Saturday, May 28, 2016 is a very special day for Disney Parks! 50 years ago that day, the it’s a small world® attraction opened to the public at Disneyland® Park after its debut at the 1964 World’s Fair.

Throughout its time, it’s a small world® has touched and inspired hundreds of millions of people. We’ve collected a few videos below that explain the optimism and hope this timeless attraction was designed to share.

Creation of a Classic

It all started in 1963 when Walt was asked by Pepsi-Cola to create an exhibit for the upcoming World’s Fair that would salute UNICEF and children around the world. The result was it’s a small world®, a boat ride attraction that entertained more than 10 million visitors with a trip through different regions and countries of the world during it’s 2-year run in New York City.

This video shares a brief overview of the attractions past – both at the World’s Fair and once relocated (and enlarged 33%) at its permanent home in Disneyland® Park in 1966.

Disney Legend and former Imagineer Rolly Crump was part of the it’s a small world® project from the very beginning and has some very fond memories of his peers and the creation of the attraction.

The Iconic Song

The original concept for it’s a small world® featured dolls that would sing the national anthems of the various countries throughout the voyage. When that idea turned out to be a cacophony, Walt Disney turned to Academy Award®-winning composers The Sherman Brothers (Richard M. and Robert B.) to create a simple, yet catchy song for his new attraction that could be translated and sung in many different languages. The finished product – “It’s A Small World (After All)” – became one of the most famous and perhaps the happiest of Disney tunes.

Over 50 years later, that song continues to be an “earworm” to people around the globe as it is the most translated, most performed song in the World!

A Quintessential Disney Parks Experience

In 1964 Walt Disney introduced “the happiest cruise that ever sailed” and ever since Imagineers have worked hard to maintain this quintessential Disney Parks experience. In addition to the original attraction that is now inside Disneyland® Park, guests can also experience it’s a small world® at the Magic Kingdom® Park (Walt Disney World® Resort, Florida), Tokyo Disneyland®, Disneyland® Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland®. And since 1992, the attractions cheerful anthem has been heard somewhere on the planet every hour of every day!

Extreme care has been taken by Imagineers to maintain the ride’s unique theming and message through the updates over the years.

 We hope you enjoyed our look back at this Disney icon and agree that it is “a small world after all!”