
The unmistakable "message" of ISASM, or more properly "iasm," is a plea for world peace: cooperation and respect among humans (not among you, me, Buzz Lightyear and Captain Hook).
Introducing fantasy, with imaginary exaggerated creatures who will dominante and overshadow the innocent dolls, demeans humanity, and destroys the gentle hope for harmony and peace which has made this attraction inspirational and lovable for some 50 years.
The decision suggests that management has either a misunderstanding or a disdain for the premise on which the ride was conceived, and a dismissive disregard for its creators.
The inappropriate inclusion and exploitation of the Disney characters is a disservice to the characters themselves, as well as to the atraction.
Stitch is an alien, not a citizen of our own "small world." His intrusion is a misstep.
It is a sad day when the fans, rather than the Disney executives, are the real respecters and protectors of the Walt Disney legacy.
May Messrs. Iger, Lasseter, Sklar, Baxter and their colleagues have sensible second thoughts about this insensitive, senseless scheme.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home