History Ride / ItsASmallWorld

* AmericansAreCowboys: The only American character seen in some versions of the ride (not counting a lone Eskimo) for some reason actually dresses up in stereotypical cowboy garb that is found only in the last part of the attraction.

* NationalAnimalStereotypes: Several countries in the ride are represented with, among others, their national animal. The Hong Kong version, at least, features [[KangaroosRepresentAustralia a kangaroo and her joey for Australia]], kiwi birds for New Zealand, a tiger for India, [[PandaingToTheAudience a panda]] for China, a camel for the Middle East, a variety of animals native to the savanna (e.g. zebras, hyenas, elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes, etc.) for Africa, llamas (or something along those lines) for the Andes in South America and penguins (presumably Magellanic penguins, though the coloration is more like generic-penguin) for presumably the continent's southern tip, a cow (presumably a Highland cow) for Scotland, etc.
* PandaingToTheAudience: Pandas are used in the ride as the main animals representing China.

''It's a Small World'' (stylized as ''"[[AllLowercaseLettersit's a small world]]"'') is a water-based dark ride at the Ride/DisneyThemeParks, themed as a boat trip through the various nations of the world, filled with all the earth's children celebrating together in international unity and global peace, by continuously singing a cheerful song.

''It's a Small World'' (stylized as ''"it's a small world"'') is a water-based dark ride at the Ride/DisneyThemeParks, themed as a boat trip through the various nations of the world, filled with all the earth's children celebrating together in international unity and global peace, by continuously singing a cheerful song.

* ComicallyCrossEyed: In Disneyland's version, [[WesternAnimation/FindingNemo Dory]] appears cross-eyed.

->''"When we completed It's a Small World for presentation at the New York World's Fair, we felt that we had accomplished what we'd set out to do. We wanted to foster a better understanding among nations of the world by showing the dress, the customs, the language, the music and a little of the culture of our neighbors around the world, and we wanted to show it to be a very happy one. I think it's safe to say that having fun has universal appeal."''

The ride's history began in the early 1960s, when it was among the many Disney attractions designed for the 1964 New York World's Fair, along with ''Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln'', ''Ride/CarouselOfProgress'', and ''Magic Skyway''. The attraction was originally to be called "Children of the World", and the initial idea is that it would feature the national anthems of the different countries of the world all playing at once, but upon testing it, Walt felt that it wasn't working. Desiring a single song that could be easily translated and played repeatedly, he asked the Sherman Brothers to come up with the best they've got, and thus the song was born. Mary Blair, an art director who had previously collaborated with Disney on several of their films, also proved instrumental to the ride's development, overseeing its set design and color style.

Upon opening, the ride was an overwhelming success with the public, resulting in it eventually being brought over to Disneyland in 1966, and over the next few decades it also found its way over to Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland.

A [[TheMovie movie]] for the attraction was announced in 2014; no details have since been announced.

* BigCreepyCrawlies: Several over-sized butterflies can be seen flying around in the Hawaii scene.

* HulaAndLuaus: The Hawaii scene contains several hula dancers.

** The current versions in California, Tokyo, and Hong Kong include "small world" versions of Disney characters in the corresponding areas. Some are really obvious ([[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Ariel]] and WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch in the tropical area, WesternAnimation/TheThreeCaballeros in South America), some not so much (you specifically have to be looking to find [[WesternAnimation/PeterPan Peter Pan and Tinkerbell]] flying way overhead in Europe, and it may take a minute to realize some of the jungle's animals are [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Simba, Pumbaa, and Timon]]). Additionally, the Asian rides have some characters not featured in Anaheim's version, such as [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} Prince Charming]] and [[WesternAnimation/{{Moana}} Moana, Heihei, and Pua]].

!!It's a small trope after all...

!!Tropes shown in ''It's a Small World'' include:

* NationalAnimalStereotypes: Several countries in the ride are represented with, among others, their national animal. The Hong Kong version, at least, features [[KangaroosRepresentAustralia a kangaroo and her joey for Australia]], kiwi birds for New Zealand, a tiger for India, [[PandaingToTheAudience a panda]] for China, a camel for the Middle East, a variety of animals native to the savanna (e.g. zebras, hyenas, elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes, etc.) for Africa, [[EverythingsBetterWithLlamas llamas]] (or something along those lines) for the Andes in South America and penguins (presumably Magellanic penguins, though the coloration is more like generic-penguin) for presumably the continent's southern tip, a cow (presumably a Highland cow) for Scotland, etc.

* NiceHat: An ungodly amount of the dolls in the ride wear elaborate hats, usually a country-appropriate one.

To this day, the ride stands as one of the most instantly recognizable aspects of the Disney parks, which has naturally led to it being a subject of numerous references and tongue-in-cheek parodies in the media, including [[SelfDeprecation some made by Disney themselves]]. The popularity of the attraction has also resulted in getting a big line of merchandise and [[http://video.disney.com/watch/a-jolly-holi-day-ep-1-it-s-a-small-world-4ec07da3b0f9cf18da19518e an online animated series]], among other things.

* SombreroMeansMexican: Most all of the male dolls in the Mexico scene wear sombreros.

The ride's history began in the early 1960's, when it was among the many Disney attractions designed for the 1964 New York World's Fair, along with ''Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln'', ''Ride/CarouselOfProgress'', and ''Magic Skyway''. The attraction was originally to be called "Children of the World", and the initial idea is that it would feature the national anthems of the different countries of the world all playing at once, but upon testing it, Walt felt that it wasn't working. Desiring a single song that could be easily translated and played repeatedly, he asked the Sherman Brothers to come up with the best they've got, and thus the song was born. Mary Blair, an art director who had previously collaborated with Disney on several of their films, also proved instrumental to the ride's development, overseeing its set design and color style.

To this day, the ride stands as one of the most instantly-recognizable aspects of the Disney parks, which has naturally led to it being a subject of numerous references and tongue-in-cheek parodies in the media, including [[SelfDeprecation some made by Disney themselves]]. The popularity of the attraction has also resulted in getting a big line of merchandise and [[http://video.disney.com/watch/a-jolly-holi-day-ep-1-it-s-a-small-world-4ec07da3b0f9cf18da19518e an online animated series]], among other things.

* NationalAnimalStereotypes: Several countries in the ride are represented with, among others, their national animal. The Hong Kong version, at least, features [[KangaroosRepresentAustralia a kangaroo and her joey for Australia]], kiwi birds for New Zealand, a tiger for India, [[PandaingToTheAudience a panda]] for China, a camel for the Middle East, a variety of animals native to the savanna (e.g. zebras, hyenas, elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes, etc.) for Africa, [[EverythingsBetterWithLlamas llamas]] (or something along those lines) for the Andes in South America and penguins (presumably Magellanic penguins, though the coloration is more like generic-penguin) for presumably the continent's southern tip, [[EverythingsBetterWithCows a cow]] (presumably a Highland cow) for Scotland, etc.

* TheAmazon: Among the many locations is the rainforest in New Guinea, where the forest's inhabitants can be seen holding up umbrellas to protect themselves.

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Monkeys seem to be the most represented animal in the attraction, in particular appearing quite prominently in the Africa scene.

* AllLowercaseLetters: As mentioned, the ride's title is usually written as ''"it's a small world"'', with ScareQuotes. (Hey, the ride ''is'' named after its song.)

* SocietyMarchesOn: Although the show has always attempted to be culturally sensitive, one exception was the original Africa section. Not only did they have JunglesSoundLikeKookaburras, but the music was American jazz. The Californian version ditched this sound track and the current version uses more authentic African music. The Paris and Hong Kong versions never had this idea implemented in their versions while the Florida and Tokyo versions still use the American jazz.

* NationalAnimalStereotypes: Several countries in the ride are represented with, among others, their national animal. The Hong Kong version, at least, features [[KangaroosRepresentAustralia a kangaroo and her joey for Australia]], kiwi birds for New Zealand, a tiger for India, [[PandaingToTheAudience a panda]] for China, a camel for the Middle East, a variety of animals native to the savanna (e.g. zebras, hyenas, elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes, etc.) for Africa, [[EverythingsBetterWithLlamas llamas]] (or something along those lines) for the Andes in South America and penguins (presumably Magellanic penguins, though the coloration is more like generic-penguin) for presumably the continent's southern tip, etc.

* NationalAnimalStereotypes: Several countries in the ride are represented with, among others, their national animal. The Hong Kong version, at least, features [[KangaroosRepresentAustralia a kangaroo and her joey for Australia]], kiwi birds for New Zealand, a tiger for India, [[PandaingToTheAudience a panda]] for China, a camel for the Middle East, a variety of animals native to the savanna (e.g. zebras, hyenas, elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes, etc.) for Africa, llamas (or something along those lines) for the Andes in South America, etc.

->''"When we completed It’s a Small World for presentation at the New York World’s Fair, we felt that we had accomplished what we’d set out to do. We wanted to foster a better understanding among nations of the world by showing the dress, the customs, the language, the music and a little of the culture of our neighbors around the world, and we wanted to show it to be a very happy one. I think it’s safe to say that having fun has universal appeal."''

* EiffelTowerEffect: Many landmarks are used in the ride to represent certain locations, such as the Big Ben for the United Kingdom, the Eiffel Tower for France, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa for Italy. The Paris version goes even further and includes the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Hollywood Hills to represent the United States.