And we're all really small - and repetitive.

Disney itself has parodied the song. In the smash 1994 animated feature The Lion King, the villain, Scar, demands to be serenaded to improve his bad mood. His lackey Zazu begins to sing "It's a Small World (After All)," prompting Scar to shout in abject horror, "No, No! ANYTHING but that!" The song is also japed in the "MuppetVision 3D" attraction at Disney Parks in California and Florida.

"The song's perpetual cheery disposition may be grating on some nerves but there's no denying it's a catchy tune," asserts Sherman somewhat defensively. Of course, his home doorbell plays the first few bars of the song, so keep that in mind.

In less saccharine Disneyland matters, characters from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl film, are being added into the theme ride that inspired the film in the first place. Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida closed their slightly-different versions of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction in March in order to complete updates in time for the opening of the highly anticipated film sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, on July 7 (trailer: WM, Real, QuickTime).

Being added to the swashbuckling voyage where "dead men tell no tales" are Captain Jack Sparrow and his nemesis Barbossa, who will race amid the familar tableaux to claim a cache of plundered treasure accompanied by the inexorable strains of "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)."

Also making a guest appearance in the updated Pirates attraction will be the ghostly Davy Jones character from the Dead Man's Chest sequel, and new special effects will also be added to the theme ride that premiered on March 18, 1967, in New Orleans Square at Disneyland.