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

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah - Don Carlos

Hattie McDaniel, Aunt Tempy in Song of the South, was the first black woman to be nominated and win an Academy Award. She won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role of Mammy in Gone with the Wind. Today we celebrate the day of her birth with a song from Song of the South, one of her last movies.

The song is Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah and it is performed by reggae legend DON CARLOS and can be found on the album REGGAE FOR KIDS: MOVIE CLASSICS. Carlos kicked off his music career singing for the reggae group Black Uhuru in 1973. While the group did very well for themselves, it was Carlos' live show in dance clubs that brought in the crowds, leading Carlos to record a dozen solo albums. Black Uhuru didn't last but Carlos still tours the world to this very day.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Don Carlos 2001

Hakuna Matata - Bunny Wailer

Rasta Records has a whole line of reggae cds aimed at getting kids enthusiastic about the reggae genre. The albums are all well thought out and well produced with top reggae talent performing childrens music. In 2001 they released REGGAE FOR KIDS: MOVIE CLASSICS, a whole album of Disney covers done reggae!

The first track on the album is the Lion King's Hakuna Matata. What an appropriate song for this album. Timon and Pumbaa's motto of "no worries" reflects the reggae lifestyle and is perfect in a laid back reggae beat.

This song is sung by BUNNY WAILER one of the two surviving members of the Wailers. Bunny, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh banded together in 1963 and went through a few name changes before settling on the Wailers in 1966.

The Wailers broke up in 1976 and the three founding members went on to pursue solo careers. Peter Tosh used his music as a vehicle for his campaign to legalize marijuana and Bob Marley found international fame as Bob Marley and the Wailers. But Bunny Wailer, always the most laid back of the trio, decided to stay true to his Rastafari roots and stay in Jamaica recording album after album of reggae hits. He won three Grammy Awards in the 90s for Best Reggae Album.

Hakuna Matata Bunny Wailer 2001

Hakuna Matata - Lebo M & Jimmy Cliff

It means 'No worries for the rest of your days'. Everyone now knows the meaning to the Swahili phrase 'hakuna matata' thanks to the Lion King. The song, written by Elton John and Tim Rice, and originally recorded by Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella, was one of the main plot points and one of the catchier tunes in the film. Timon and Pumbaa explains to Simba how they live their life.

While I love this song, it always sort of bothered me that this song gained so much popularity because it is teaching Simba a lesson that he later finds out is holding him back from achieving his goal. Not really the lesson to teach kids.

This version of Hakuna Matata can be found on the 1995 release RHYTHM OF THE PRIDE LANDS, a follow-up soundtrack to the popular LION KING soundtrack. The album features LEBO M, a South African composer who did a lot of work on the Lion King movies and Broadway musicals. Joining him on this track is JIMMY CLIFF who you probably as the guy who sings I Can See Clearly Now. You'll notice that this version not only expands on the origin of Pumbaa but it also goes into Timon's past.

Hakuna Matata Lebo M & Jimmy Cliff 1995