“It’s a Small World” is one of the most popular songs in the world, but it’s not really that famous. It was never a hit single and did not receive much airtime on Top 40 radio. There was even disagreement over its exact title. However, it is considered the most played song in music history, with an estimated 50 million plays. The song celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2014.
While other songs like “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” by The Ri Right Brothers and “Yesterday” by The Beatles have been played many times on radio and TV, they cannot be compared with the number of plays. Absolute play of “It’s a Small World.” Similarly, Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” is broadcast only during the holiday season and is not played as often as “It’s a Small World.” Even Patty and Mildred Hill’s “Happy Birthday” is widely performed, but cannot be performed in public without paying royalties to Warner/Chappell Music.
“It’s a Small World” was written by Richard and Robert Sherman, Disney screenwriters, for the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair pavilion. In 1998, Nigel Harrison’s book Songwriters: A Biographical Dictionary with Discography declared it “the most performed composition in the world”. Richard Sherman, the surviving brother, also believes that to be true.
The 50 million play figure for “It’s a Small World” is based on estimates. The song debuted on April 22, 1964, at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens, as part of a star attraction, Disney’s UNICEF booth. The ride, designed by Imagineer Mary Blair, takes visitors on an 11-minute boat tour through different parts of the world as animated dolls dance to a simple and repetitive chorus by Shermans. After the success at World’s Fair, the ride was installed at Disneyland in Anaheim and replicated in other Disney theme parks, including Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland.
If you’ve never been to a Disney theme park, you may not be familiar with “It’s a Small World.” But if you have, the song is almost impossible to forget. The four-chord jingle promotes international brotherhood, beginning with the sentence: “It is a world of laughter / It is a world of tears / It is a world of hope / And a world of fear / There’s so much we share / It’s time we’re aware / It’s a small world after all.” The chorus is even more memorable and unforgettable: “It’s a small world after all / It’s a small world after all / It’s a small world after all / It’s a small, small world.”
The 1964-1965 World’s Fair saw a takeover by Disney, with the company creating a number of attractions including the Carousel of Progress for General Electric, the Abraham Lincoln animation for the Illinois pavilion, and PeopleMover, a train ride, for Ford Motor Company. The Disney-designed UNICEF booth was one of the fair’s main attractions, while Pepsi took too long to decide on their own attraction. According to reports, movie star Joan Crawford, who is married to Pepsi CEO Alfred Steele, brought Walt Disney and Steele together to launch the project.
Robert Sherman and Richard, son of musician Al Sherman, are famous composers in their own right. Al Sherman wrote novel songs for the depression, and his sons followed in his footsteps, working for Disney and creating hits for Mousketeer Annette Funicello. The brothers won an Oscar for their music on Mary Poppins and had other notable hits, including “You’re Sixteen” for 1960’s Johnny Burnette and songs for the 1967 film Chitty Chitty. Bang Bang. Robert Sherman passed away in 2012 at the age of 86, while Richard is still alive at the age of 85.
The original design of the “It’s a Small World” ride featured dolls singing different national anthems, but it led to what Richard Sherman describes as a “buzz”. In response to the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Shermans wrote a peace anthem to promote global brotherhood in a world rife with fear. The song was eventually performed in multiple languages, including French, Japanese, and several Asian languages, and became a global phenomenon. However, as a contract writer for Disney, Shermans did not receive any royalties for the song.
The “It’s a Small World” ride has been running for a total of 149 years and 8 months, with a few exceptions due to park closures or ride maintenance. This equates to about 54,020 days. According to Disney, in a 16-hour day of activity, the song is played about 1,200 times. This means that the song has been played about 64,820,000 times at Disney parks. However, taking into account the fact that some parks are closed 16 hours a day, especially during winter, a more conservative estimate would be around 48,618,000 plays, or nearly 50 million.
Last week, Disney revealed plans for a film adaptation of the hit, directed by Jon Turteltaub and written by Jared Stern. The idea of a live-action movie about an amusement park ride with no recurring plots, characters, or songs may sound odd, but Disney has successfully made four films based on the ride. went on “Pirates of the Caribbean,” which grossed $3.7 billion globally. This new movie is sure to bring in even more views and dollars.
If the movie version of “It’s a Small World” succeeds, it could potentially launch a lucrative franchise for the studio. In that case, the most played song in music history will probably never leave our minds.
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Categories: Biography
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
