It's a Small World - Isn't It?

It's a small world, isn't it? Oh God - yes. And if there's one thing guaranteed to make you feel really claustrophobic it's the Disney ride of the same name. Nobody loves a hater but ... the song! the stupidly slow boat! the stupidly nodding characters! Disney's rides get more and more sophisticated - they've already recreated Everest and Kilimanjaro at the Animal Kingdom, and the rest of the world at Epcot (yes, non-Disney fans, it is a bit odd) - and yet 'The Happiest Cruise that has Ever Sailed' just won't say die.

Instead they've revamped it. Now Aladdin, Nemo and Ariel et al lurk by the watery trail, and the song has been replaced by a medley of Disney's greatest hits. Granted, I haven't actually been (minor detail) but it will, I suspect, please no one: traditionalists can only be disappointed, and it sounds too insipid to draw in any new fans. Half measures, people of Walt, dismal half measures!

Putting my own prejudices aside - here then, for those that loved it, is The Way It Was (circa 1970):