Sorry if this has already been posted elsewhere, but this short video celebrating the history of the iasw theme song is worth a few minutes of your time if you have even the slightest smidge of affection for the attraction. (I’m not the biggest fan of the ride or the song but the video pulled my heartstrings.)
Oh my 
I had heard about this – but this video is just … wow 
Here are the lyrics to the last verse:
Mother earth unites us in heart and mind
And the love we give makes us humankind
Through our vast wondrous land
When we stand hand in hand
It’s a small world after all.
Do we know when he wrote this last verse?
It’s a much needed message that’s all too on-the-nose for current times.
The last verse was written by Richard Sherman shortly before he died in May 2024.
Thanks for that.
I knew he wrote it before he died (obviously) I just didn’t know how recent it was.
Sounds like it probably was exactly a response to the state of the world.
I will say the new verse is a banger! It is very sweet in the Tapestry of Happiness show. I highly recommend watching it if you are waiting for Paint the Night/ in the area late. It is a very nice tribute to the attractions, past and present of Disneyland and Walt’s vision for the ride: “We wanted to foster a better understanding of the nations of the world, and wanted to show it to be a very happy one”. Hearing the music in the queue, I sometimes catch myself thinking about the line “the love we give makes us human-kind” from the end of the show. It may be temporary and people have said, wait, what? there is a new verse? but it is really great!
Thanks so much for sharing, that made my heart happy today.
Small World has always been my mom’s favourite ride; it moves her nearly to tears every time she rides (and more often than not triggers her to wistfully comment on the need for more peace and unity in the world). It was the one must-do ride for our family every trip, and now when we go without her I always send her a video of my kids enjoying it.
So the ride has always held a special place in my heart. I ended up chosing a career in humanitarian work, and after working for a few other organizations eventually joined UNICEF eight years ago. It nearly blew my mind when I first realized that the ride was created in partnership with UNICEF (I vaguely knew it was first created for the 1964-1965 World’s Fair, but I never noticed UNICEF’s role within that).
I’d read somewhere about a last verse being added recently, but hadn’t heard it sung yet - so hearing it today, together with the images from the World’s Fair with the UNICEF logo touched a special nerve in me. I can’t wait to share it with my mom 
What a sweet story! I didn’t know about UNICEF’s connection with iasw.
I just watched it again. And then again. It’s so good. 
I love the Tapestry of Happiness projection, too. For me, it’s their best projection show yet.
Just watched the video and had my morning cry. Those guys brought so much to the Disney productions.