‘It’s a Small World After All’: Mapping the Similarities and Differences Between Music in De Efteling and the Disney-Parks

Maria Schreurs, Utrecht University

Location

Rosen Classroom 111

Start Date

21-6-2024 3:00 PM

About the Presenters

Maria Schreurs is currently a postgraduate student in the Research Master program in Musicology at Utrecht University. Her main research interest revolves around choreomusical relations in ballet, with a particular focus on the works of British choreographer Frederick Ashton (1904-1988). Her master thesis, titled ‘“The Dance That Does Not Speak Its Name”: Choreomusial Masculinity in the Works of Frederick Ashton’ which is supervised by Dr. Annelies Andries, examines how choreomusical analysis can unveil notions of masculinity in the ballets of Frederick Ashton.

Next to her interest in ballet, she has a great affinity with music in Dutch theme park De Efteling and has worked on De Efteling’s approach to preserve Dutch cultural heritage through music and sounds.

Description

‘There’s so much that we share, and it’s time we’re aware it’s a small world after all’. Often cited to be the most played song of all time, ‘It’s A Small World’ from the eponymous Disney-attraction is also one of the most notorious compositions in the theme park sphere. Due to the song’s repetitive melody and simple lyrics, composer Richard Sherman has stated that people ‘either want to kiss me or to kill me’ for writing it. Interestingly, around 4500 miles away, in the Netherlands, a similar sentiment is shared about an around-the-world dark-ride with a distinct theme song…

Carnaval Festival, located in Dutch theme park De Efteling, was directly inspired by It’s a Small World. Like its Disney counterpart, Carnival Festival depicts celebration through many different countries and is underscored by a catchy melody written by Dutch comedian Toon Hermans. However, like It’s a Small World, Carnaval Festival’s main melody is notorious and extremely divisive, as it is frequently voted ‘the most annoying earworm of The Netherlands’.

Despite the obvious parallels between the two attractions, the use of its music actually underlines some fundamental differences between the Disney parks and De Efteling, which functions as a good representation of theme park culture in Europe. This conference paper will take the case studies of Disney’s It’s a Small World and De Efteling’s Carnaval Festival, comparing them to one another. I will go over the history of both theme parks, the conception of both rides and their distinct theme songs, the similarities and differences of these attractions, and finally the relationship between Disney and De Efteling and the influence they have on each other.

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Jun 21st, 3:00 PM

‘It’s a Small World After All’: Mapping the Similarities and Differences Between Music in De Efteling and the Disney-Parks

Rosen Classroom 111

‘There’s so much that we share, and it’s time we’re aware it’s a small world after all’. Often cited to be the most played song of all time, ‘It’s A Small World’ from the eponymous Disney-attraction is also one of the most notorious compositions in the theme park sphere. Due to the song’s repetitive melody and simple lyrics, composer Richard Sherman has stated that people ‘either want to kiss me or to kill me’ for writing it. Interestingly, around 4500 miles away, in the Netherlands, a similar sentiment is shared about an around-the-world dark-ride with a distinct theme song…

Carnaval Festival, located in Dutch theme park De Efteling, was directly inspired by It’s a Small World. Like its Disney counterpart, Carnival Festival depicts celebration through many different countries and is underscored by a catchy melody written by Dutch comedian Toon Hermans. However, like It’s a Small World, Carnaval Festival’s main melody is notorious and extremely divisive, as it is frequently voted ‘the most annoying earworm of The Netherlands’.

Despite the obvious parallels between the two attractions, the use of its music actually underlines some fundamental differences between the Disney parks and De Efteling, which functions as a good representation of theme park culture in Europe. This conference paper will take the case studies of Disney’s It’s a Small World and De Efteling’s Carnaval Festival, comparing them to one another. I will go over the history of both theme parks, the conception of both rides and their distinct theme songs, the similarities and differences of these attractions, and finally the relationship between Disney and De Efteling and the influence they have on each other.