NOTE: This restoration has a soundtrack added; the original film was silent.
Our series of restored Disney souvenir films takes us around the world on the Happiest Cruise That Ever Sailed. it's a small world is, perhaps, Disney's most famous attraction. The original premiered at the
1964-65 New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, NY before moving to Disneyland in 1966.
In 1971 it's a small world was an opening day attraction at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World and is the second of an eventual five copies of the attraction (the others are in Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo).
The souvenir film shows the attraction's exterior with the Seven Dwarves apparently protesting it for some reason. We sail through Europe and Africa, South and North America, The Arctic and Antarctic, Australia, Asia and everywhere in between. Much like the Country Bears the changes here have been minimal over the years - improvements almost always being visual as opposed to material changes to the ride content.
The film condition prevents us from really seeing Imagineer Mary Blair's brilliant use of color and whimsy but you get a nice glimpse of ride footage that home movie makers rarely captured due to the difficulty shooting 8mm home movies in dark conditions.