Art director Kim Irvine sought to emulate Blair's artistic style in creating the new America scene, which the original designer had sketched for Small World but which never made it into the attraction. The new room depicts the agricultural heartland, with a red barn towering over farmer dolls in overalls and straw hats, and the American West, with "Toy Story" characters Jessie and Woody against the backdrop of the Butte Mountains.
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'Small World' renovation presents a big challenge
The venerable Disneyland ride reopens Friday with new scenes and characters.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday, August 14, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 41 words Type of Material: Correction
Small World ride: A Business article Feb. 5 about Disneyland's revamped It's a Small World ride said one scene depicted Peter Pan and Tinker Bell flying over "one tower of the London Bridge." The scene shows the Tower Bridge in London.
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Evidence of just how closely Irvine's style approximated that of Blair, with whom Irvine had worked on the Small World attraction at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., became apparent when Baxter found one of Blair's original sketches of the American West on sale at the Comic-Con comic book convention in San Diego.
"I said, 'Kim, you're not going to believe this,' " Baxter recalled. "So I took a picture of it, and I brought it back and I showed it to everybody. We were well along with our design, but it was so close to what our design was."
To make room for America, Disney moved the rain forest and all its whimsical creatures to the South Pacific -- a transplantation the Imagineers justified by noting that Australia boasts rain forests in its northern region.
This isn't the first time Small World has undergone change. Over the years, Imagineers have incorporated parts of the world that ride designers glossed over in 1964, including China and the Philippines.
The designers have also responded to feedback from visitors who have noted when the traditional costumes aren't authentic -- pointing out, for example, when a sash isn't quite right or a bow is tied too small. This time, Irvine invested long hours researching the Cherokee and Apache headdresses to ensure Native Americans are accurately portrayed.
"The point of that ride was, no matter how different we appear, there are certain things that we all share. We're all the same underneath," said Jamie O'Boyle, senior analyst for the Center for Cultural Studies and Analysis, a think tank in Philadelphia. "Apparently, the message took. The people in the boats today look like the ride."
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dawn.chmielewski@latimes.com
