We are pushing head first into the 2019 movie season, with Disney bringing it’s huge heavy hitters to play this year. The company is set to release the following films in 2019: ‘Captain Marvel’, ‘Dumbo’, ‘Penguins’, ‘Avengers: Endgame’, ‘Aladdin’, ‘Toy Story 4’, The Lion King’, ‘Artemis Fowl’, ‘Frozen 2’ and ‘Star Wars Episode IX’ which are all certainly expected to rock the box office.
As Disney continues to be diving forward into the future and will be gaining a range of new assets once its acquisition of 21st Century Fox is finalised, their movie roster will surely expand and audiences can expect to see all sorts of films come from the Mouse House. However, there is one property out of the thousands in Mickey Mouse’s catalogue that Disney has yet to explore in a film: ‘It’s A Small World’.
Audiences will be familiar with ‘It’s A Small World’ if you have ever visited any of the Disney parks, where you are taken on a boat ride past hundreds of animatronic children, dressed in traditional costumes from many cultures around the world representing international unity. The ride is also known for its very catchy song (the song which has been stuck in my head for decades) which is said to be the most publicly performed song of all time.
‘It’s A Small World’ is taking small steps in it’s journey to the big screen. Despite Jon Turteltaub being attached to develop the film, and updating to Slashfilm back in August that the film is still in the development stage, it’s been over 2 years with seemingly small movement. Many people may believe that this ride simply does not need a film adaption and that instead, Disney could use this extra film slot to finally make ‘Tron 3’ however, there’s a very significant reason why I personally believe it’s time for ‘It’s A Small World’ to be adapted into a feature film.
‘It’s A Small World’ represents international unity, it represents a range of different cultures from around the world, the ride may be perceived as a fun ride that takes you to all these beautiful settings, which of course it does however, the ride showcases all of these different sorts of cultures to families, it shows these cultures as entertaining and all uniquely different from each other however they are still all united despite being so unique.
Following 2018, where we had the massive financial success of ‘Black Panther’ which gave audiences a glimpse into African culture, representation is an important aspect that needs to be continued to be pushed in all films and personally I feel that ‘It’s A Small World’ can help push this. By providing movie audiences a glimpse into all of these unique cultures and giving the message that although all these cultures are so different and unique, we can all be united. For example, look at this verse from the iconic song that plays during the ride.
“There is just one moon and one golden sun
And a smile means
Friendship to ev’ryone
Though the mountains divide
And the oceans are wide
It’s a small world after all”
This verse summarises my entire stance on why I believe this film should be made. The ride tells audiences that although we may be divided by mountains, we share one moon and one sun, it tells audiences that people can be so different yet so similar. When I was a child and I first went on this ride, as silly as it may sound, it introduced me to cultures I had never seen before, it’s why it remains one of my favourite rides, it amazed me as a child and it still amazes me today.
However, the Disney parks close at 9pm and are only located in certain parts of the world but cinemas are located all across the world. Through a film, ‘It’s A Small World’ can touch thousands of families and can further representation through representing different cultures, showing families different parts of the world that they may not have been aware of before, showing audiences that they may not be so different to everyone else, and that everyone can be united.
Because, it is a small world after all.
