small world september 2024 exercise challenge

With an additional 40 minutes for me from yoga last night and some walking/dancing around today, I have reached African Orange. ShannyMcB jumped in and got straight to African Orange as well!

We may have all heard the expression "Africa is not a country," which is an apt observation considering how the entire continent often gets lumped together, even though there are many unique and diverse cultures even within its countries. Alas, small world tends to fall into the trap as well, considering that, as far as I can tell, Kenya is the only Subsuharan African nation to get its own display. All other African nations are vaguely and generically represented.

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Look at this cute Disney Animator's Collection version of the small world Kenya doll! I didn't even realize there was a series of these. If I did know, I would have been quite tempted. Such sweet faces!
 
With an additional 40 minutes for me from yoga last night and some walking/dancing around today, I have reached African Orange. ShannyMcB jumped in and got straight to African Orange as well!

We may have all heard the expression "Africa is not a country," which is an apt observation considering how the entire continent often gets lumped together, even though there are many unique and diverse cultures even within its countries. Alas, small world tends to fall into the trap as well, considering that, as far as I can tell, Kenya is the only Subsuharan African nation to get its own display. All other African nations are vaguely and generically represented.

View attachment 892685
Look at this cute Disney Animator's Collection version of the small world Kenya doll! I didn't even realize there was a series of these. If I did know, I would have been quite tempted. Such sweet faces!
Adorable doll!
 
Twilight Sparkle, PollyannaMom and the Team are now all African Orange!

Another African nation represented in its a small world is Egypt! I found this cute figurine of the queen of the Nile, which can be yours for just $799!
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And your small world Egypt scene wouldn't be complete without a sphynx, which is only another $250.
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(The second-hand market for Disney collectibles is outrageous)

The reclining queen doll is allegedly known as Cleopatra and appears in different formats in the various iterations of the ride.
  • In the 1964 New York World's Fair, Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland versions, Cleopatra is prone on a bed.
  • In the Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris versions, Cleopatra is prone on a boat on the water.
    • In Disneyland Paris version, she also has a servant to fan her. How luxurious!
 
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Crazy around here - so I didn't meet my weekly goal, which made me realize I didn't really set weekly goals. Whoops! Moving right along...

9/7 - 62 minutes at the gym
9/10 - 66 minutes at the gym
9/11 - 48 minutes on the treadmill. My latest treadmill show didn't catch me, so I went back to my playlist, which ends with Happily Ever After. I stepped off the treadmill wanting to see it again just to hear James Earl Jones say "Remember who you are." And thus, our 'Universal with just one night at MNSSHP' trip is now '4 parks in one day, ending with HEA, and then MNSSHP, but really it's still a Universal trip, I swear'. :laughing:

288/770 - 37%
 
Raya and sophy1996 are now both African Orange!

I watched the it's a small world episode of Behind the Attraction on Disney+ yesterday evening and there were several fun stories about how the attraction came to be (even though I find the way the episodes are edited together to be kind of annoying to watch).

We probably all know that it's a small world started out as a pavillion for the 1964-1965 World's Fair in NYC. How that came together is quite interesting. Walt Disney had already committed to creating 3 attractions for Ford, General Electric, and the state of Illinois (The Skyway, Carousel of Progess, and the Lincoln Animatronic, respectively) and the imagineers were stretched thin enough with those assignments. All work on Disneyland halted while they prepared for the fair. Then, less than a year before the World's Fair was set to begin, Pepsi called Disney to ask them to make a ride for their pavillion. An executive in Walt's office declined, considering their workload. Joan Crawford, as a chair on Pepsi's board of directors, ran into Walt at a Hollywood party and griped to him about being turned down. Walt told her they'd make it happen. All told, it's a small world came together in less than 11 months! All proceeds from the Pepsi pavilion went to one of Crawford's favorite charities: UNICEF.
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48 minutes on the treadmill this morning. I spent about 10 minutes in bed trying to figure out if I *really needed* that run to hit my goal before giving up on doing math in my head and just running. So there it is: I'm motivated by desperation or the need to avoid math. :P

336/770 - 43%
 
I have some yoga and growwithjo since my last update for an additional 50 minutes, bringing me to Penguin Purple!
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The color purple is fitting considering the color of their funky little hats! These penguins represent the 7th continent, Antarctica and are featured in the same room as many Latin American countries. Honestly, it's sort of fitting considering that Penguins also live in South America!
 
No color changes today, so I'll share a little about the unique flair of Mary Blair.

When Pepsi asked Disney to create an attraction honoring the children of the world for the World's Fair, Mary Blair came to mind as the artist to contact for the concept art, because her iconic style included very sweet and innocent depictions of children. For instance, a book illustrated by her called "I Can Fly" reflects the style of its a small world.
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Mary Blair actually came out of retirement to create concepts for the attraction. When it came time to move the ride to Anaheim after the Fair ended, she was once again asked to create concepts for the exterior of the show building. Her idea had the building resembling children's blocks. Apparently, Walt wasn't a huge fan of the idea, so Mary said forget it and went back into retirement.

Imagineer Rolly Crump took over and pretty much used her concept anyway, just with the addition of the iconic clock face! Charles has a set of blocks of the small world facade, which kind of brings the whole premise full circle.
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Here's a cute little featurette from Disney Channel about Mary Blair's career with Disney.
(When I volunteered to take on September, I had no idea we'd be travelling. I'll be out of town next week visiting family, so my updates may be even more sporadic or even non-existent. Please bear with me!)
 
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64 minutes at the gym yesterday, but only 39 of them were 'moderate' zone minutes - So with 2 weeks to go I need 370 minutes, or 185 minutes a week. That's could be my regular 2 gym visits (120 minutes) and one other 65 minute work out each week. I'm trying to decide if that's the goal or if I'm better off doing two 35 minute work outs. My knee has been cranky lately. I'm never sure what to do with it - long and slow, or short but more often. Honestly, some days I miss having a running plan to tell me exactly what work outs to do (but I don't miss enough to go research one and stick to it) :P

400/770 = 51%
 













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