For Fans of Disney’s ‘It’s a Small World’ Tune, There’s a Third Verse After All

Park-goers will be treated to a new last verse starting July 17. And yes, it'll probably stay in your head.

Visitors take photos of the Castle of Magical Dreams at Disneyland Resort in Hong Kong on June 18, 2020. Billy H.C. Kwok/Getty Images

Millions of visitors to Disneyland and Walt Disney World will hear a third verse to the memorable “It’s a Small World” tune after Disney debuts the iconic ride’s new finale starting July 17.

Park-goers are easily hooked on the 61-year-old melody, especially after floating through the cheerful attraction filled with animatronic dolls depicting children from around the globe.

“It’s a Small World” debuted at the New York World’s Fair in 1964 and was relocated to Disneyland in 1966.

“This beloved attraction has become a symbol of global unity and the simple, yet profound idea that across countries and continents, humans like us all around the world are connected, and not too different from one another after all,” Disney’s global public relations manager Kaitlin Bailey wrote in a tribute to the ride last year.

In the mid-1960s, Walt Disney was commissioned to create a “salute to all the world’s children” attraction for the U.N. Children’s Fund pavilion at the World’s Fair. He envisioned a boat ride that transported guests from country to country on “The Happiest Cruise That Ever Sailed.”

The ride features children from around the world singing in harmony and promoting peace.

Each scene of “It’s a Small World” shows different regions of the world, populated by children wearing traditional outfits and singing “It’s a Small World” in multiple languages.

As part of the ride’s creation, brothers and Disney legends Richard and Robert Sherman composed the attraction’s unforgettable theme song with two verses in 1964.

Richard Sherman wrote a third verse and presented it to The Walt Disney Company’s CEO Bob Iger in 2023 as his final gift to Disney before he died.

The final scene will include this third 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.”

People enter Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., on April 24, 2023. Mario Tama/Getty Images

“The update to the finale scene is meant to add to the attraction’s legacy and further emphasize the son’s meaning,” Disney associate Juan Lugo wrote in the Disney Parks blog. “As Gregg Sherman, son of Richard Sherman, explains, the new verse is intended to ‘celebrate that there’s more that unites us than divides us, and reinforce the message of that song.’”

Fans who want to hear the new verse can listen to a digital single wherever they get their music, according to Disney.

The company is also offering a special edition vinyl for purchase starting July 18.