# Why is "It's a Small World" so well known? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 15, 2019, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-its-a-small-world-so-well-known/841779 "2019-10-15T10:22:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-its-a-small-world-so-well-known/841779/21 "2019-10-16T11:24:30Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > In the UNICEF pavilion. The dinosaurs were in the Ford pavilion, and the robotic Abe Lincoln was in the Illinois pavilion. It may technically have been the UNICEF pavilion, but the Pepsi logo was splashed all over the place, and Pepsi was the company that sponsored and requested it, so I’ve always thought of it as the Pepsi Pavilion. And if you’re listing the Disney contributions to the 1964-5 World’s Fair, don’t forget the GE pavilion, with the Carousel of Progress. It featured yet another song by the brothers Sherman – “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” > **[The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair - General Electric](https://www.worldsfairphotos.com/nywf64/general-electric.htm)** > > The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair - General Electric ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-its-a-small-world-so-well-known/841779/22 "2019-10-16T12:46:46Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > _\_ the ride for the World’s Fair back in 1964\* \\* That’s where I first heard it. It stayed with me long before Disney World came into being. Infectious, it is! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-its-a-small-world-so-well-known/841779/23 "2019-10-16T14:39:45Z")
> [@curwin](#): > > As far as I can tell “It’s a Small World” is only really known as a song played on rides in Disney parks. And yet - it’s very well known. > > First of all, I’m sure the popularity of the song is greater than the percentage of people who have been on those rides. > > And secondly, you hear a song **once** on a ride, in a park you visit maybe every few years - why would that make it so memorable? Once. That’s a good one. Try about eighty times. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-its-a-small-world-so-well-known/841779/24 "2019-10-16T14:42:46Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I played it in a piano recital when I was a kid. My poor mother had to listen to me practice it a lot. (She never complained.) And that is why you are NEVER to put her in a nursing home, young lady! ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-its-a-small-world-so-well-known/841779/25 "2019-10-16T14:58:52Z")
It is the only Disney song not to be copyrighted so it was free for people to play and perform. ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-its-a-small-world-so-well-known/841779/26 "2019-10-16T16:15:38Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Is that the origin story for your disgruntlement? Yes, now that I think about it, I believe it was. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-its-a-small-world-so-well-known/841779/27 "2019-10-16T16:18:51Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > It is the only Disney song not to be copyrighted so it was free for people to play and perform. > **["It's a Small World" Copyright Status](https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/its-a-small-world-copyright-status.457761/)** > > The claim that the song "It's a Small World" (which began as the centerpiece of a Disney World theme park attraction of the same name in 1964 and has... \*The claim that the song “It’s a Small World” (which began as the centerpiece of a Disney World theme park attraction of the same name in 1964 and has since been a popular tune for children’s musical toys) being un-copyrighted is false. Of course the song is under copyright! The original 1963 registration was given the number EU0000793673, and its 1991 renewal was given the number RE0000548478. If you factor in the Copyright Act 1976, which passed prior to the song’s renewal in 1991, the 1963 copyright status was increased to 75 years, to end in 2048. The 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act (also called the Sonny Bono Act and, humorously, the Mickey Mouse Protection Act), adds still another 20 years. One of the song’s writers, Robert Sherman, died in 2012, but his brother Richard is still alive, so more years will have to be factored in before it is possible to sing this song in public without being caught by the legal police.\* ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-its-a-small-world-so-well-known/841779/28 "2019-10-16T18:38:33Z")
I don’t hate it but I would list it as one of the ten most effective earworms. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-its-a-small-world-so-well-known/841779/29 "2019-10-16T18:55:23Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It may technically have been the UNICEF pavilion, but the Pepsi logo was splashed all over the place, and Pepsi was the company that sponsored and requested it, so I’ve always thought of it as the Pepsi Pavilion. > > And if you’re listing the Disney contributions to the 1964-5 World’s Fair, don’t forget the GE pavilion, with the Carousel of Progress. It featured yet another song by the brothers Sherman – “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” > > [The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair - General Electric](https://www.worldsfairphotos.com/nywf64/general-electric.htm) I knew I was missing one. I saw that at Disneyland also. I think of it as the UNICEF pavilion because when I was in junior high my friend and I did a raffle for UNICEF and brought the proceeds to some very confused people at the pavilion. ---
**Author:** ![sps49sd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@sps49sd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sps49sd)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-its-a-small-world-so-well-known/841779/30 "2019-10-18T07:26:57Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Well…I _like_ it. Always have. Me too. I associate it with the blessed air conditioning that was so elusive in Lake Buena Vista County. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2019, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-its-a-small-world-so-well-known/841779/31 "2019-10-18T12:48:18Z")
It just doesn’t sound like a “Disney Song” to me. It has the same characteristics of older public domain songs, with it’s simple harmonic progression. I heard it in the same places I originally heard “Old MacDonald” and “Three Blind Mice”–those children’s song tapes. I honestly just learned from this post that it was actually written for Disney, and not them repurposing an existing song. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-its-a-small-world-so-well-known/841779.md?page=1)