Lots of grousing going on about these rumored additions to It's a Small World. You can read Al Lutz's original Miceage.com story here and some huffing and puffing that the Re-Imagineering guys have going on at this link.
What was Mary Blair thinking? This picture needs Stitch in a hula skirt!
My take? Well first off, the ride IS old and COULD stand for some serious reworking. But adding Disney characters isn't the fix...that's just Disney's brand-nazis at work.
In all likelihood, adding Blair-ish characters will just be ugly. Screw the trumped up stories that are already circulating about Walt considering just such a move when the show arrived at Disneyland in '65. Even if that is true, it's a skewed truth. Disney had a whole different approach to its characters in the sixties. It was certainly more restrained. Heck, I have a 1968 souvenir guide that doesn't feature a character until page 6. Imagine that today.
This is Disney's interpretation of a Mickey-tiki. If the "talents" at Disney can manage to take a playful "Polynesian" approach and churn out this gack, image how hideous their Mary Blair-inspired work could be. Yikes!
It's a Small World is a treasure, an attraction that was loved-on by some of the very best artists Disney ever employed. It doesn't deserve to be monkeyed with by punk-talents who are simply doing the bidding of their corporate masters.
Still this attraction is showing its age. No doubt if the Old Man were still running the joint, this show would have been gone a long time ago. I wonder what Walt would have done to top this classic. I wonder if anyone at WDI has the talent to answer that question.
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