How to Make a Zine- With Template and Printing Instructions!

I’m in the process of moving blog posts from my old site to my new one. This blog post was originally published on May 29th, 2019

---

A lot of you probably already know what a "zine" is- they're small magazines that are usually self-published by independent artist and authors. A zine can be made about any topic under the sun, so they're a great outlet for creativity and expressing your most recent interest in a real, tangible object.

Ideas for zine topics:

• Photos and stories from a recent trip you took

• Advice

• Poetry

• A short story or comic

• History of a niche subject that you're interested in

• Anything else you can think up!

My main purpose for this new blog is to share things I know about with you guys, and that's just what I'll be doing in today's post! I've always been someone who learns best when I teach myself things, whether that be through a library book, YouTube tutorial, or helpful blog post (like this one hopefully will be!). When I was trying to create my first zine (Just Be Nice!), however, I had some difficulty trying to figure out the best way to arrange the pages in a document. I created a Google Doc for you to try and make it easier for any future zine makers- making zines is so much fun- if you make one or have made one in the past, please share it with me (Instagram: @enchantedquill), I would love to see it!

Link to Google Drive folder with zine templates

In this tutorial, I'll be sharing how you can use this simple template to create a zine, and how to print it. You should know, however, that printing will take some trial and error, and you may have to adjust margins or image sizes in order for your zine to print perfectly and line up correctly front and back. For this reason, I would recommend printing your "experimental" copies in black and white as opposed to colored ink.

Let's get started! This tutorial will show you how to make an 8-page zine, which uses 1 regular sheet of printer paper (front and back) to print.

The first step is to decide how you would like to create your zine. In my case, I usually will use a digital platform, like the apps Phonto and Procreate on my iPad. You could also use Word, Publisher, or Google Docs. Additionally, I created my first zines on regular old printer paper with markers, paint, and colored pencils then scanned them in. If you choose to go this route and you don't have a real scanner, I've had good luck with the app CamScanner for iPhone, although it does require some patience to get the lighting right in order for the image to appear like a real scan.

Try to leave a bit of a border around each page, just to prevent printing issues. Images and text that go all the way to the edge tend to get cut off.

The most important thing to remember when creating your pages is to keep each individual page in the ratio of an 8.5 by 11-inch sheet of paper. This is the size my template is designed to work with, and it's important that you keep them this size for your zine to print properly. The template is made to print 4 8.5 by 11-inch pages per sheet, so each page turns out to be a quarter of the size of a regular sheet of paper. However, you can make each of the eight (total) pages 8.5 by 11 inches each, and shrink them down to the quarter-sheet size once you import the image to the template. This will allow for higher-quality images.

If you're going the digital route and are using a program that measures pages in pixels, try using 850 by 1100 pixels for each of your 8 pages.

Once you've created each page, save them as image files, like JPEGs or PNGs. Some programs will allow you to save them directly as this file type, on other programs you may need to take a screenshot and crop it. Then, you can use the template and a free online image editor (I recommend BeFunky, and that's what I'll be using in this tutorial, but you can use another if you prefer) to assemble your pages. Additionally, I would open up the site in two different tabs- one for the front template and one for the back. This will allow you to make changes to both throughout the process without having to start over. I'm using the pages of my Just Be Nice! zine here. I heavily utilized the line guides on BeFunky when designing mine- it made it really easy.

(I love how you can see my open tab where I've Googled how to screenshot in these two images- we're definitely computer experts around here.)

I started by inserting the first template and the four pages that belong on the front (pages ). I then dragged each of the four pages onto the template, trying to get them as close to the edges as possible. Don't worry if they go outside the borders a little on the outer edges, just make sure they line up on the edges that are bordered by the other pages to prevent printing errors. Once you've got it to your satisfaction, save the image and print your first trial!

You may have to go back and adjust your original layout depending on how well you lined it up, but this method is pretty foolproof- it should only take you one or two edits. Once you've got it, it's time to print the back. Printing the back is almost identical to printing the front- you just use the "back" template and insert the appropriate pages. The hard part is figuring out how to insert your front image back into your printer in order for the back to line up correctly. When you've done it properly, the cover of your zine should show the first page on it's back.

A quick note- if you feel that the margins are too large on your printed sheet, you can always drag the outer corners of each image to fill the page more. Just be sure to print lots of tests to be sure nothing gets cut off- each printer is different!

Once you've printed a successful copy of your zine, it's time to try assembling it! You may find that you need to go back and make a few adjustments at this phase as well, but don't get discouraged! We're almost done! :)

Fold your page in half "hamburger style", and line up the edges as closely as possible. Score the crease with a fingernail or a credit card, and then cut very carefully along the fold. You could also use a paper cutter for this if you have one, but scissors work just as well. Fold your zine so it's ordered appropriately, and we're almost done! I trimmed some of the blank white margins off my zine before moving onto the next step.

The last step is to bind your zine. The easiest way is to just staple it, but I usually sew mine to add a little extra dimension and make them sturdier. I use a sewing machine, but you could also hand-sew it. Here's a simple tutorial (not my own) if you've never sewn before- all you need is a needle and some thread.

How to Sew a Straight Stitch

Now your zine is done! Pass it around to your friends, tape it on a lamppost in a public place to share it, or tuck it in a library book! I love to send them to my penpals, as well as sell them in my Etsy shop!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, please do let me know if you have any questions or comments, and be sure to send me pictures of your own zines!

Thank you for reading, see you again soon!

Your friend,

-Eileen

@enchantedquill

My Top Five Young Adult Fiction Books of Summer 2019!

I’m in the process of moving blog posts from my old website to this new platform in order to keep everything all together and in one place. The following post is from October 26th, 2019.

---

Okay, okay, I know- it's almost the end of October, and I'm just now giving you my book recommendations? Well, maybe I needed some time to compile my research! Or maybe I just forgot that I had the beginnings of this post saved in my drafts. You decide. ;)

To be honest, though, I really did have a really hard time choosing what books to write about in this post. I read a lot of books this summer- more than I probably read in the rest of high school combined, honestly! I've really been enjoying young adult books recently, and I know that this genre typically gets a bad rap for being "fluffy". However, they are all reads that don't require a whole lot of analysis or deep reflection to understand, but that isn't to say that many of them don't feature deep themes that will leave you thinking about them long after you've closed the back cover.

I do want to apologize that I don't have physical copies of all these books, so I've used some photos from publishers and authors (sources are linked). I also wanted to say that I LOVE LIBRARIES and used and discounted book sites- my favorites are Book Outlet (less selection, but these are new books!) and Thriftbooks. I've added links to all of the books that I could find on these sites in case you would like to purchase them yourself, and I've also included an Amazon link. Amazon also has used books, and Barned and Noble, of course, is well known as a reliable place to find new books in-store as well as used ones online here in the US. However, nothing in this post is sponsored! I just want you to be able to enjoy these books too if you so wish. :)

So, let's get started!

Honorable Mention: Autoboyography by Christina Lauren (Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings)

Buy this book on Thriftbooks here

Buy this book on Amazon here

"It still irks me that I'll probably spend most of my life dividing the people I know into two groups: the ones who support me without question and the ones who should."

In Autoboyography, California teen Tanner Scott falls in love at first sight. The problem? Tanner's love interest is no other than local celebrity and soon-to-be published author Sebastian Brother, who also happens to be a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints. While Tanner's bisexuality is accepted by his family, he has kept it hidden from everyone else, including his best friend, Autumn, since moving to a primarily Mormon community in Utah several years prior. This book explores the conflicts between religion and sexuality.
Autoboyography is a book that I really, really enjoyed- the plot is really cute and well-paced in my opinion, and I enjoyed it as a lighthearted romance with the deeper themes of how Sebastian's religion conflicts with his and his family's views of his sexuality. I also liked the setting- Tanner's ongoing drafting of a novel for a school assignment is an important and influential part of this book, and I found that and its integration to be a really interesting and unique plot point. I would definitely reread this book, but at the same time, it's at the bottom of this list because of the slightly problematic way that the authors have represented Tanner's bisexuality, as well as the many details that were just a tad too unrealistic for my taste.

(photo from the book's Amazon listing)

#5: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

Buy this book on Thriftbooks here
Buy this book on Amazon here

"I'd heard all this before, but I also knew that this line of argument worked. If you tell people that they're being attacked for their beliefs, then suddenly they want to defend their beliefs, even if they didn't really have them before. It's pretty amazing, really."

I read this book at the beginning of the summer, and I honestly was not expecting to enjoy it. I almost didn't read this book at all- I've read every John Green book, and I've been continually disappointed in the way that the plots seem to just float above the depth that they could have with a little further development. I (unfairly) expected Hank Green's debut novel to be similar, and I could not have been wrong. I'm thankful for Ashley's continued recommending of this book over on her Instagram story!

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing follows the journey of April May, an art school graduate living in New York City, and her accidental discovery of "Carl", a mysterious metal giant that she assumes to be an art installation. April and her friend Andy upload a video on "Carl" to YouTube, and overnight the two friends are swept into what can only be described as a worldwide phenomenon that April stands at the center of. This book is fast-paced and features insightful commentary on the subjects of cyberfame, politics, as well as navigating relationships in the age of the internet. The ending of this book is surprising, and not one plot point is predictable. There is a romantic subplot between April and another female character that feels very well-placed and not added in just for "diversity points", becoming an integral part of the story. Above all, this book is funny, which allows it to tackle really complex themes without being dramatic or condescending towards either the readers or the characters.

There is rumored to be a sequel to An Absolutely Remarkable Thing in the works.

#4: Mosquitoland by David Arnold

Buy this book on Thriftbooks here
Buy this book on Book Outlet here
Buy this book on Amazon here

“I swear the older I get, the more I value bad examples over good ones. It's a good thing too, because most people are egotistical, neurotic, self-absorbed peons, insistent on wearing near-sighted glasses in a far-sighted world. And it's this exact sort of myopic ignorance that has led to my groundbreaking new theory. I call it Mim's Theorem of Monkey See Monkey Don't, and what it boils down to is this: it is my belief that there are some people whose sole purpose of existence is to show the rest of how not to act.”

Mosqitoland is a book that I saw many, many times on bookstore shelves before I finally caved and purchased it at the recommendation of my friend Julia. Besides having possibly the most beautiful and mood-setting cover art of any book I've ever read, what's between the covers is equally as wonderful. Mim, the book's main character, is not the annoying, angsty teen narrator that one might expect given her current situation- running away from her father and stepmother in "Mosquitoland" to be reunited with her mother in Cleveland, Ohio. Instead, Mim is a witty, strong, and intelligent heroine who is also kind of a hot mess, which makes her that much more relatable. Mim's journey and the friends she makes along the way contribute to making this a book that, when finished, leaves you feeling like you've been torn out of another world and thrown back into your own.

#3: The Truth About Keeping Secrets by Savannah Brown

Buy this book on Thriftbooks here

Buy this book on Amazon here

"You know that feeling where, like, the world is spinning at a thousand miles an hour and there's nothing you can do to stop it and then you start to feel like there's nothing you can do about anything ever?"

Sydney is convinced that her father's unexpected death has to be more than just a freak accident, and she is determined that his career as a psychiatrist had to have had something to do with it. She befriends local "golden child" June Copeland after seeing her at her father's funeral, and the two become close friends, although it's clear that someone isn't too happy about this.

Unless you're a big fan of British film and art YouTube culture, this is probably a bit of an obscure book. Savannah Brown made her debut as a poet before releasing her first novel, The Truth About Keeping Secrets. This book is poetic in itself- the author molds language around her settings and characters, making them feel that much more realistic. A mystery book that tackles the deeper theme of grief, Brown uses dark humor and metaphors to truly draw the author into Sydney's world.

#2 The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

Buy this book on Thriftbooks here

Buy this book on Book Outlet here

Buy this book on Amazon here

"Sometimes you can be inserted into another person's life just by witnessing something you were never really supposed to be a part of."

I bought this book in my recent order from Book Outlet without really knowing anything about it- honestly, I just really liked the cover, and the title sounded intriguing. Plus, it was four dollars- so, no contest.

I was not disappointed. I already want to reread this book, and I've only just finished it. The way that the author has written a realistic fiction story that just feels so magical is amazing to me. The book is set in Alaska in the 1970s, and all of the characters are inextricably intertwined with their setting. Plus, it's told in alternating perspectives- four, to be exact.

I can't write too much of a summary without giving away important plot points, but trust me- you will want to read about Ruth, Dora, Alyce, and Hank and his brothers forever- my only complaint about this book is its length, although I think that that's also where it gets some of its character: the details in this book are sharp, visual, and purposeful, and not a single sentence is wasted.

#1: I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson

Buy this book on Thriftbooks here
Buy this book on Amazon here

"Meeting your soulmate is like walking into a house you've been in before- you recognize the furniture, the pictures on the wall, the books on the shelves, the contents of the drawers: you could find your way around in the dark if you had to."

Jandy Nelson's I'll Give You The Sun is quite possibly my favorite book ever, not just of this summer. Twins Noah and Jude grew up as almost complete opposites, yet absolutely inseparable. Now, however, Noah and Jude feel that they don't even know each other. Exploring the ideas of tragedy, family, and romance through a poetic, artistic writing style, this book is so full of wonderful quotes.

"To All Who Come to This Place of Joy, Hope, and Friendship, Welcome": Walt Disney's Visions of the Future

I’m in the process of uploading some blog posts from my old website to this new platform in order to keep everything all in one place. The post below was originally written on October 31st, 2019.

You can listen to the podcast version of this post for free on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Please note that this version is slightly shortened as opposed to the one here :)

---

image source

Marceline, Missouri, current population 2,221, might be one of the most unremarkable places that you could think of. With a quaint, late-19th-century-esque main street and not much more, Marceline might not be your first choice for a road trip destination, either. But you might be surprised to learn that you may have already paid to see reproductions of Marceline’s charming small-town America atmosphere. If you’ve ever been to a Disney theme park, whether it be in Orlando, Anaheim, Shanghai, Paris, Hong Kong, or Tokyo, you’ve likely found yourself immersed in a scene not much different than Marceline’s own. The buildings might be more immaculate and feature the modern glory that is air conditioning, but this resemblance is no coincidence: Marceline, Missouri is most known for being the hometown of Walt Disney.

image source

Walt had lofty goals for the creation of Disneyland in 1955- he wanted to channel the spirit of exotic exploration with Adventureland, traverse the American West in Frontierland, delve into the world of make-believe in Fantasyland, and, of course, welcome every visitor into the park with a stroll down Main Street, USA. But there was one other area of the park: Tomorrowland, which channeled ideas of space exploration and life in the future.

image source

Disney was known for his futurist views, and Tomorrowland in his California park was perhaps the first time that the public got a brief taste of what was in store in the years to come with Disney’s emergence into the theme park industry. On opening day in 1955, Tomorrowland was designed to represent the future year of 1986. The land featured a stunningly white rocket ship, the symbol of the nearby “Rocket to the Moon” attraction. An ornate world clock could tell visitors the time anywhere on the planet. The Autopia celebrated the future of transportation: the American freeway, and later that year, “Space Station X-1” gave park guests a satellite view of Earth as if from space.

image source

But the coming years gave rise to what is known as the “Tomorrowland Problem”: the problem with creating a land based on the future was that, inevitably, the future always becomes the present. Neil Armstrong took his giant leap for mankind, the satellite Sputnik was launched into space, and President Eisenhower signed the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act. But before these conflicts could come to fruition, spurring a Tomorrowland overhaul in 1967 that gave us Adventure Thru Inner Space and a new, “World on the Move” theme. But in order to go from 50’s space-age rockets to the future of technology and transportation, Walt Disney and his Imagineers had needed a sounding board, and they found in the 1964 New York World’s Fair.

image source

Disney was approached by and asked to create attractions, or pavilions, for the fair by several corporate sponsors. Walt viewed this as an incredible opportunity for two reasons: he could test new attraction technology for use at Disneyland, as well as assessing the possibility of an East Coast park- what would later become the company’s “Florida Project”- with a test audience at the fair.

image source

The 1964 World’s Fair gave rise to four attractions that were not only favorites of fair visitors and became beloved at Disneyland upon their relocation at the fairs’ conclusion, but also helped propel the Walt Disney Company into the future. The fair allowed Walt to further develop the Audio-Animatronic technology that he had used previously with the birds in his Enchanted Tiki Room. Audio-Animatronics, lifelike moving figures, were an invention so new and innovative that a name had to be created just for them. The fair’s exhibits featured many of these Audio-Animatronics, ranging from simple dancing children in UNICEF’s “it’s a small world”, an attraction representing over 100 countries uniting in unity and peace in a time shrouded in the Cuban Missile Crisis, to the exhibit with the most advanced figure of the time, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, inviting fairgoers to get up close and personal with Walt’s favorite president.

image source

But Walt’s attractions for the fair were not preoccupied with the historical past or rooted in the present- Ford had approached the company with a request for an exhibit featuring a new method of transportation. This idea evolved into Ford’s Magic Skyway, and later the Peoplemover- an elevated-track tram system with vehicles that required no moving parts.

image source

Perhaps the most impressive and influential pavilion at the 1964 World’s Fair was Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress, created on the behalf of General Electric. Now located in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom park in Florida after a brief stint at Disneyland, the attraction was so aptly named because as opposed to a stage show where the sets and characters changed after each scene, the audience rotated on a large circular platform, not unlike the motion of a carousel. Of course, this attraction was different than other stage shows for another reason: all of the actors were Audio-Animatronics.

image source

The Carousel of Progress brought clarity to Disneyland’s “Tomorrowland Problem”- the premise of the show was “looking back at tomorrow”- a somewhat contradictory slogan that fit the attraction well. The show opens with an early 18th-century scene in which we are introduced to the family- our narrator, John, and his wife Sarah, as well as their children, James and Patricia, the dog, Rover, and the children’s grandparents. John remarks that Thomas Edison is working on an idea for “snap-on electric lights” and how this will mean that the family will no longer have to use kerosene. The carousel theatre rotates, and the audience now finds themselves in the 1920s, where John tells us about new advances in technology: people can now travel from New York to California by train in three days, and his automobile now has an electric starter, so he doesn’t have to crank it. In the 1940s scene, we learn that the family now has a television as well as a dishwasher. And in the 21st century, the family is gathered around a television set, where James is teaching his grandmother how to play a new video game. While scenes have been updated as time had gone on, the journey of this seemingly-ageless family through the development of General Electric’s technology still brings a sense of nostalgia and showcasing the development of technology over time and the idea of “retro-futurism” were arguably more sustainable solutions to an ever-approaching tomorrow.

The idea of the World’s Fair also gave Walt and his Imagineers the confidence in their ideas and technology that they needed to move forward with their “Florida Project”, as Walt called it when he announced his plans in 1965. After purchasing vast amounts of land in central Florida, between the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee, Walt announced his project in what is now known as the “E.P.C.O.T. Film” shortly before his death in 1966, saying “There’s enough land here to hold all of the ideas and plans we could possibly imagine.”

image source

After the World’s Fair, Walt’s eyes had been opened to the possibilities that advancements and changes in technology could bring to this “Florida Project”. While the land was to include a theme park of its own- an idea that evolved into the Magic Kingdom- Walt had bigger, grander ideas for the property as well, and the World’s Fair had given him the confidence that he needed to pursue them. The Walt Disney Company wanted to create a futuristic, utopian city- they called the project “Progress City”, or E.P.C.O.T: Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow.

image source

If you’ve ever been to Disney World, you’ll know that this idea didn’t quite work out how Walt had envisioned- there’s no sign of the “airport of tomorrow” that Walt announced in his E.P.C.O.T. film, and the vast network of Peoplemovers and Monorails that he envisioned running above the city didn’t quite come to fruition. But although Walt passed away before the first stage of his Florida Project, the East Coast Disneyland known as the Magic Kingdom could be completed, his legacy and plans for Progress City were not forgotten. Walt wanted his planned community to be a center of innovation and advancement in all aspects of human life, and this central value of E.P.C.O.T. was not disregarded.

image source

Although the company had qualms about their ability to construct and operate a fully functional leadership without Walt’s leadership and vision, there was something that his Imagineers were quite familiar with: theme parks. So, in the 1970s, development began for the second phase of what was now known as Walt Disney World- EPCOT Center.

image source

EPCOT Center was more than just an amusement or theme park- it was to serve as a sort of permanent World’s Fair, showcasing innovation and enterprise, as well as celebrating the world’s diverse nations and cultures- an overarching theme of human achievement. At the time of its construction, EPCOT Center was the largest construction project on earth. Disney executive Jack Linquist was quoted as saying that the park would be more “adult-oriented […] it will be more complicated and take longer to absorb than anything at Disneyland or Walt Disney World.” The back half of the park was occupied by pavilions representing Mexico, China, Germany, Italy, the United States, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada, while the front of the park became Future World: an area based on Walt’s nine original concepts for his city of tomorrow: communication, innovation, energy, transportation, ecosystems and nutrition, creativity and the imagination, the ocean, the body, and the future.

image source

I can thank one technological innovation for the ability to experience EPCOT Center as a guest might have on opening day in 1982: the video camera. Because of the vast number of home movies uploaded to the internet, I was able to get a sense of what some of these long-extinct attractions might have been like to experience firsthand. Beginning at the front entrance of the park, guests are welcomed by Spaceship Earth- one of the few pavilions that still exists in its near-original form to this day. A large geodesic dome, Spaceship Earth takes riders on a slow-moving journey into what is affectionately known as “the ball” in a time machine style omnimover vehicle to experience the dawn and development of communication through elaborately-crafted animatronic figures and settings- from the creation of words and symbols, to written language and record-keeping, to the creation of the first computer system.

image source

Communicore, in the center of Future World, had the theme of innovation- at the time of EPCOT Center’s opening, it educated guests in advancements in computer technology and featured a look at the computer systems that ran almost everything in the state-of-the-art theme park. The Universe of Energy pavilion featured a look at energy sources used in American homes- from fossil fuels to alternative energy. World of Motion took guests along the journey of the development of transportation, including scenes such as the first traffic jam.

image source

In Future World West, on the opposite side of the Communicore, pavilions based on the natural world were found. The Land educated guests on agriculture and food technology. The shining jewel of this pavilion was the “Listen to the Land” boat ride, which sailed guests through model environments and real greenhouses, where much of the food served in The Land’s restaurants was grown. Next door, The Living Seas featured what at the time was the world’s largest aquarium as well as a ride that allowed guests to “experience” life under the sea. And across the park, the Wonders of Life pavilion showcased life, health, and the human body. Finally, the Imagination pavilion took guests on a journey with an original character known as the Dreamfinder and his whimsical purple dragon friend, Figment. Through a catchy theme song written by the Sherman Brothers, writers of “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” from the Carousel of Progress, the Dreamfinder and Figment reminded guests of all ages that “a dream can be a dream can be a dream come true- with just that spark in me and you!”

image source

While all of Future World’s pavilions represented Walt’s visions for Progress City and the dreams he had of the future, one embodied his innovative ideas and dreams most prominently. Themed to the idea of the future itself, Horizons first opened its doors to guests one year after EPCOT Center’s opening, in October of 1983. Applying all of the Future World concepts into one attraction, the ride was often perceived to be a “sequel” to the Carousel of Progress, which by this time had been relocated from California to Magic Kingdom’s own Tomorrowland. The parents in Horizons were interpreted to be an older, grandparent-aged version of John and Sarah, the parents from the Carousel.

image source

We begin our journey with an audio clip that announces: “Horizons One is now departing. Our final destination today: the 21st Century”. John and Sarah take over as narrators, guiding us through scenes of “looking back at tomorrow”- Jules Verne’s idea of the future, as well as the “future from the 50s”, which featured robotic butlers and chefs. Then, we are taken in front of two giant OmniMax screens, playing videos that display advances in science such as the cataloging of the DNA double helix.

We are taken along to view John and Sarah’s new life in the future. They now reside in the urban community of Nova Cite, where skyscrapers are in view outside the windows and an animatronic Sarah is chatting to their daughter, Patricia, via hologram. Moving along, we find ourselves in Mesa Verde, the desert farm where Patricia lives with her family. The smell of oranges fills the air as she controls robotic plant fertilizers over the fields while her husband, son, and daughter are busy insider her house. Patricia’s teenage daughter is video chatting with her boyfriend on a large screen. He is working on a submarine, and the next scene takes us to an underwater classroom where a group of students, accompanied by a seal companion, are being instructed by a teacher on proper diving techniques. Then, we see a peek at an underwater city, where behind bubble-glass windows there are a couple eating at a restaurant and a girl peering out at the ocean life.

image source

At long last, our journey with Sarah and John takes us to the final frontier- outer space. Their son, James, resides with his family in the space colony known as Brava Centauri, where the primary industry is harvesting space crystals for use on earth. John and Sarah remember that they have to hurry home from being our tour guides to hologram-chat with their grandson on his birthday. He is seen with a UFO-shaped cake before we are asked to choose a virtual video “path” back to the FuturePort- Omega Centauri, Mesa Verde, or Sea Castle Resort. Upon leaving the Omnimover, we are greeted by one final spectacular sight- Robert McCall’s 1983 mural known as “The Prologue and The Promise”.

image source

Horizons was demolished in 1999 when it was left without a corporate sponsor for several years and the attraction’s operating costs and cost of refurbishing the ride were not within Disney’s budget. Sparked by the name change from EPCOT Center to simply Epcot in 1994, further reducing the resemblance to the E.P.C.O.T. acronym that was the park’s namesake, the park began to stray from Walt’s vision. Horizons was replaced by Mission: Space, a centrifugal force simulator, The Living Seas became the Seas with Nemo and Friends, and the Universe of Energy was closed to prepare for a Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster. The desire for thrilling attractions that featured commercial properties may have helped the park succeed in the post-9/11 tourist drought, but they negated the concept of Epcot itself- a park based around thinking and knowledge, a place meant to inform equally as much as it was meant to entertain. Walt wanted his E.P.C.O.T, Progress City, to be a place that unified people from all countries and backgrounds with the idea of progress, reserving the idea of mindless, escapist, lighthearted fun for the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. EPCOT Center and Horizons exemplified and embodied his aspirations, and in their absence, the park is left feeling transient- awkwardly straddling the gap between a playground for Disney Princesses and an equally-magical place where Mickey-shaped watermelons are grown in canal-crossed greenhouses and where omniscient voices remind us to “thank the Phoenicians” for how easy it was to learn our ABCs.

image source

Today, when riding Walt Disney World’s network of monorails or bumping along on the now 44-year-old Peoplemover track in Tomorrowland, it’s easy to forget where everything all started: with an aspiring young cartoonist from Marceline, Missouri. Is the Epcot of today one that Walt would have approved of? Would he be happy with the way his visions for tomorrow have been executed? Or is the Tomorrowland Problem one that even the most skilled Imagineers have succumbed to- is the future developing too quickly to ever capture in the present? We are left with only the sentiment that Horizons embraced so wholeheartedly- if we can dream it, then we can do it.

Works Cited
Walt Disney's original E.P.C.O.T film (1966) HD FULL VERSION, YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLCHg9mUBag.

Esquire.com. “Inside Walt Disney's Failed City of Tomorrow.” Esquire, 25 Apr. 2018, www.esquire.com/entertainment/news/a35104/walt-disney-epcot-history-city-of-tomorrow/.

Fri, Posted on. “Look Closer: Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.” The Walt Disney Family Museum, www.waltdisney.org/blog/look-closer-great-moments-mr-lincoln.

Glover, Erin. “The 1964 New York World's Fair – A New Disney Technology Is Born.” Disney Parks Blog, disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2011/04/the-1964-new-york-worlds-fair-a-new-disney-technology-is-born/.

“History of the Original Nine Pavilions in Future World at Epcot.” The Mouselets, 27 Aug. 2019, themouselets.com/history-of-future-world-epcot.

“Journey into the Past: 15 Lost Rides and Attractions of Epcot.” Theme Park Tourist, 30 Nov. 2017, www.themeparktourist.com/features/20140203/16073/journey-past-lost-rides-and-attractions-epcot.
“The Tomorrowland Problem.” The Mouselets, 8 Aug. 2019, themouselets.com/the-tomorrowland-problem.

Withers, Rachel. “How Disneyland's Tomorrowland Went From Vision of the Future to Quaint Symbol of the Past.” Slate Magazine, Slate, 4 Sept. 2017, slate.com/technology/2017/09/disneylands-tomorrowland-was-once-an-ode-to-a-utopian-future.html.