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RE: It's A Small World
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Valerie Walsh
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Dec 13, 2006 06:14 PST
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Pete Karaiskos wrote:
| | Wow... that's great! See, it really IS a small world. The idea behind
the Small World ride at Tokyo Disneyland was to make it cheaper (a real
challenge as it's mostly a bunch of painted plywood with dolls).
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You sure the idea wasn't to make it smaller? The net effect was, as I
recall, a little shop of horrors kind of thing.
So
| | where we had a post with a cap, and the cap was composed of four balls,
largest at the bottom, smallest at the top, the directive was to create
the same effect using three balls. Can you believe somebody the size of
Disney wanted to save on wooden balls? The idea was insane. In the
whole ride, they saved maybe 30 wooden balls. Now I can go to the
crafts store and buy them for about, what 25c ea. With the time to
paint them - maybe a buck each. $30 savings. Compare that to having
designers sitting around re-designing them, and the posts they go on
(had to be shortened), and creating drawings and stuff, calling out
colors and paint schemes and people checking and approving them - vs -
leaving the friggin' balls alone and using the same scheme as the
original Small World. It doesn't get much stupider that that.
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Obviously, it wasn't about the money, honey. It was about America once
again asserting their superiority over Japan while using Japan's own
sense of asthetics to do so -it's actually quite brilliant if you're
into that sort of thing which Walt definitely was.
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I remember one of the things we DID do that was important was to brace
the hell out of everything because of the weather in Tokyo, earthquakes,
hurricanes, and crap like that.
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Yeah, we always had great weather when I was there-could see Mt. Fuji
which I always just took for granted but guess it's somewhat rare. But I
remember only three things about that particular park-first the
obsession with cleanliness-way over and above other Disney parks-so you
know this means totally over the top! Second-a hillbilly bear show and
third, yes you guessed it-your ride!!! -Val
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