It's A Small World - Sugar Minott

Legendary Reggae artist SUGAR MINOTT covers It's a Small World today as we travel to Fantasyland for today's installment of Disneyland Week.

The It's a Small World attraction was one of the few that Walt Disney created with his Imagineers for the 1964 New York World's Fair. The ride was designed by Mary Blair who also worked on conceptual work for Cinderella and Peter Pan.

Originally, the ride was supposed to be called "Children of the World" but when Walt heard the song, written by the Sherman Brothers, he knew he had to change the name based on this catchy tune. It's a Small World (After All) has become one of the most popular and well known Disney songs in history!

It's a Small World has been closed since January to be refurbished by adding a few Disney characters throughout the ride, here and there. It is planned to reopen in November. It's a Small World in Hong Kong Disneyland opened earlier this year with the Disney characters and it seems to have gone over well.

It's a Small World Sugar Minott 2001

It's a Small World/God Help the Outcasts - Kerry Butler

I'm sorry but there is no song today. The reason is that I want to promote this new Disney cover album that came out today but I don't have a copy of it yet so I can't post the track. I hope to have it very soon and I will repost it with the song at that time but you will have to wait for a little while.

The album is called FAITH, TRUST AND PIXIE DUST and it is by Broadway singer KERRY BUTLER. Butler is currently performing as Ariel in the Little Mermaid Broadway Musical. Having performed in other musicals such as Hairspray, Bat Boy, Little Shop of Horrors and as Belle in Beauty and the Beast.

UPDATE: Thank you to many readers who wrote in to tell me that Butler is not playing Ariel in the Broadway musical. However she was involved in the project, she recorded Ariel's voice for some of the demo recordings. I found a copy of her singing Part of Your World that I will post at a later date. It should also be said that I neglected to mention Xanadu, a musical for which Kerry Butler was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical! Good job Kerry!

Butler had now stepped out and recorded her first album, titled FAITH, TRUST AND PIXIE DUST, a line taken from I'll Try from Return to Neverland. She has chosen a selection of her favourite Disney songs and is giving them a non-Broadway feel. Simple and acoustic is the way to go for her. Also on the album are a few previously unreleased Disney songs, which I may post like I did with Clay Akien's Proud of Your Boy.

The track that I want to post today is a medley of It's a Small World and God Help the Outcasts. This sounds like an odd combination of songs and I haven't heard it yet so I can't really comment on it. However, there is a little story behind why God Help the Outcasts is on this disc. Apparently she held a contest asking people to submit a Disney song that they wanted to hear on the album. The winner got to sit in the studio as she recorded it.

Again, I will be posting this song as soon as I get it but if you want to hear a short sample you can click here or here.

UPDATE: Here it is, everyone! I finally got my hands on a copy of this album and am now sharing it with you! Enjoy!

It's a Small World/God Help the Outcasts Kerry Butler 2007

It's a Small World - Bob Kames & the Happy Organ

Have you ever been to a high school dance or wedding reception that didn't play The Chicken Dance? If you were at my wedding reception you didn't hear it. That's because I'm sick of it. But it is a good fun song that everyone knows the actions for that gets people on the dance floor.

If you have heard this song it's almost guaranteed that you heard a version recorded by BOB KAMES. Kames learned to play the organ after leaving the war in the 40s. He went on the road as an entertainer, playing in bars and clubs across the country. With over forty albums recorded in the 60s he quickly became the top selling solo organist! In the 70s he opened a Hammond organ store and produced a TV show, The Bob Kames Family Room, which featured his organ playing and ran for 17 years!

In 1982, Kames found success again when he recorded a version of Dance Little Bird, more commonly known as The Chicken Dance. But what most people don't know is that Kames also recorded a version of It's a Small World for the same album! Here it is for you to enjoy!

It's a Small World Bob Kames & the Happy Organ 1982

It's a Small World - Rodney Allen Rippy

What is the one thing that RODNEY ALLEN RIPPY is known for? It certainly isn't his music. The track that I have posted here is proof of that.

This cover of It's a Small World is off the TAKE LIFE A LITTLE EASIER LP from 1973. The whole album shows that not every child star should release a record. He is just not that good at all.

So what is little Rodney known for? If you grew up in the 70s you would know that he was the little kid who couldn't eat Jumbo Jack hamburgers on the Jack in the Box commercials because they were "too big to eat!"

By the way, I'm posting a cover of It's a Small World today because it was today in 1965 that was the final day of the 64/65 New York's World Fair. The fair was the first home to four Disneyland attractions: General Electric's Carousel of Progress, Ford's Magic Skyway, the State of Illinois' Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and Pepsi-Cola's It's A Small World.

It's a Small World Rodney Allen Rippy 1973

It's a Small World - Rockapella

When Walt Disney created the Small World ride for the World's Fair in 1964, he went to the Sherman Brothers for a song. He originally wanted the ride to feature all the nations theme songs, but when he realized that it would end up sounding like a garbled mess the Sherman Brothers wrote him a song that would unify all the worlds. Little did they know that It's a Small World would go down in history as one of the most annoying songs ever.

However, this version of It's a Small World is by the awesome a cappella group ROCKAPELLA. The group, which is most famous for their Folgers commercials and the Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? game show, turns this annoying tune into a very complex piece of music.

For those of you who don't know about this style of music, a cappella is music that is made completely with the human voice. There are no instruments used at all. Every single sound you hear is made with the human voice! Way cool.

It's a Small World Rockapella 2002