“It’s a Small World” is one of the most famous songs in the world, and yet it’s not really famous. It’s never been a hit single and hasn’t received much airtime on Top 40 radio. There’s even disagreement over its exact title. However, it is widely considered the most played song in music history, with an estimated 50 million plays. The song celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014.
While other songs like “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” by The Righteous Brothers and “Yesterday” by The Beatles have been played many times on radio and TV, they can’t compare to the sheer number of plays of “It’s a Small World.” Similarly, “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin is only played during the holiday season and has not been played as frequently as “It’s a Small World.” Even “Happy Birthday to You” by Patty and Mildred Hill is widely performed, but cannot be performed in public without paying royalties to Warner/Chappell Music.
“It’s a Small World” was composed by Richard and Robert Sherman, staff writers for Disney, for the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair pavilion ride. In 1998, Nigel Harrison’s book “Songwriters: A Biographical Dictionary with Discography” declared it the “most performed composition in the world.” Richard Sherman, the surviving brother, also believes it to be true.
The number of 50 million plays for “It’s a Small World” is based on estimation. The song debuted on April 22, 1964, at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens, as part of the star attraction, Disney’s UNICEF pavilion. The ride, designed by Imagineer Mary Blair, took visitors on an 11-minute boat tour through different parts of the world as animatronic dolls danced to the Shermans’ simple and repetitive refrain. After its success at the World’s Fair, the ride was installed at Disneyland in Anaheim and replicated in other Disney theme parks, including Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland.
If you haven’t been to a Disney theme park, you may not be familiar with “It’s a Small World.” But if you have, the song is almost impossible to forget. The four-chord jingle promotes international brotherhood, beginning with the verse: “It’s a world of laughter / A world of tears / It’s a world of hopes / And a world of fears / There’s so much that we share / That it’s time we’re aware / It’s a small world after all.” The chorus is even more memorable and unforgettable: “It’s a small world after all / It’s a small world after all / It’s a small world after all / It’s a small, small world.”
The World’s Fair in 1964-65 saw a Disney takeover, with the company creating several attractions including the Carousel of Progress for General Electric, an animatronic Abraham Lincoln for the Illinois pavilion, and the PeopleMover, a train ride, for Ford Motor Company. The Disney-designed UNICEF pavilion was one of the main draws of the fair, with Pepsi taking too long to decide on their own attraction. According to reports, movie star Joan Crawford, who was married to Pepsi CEO Alfred Steele, brought Walt Disney and Steele together to launch the project.
Robert Sherman and Richard, the sons of songwriter Al Sherman, were well-known composers in their own right. Al Sherman composed novelty songs for the depression era, and his sons followed in his footsteps, working for Disney and creating hits for Mousketeer Annette Funicello. The brothers won an Oscar for their score in Mary Poppins and had other notable hits, including “You’re Sixteen” for Johnny Burnette in 1960 and the songs for the 1967 film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Robert Sherman passed away in 2012 at the age of 86, while Richard is still alive at the age of 85.
The original design of the “It’s a Small World” ride featured dolls singing different national anthems, but it resulted in what Richard Sherman described as a “cacophony.” In response to the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Shermans wrote a peace anthem that promotes universal brotherhood in a world filled with fears. The song was eventually performed in multiple languages, including French, Japanese, and several Asian languages, and has become a global phenomenon. However, as contract writers for Disney, the Shermans did not receive any royalties for the song.
The “It’s a Small World” ride has been in operation for a total of 149 years and 8 months, with a few exceptions for park closures or ride maintenance. This equates to about 54,020 days. According to Disney, during a 16-hour operating day, the song is played approximately 1,200 times. This means the song has been played approximately 64,820,000 times at Disney parks. However, taking into account the fact that some parks do not operate for 16 hours a day, especially during the winter, a more conservative estimate would be approximately 48,618,000 plays, or nearly 50 million times.
Last week, Disney revealed plans for a movie adaptation of the popular attraction, to be directed by Jon Turteltaub and written by Jared Stern. The idea of a live-action film from a theme park ride with no plot, characters, or repetitive song may seem strange, but Disney has successfully made four movies based on its “Pirates of the Caribbean” ride, which earned a total of $3.7 billion globally. This new film is sure to bring in even more plays and dollars.
If the movie version of “It’s a Small World” proves to be successful, it could potentially launch a lucrative movie franchise for the studio. In that case, the most played song in music history might never leave our minds.
