I’m very sad about the latest news about Mary Blair’s “Small World” attraction in Disneyland, Florida. I am a big fan of her amazing work and I always wanted to visit Disneyland instead of any other Disney park just because of it.
Early this year, Disney announced the closure of Small World for refurbishments 2009. It seems that the plan includes some important changes on the original set, such as the addition of Disney characters such as Donald, Simba, and Lilo and Stitch. But the worst news are about the abolition of Mary Blair’s “Rainforest” scene, which will be replaced by a new part called “Up with America”. This has been the beginning of a big controversy on the Internet with fire crossed between detractors and defenders of the new changes. For me, these changes are really bad news. I always wanted to visit Mary Blair’s attraction and see it just like the books I used to read as a kid. I don’t understand why perfect pieces of work like this need to be changed.
A web site called Save The Small World has started a campaign under the slogan “Save the Rainforest, Save the Small World” where you can follow up all the press releases and responses from Disney’s spokespeople. Other interesting articles I’ve found about this subject are:
-The World May Never be the Same
-A World of Tears
-Small World Reflections
As you may know, Walt was a great admirer of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí. Just like Walt, Gaudí died before seeing his lifetime master work finished -La Sagrada Familia cathedral- It may take another 100 years to be completed. So, new ideas and new visions from other artists are being added to Gaudi’s original vision. There’s nothing wrong about it. But, nobody is changing an inch of whatever Gaudí built and put on paper while he was alive!
I guess that the point here is if you see Mary’s work as a piece of modern art, or just like a mere attraction. If Disney sees her work just like an amusing ride for the kids which needs getting renewed every few years, then I would think the company is loosing the view on what the concept of “modern forms of art” means. Then, movies like “Fantasia” wouldn’t be considered pieces of modern art anymore, they will also become mere attractions that may need refurbishment every once in a while. Is this really what the company wants for their pieces of art?
Mary Blair is the one who did this piece of work in her own time frame and I think it deserves respect. No mather what future generations think what would they do with it. Respect for the artist’s work!
