It's a small world
Hello my little swallows!
It's a small world... A whole program, I could tell you that in 1993, when I was 5 years old, I had the chance to visit my family in Florida and I went to Disney World... The whole thing: Minnie's drawing, Mickey's ears, the spindle, the shaky camcorder, my father's moustache, my mother's ray bans... In short, memories that I'm rediscovering in photos and video... And like most 5-year-olds, I'm no taller than 1m40, and the park's attractions are downright limited to me, but I'm said to have fallen in love with the little dolls in "it's a small world". Like most families, the "little dolls" song will drive my parents crazy (me too, in fact, that would explain a lot)...
A few years later, in 2012, I went to New York and during a wonderful exhibition "Century of the Child" at the Moma, I fell in love and discovered Mary Blair's illustrations. Intersideral crush. In this exhibition, there's the original drawing of the attraction's monumental façade. I'm all love and I discover that in 1964 Walt Disney entrusted Mary Blair with the design of the attraction. It all makes sense. Then, a few months ago, to mark the 50th anniversary of it's a small world, Disney asked 10 designers to create a dress for the little dolls, which would then be donated to Unicef. And giant ears on the mouse, the Disney team asks me, little lemonade, to make one. I'm so excited, I'm thinking "if you only knew how much I want to do it!" I grow wings and even negotiate to go inside the park's costume workshops, to meet the little hands! I'll take you with me...
Once we arrive at the Park, Charlotte and I are quickly led backstage through unsuspected secret passages. The workshops are under construction, and the little hands are working in a building just behind the it's a small world attraction... It's absolutely incredible, the people are so disconcertingly kind, and I love their thirst for sharing and sharing their work. I discover that there are 275 characters, all animated, and as many different costumes, all designed in duplicate, in case a character is damaged during a performance, or gets spotted on his lunch break in the canteen.
As I'm like a sponge every time I visit a workshop, it was great to discover all these things, these little manufacturing secrets. For example, the dolls in the attraction are as big as 4-year-olds... The original dolls are hand-painted, but they're being replaced by new celluloid ones. Or I've learned that the dolls' wigs, for example, are all made from wool, by one and the same person, and styled by a hairdresser who looks after all the characters in the park. And every morning, with the help of the costume designers, they make the rounds of the park, untangling Captain Hook's beard, or sewing on a button on Aladdin's vest etc... It leaves me completely blissed out, and I wanted to make lots of jokes, but I restrained myself... Can you imagine when these little hands get home in the evening... "What did you do today, darling? I mended Tinkerbell's wings and finished Mary Poppins' dress for the spring parade,routine...."
I hope you enjoyed this little tour, and I'd like to thank the Disney communications team, Mikaël and Marie for their confidence, the little hands for their warm welcome and availability, and my Charlotte for her time and patience. To discover all the little dolls created by designers and bloggers, please visit here.
