One of my favorite magazines for research, enjoyment and all around Disney geekiness has ceased publication.
The "E" Ticket has been the premiere resource on Disneyland, Walt Disney, the Imagineers and theme park design. No one else is writing anything comparable; based on the Imagineers that the Janzens interviewed that have passed away recently, no one else will be able to. The passion that the Brothers Janzen brought to The "E" Ticket will be one of the gifts left to the Disney community--simply due to their unfailing optimism and their ability to distill Disney into a glossy and well-written magazine. Disney enthusiasts, historians and researchers will be thanking the Janzens for many years to come.
I have been able to collect the entire run of The "E" Ticket through print and the CD-ROM archives. The third CD-ROM has just been released and it collects issues 17-24. There is no word, yet, on whether issues 25-46 will be released on CD-ROM. Rumors over the past year have swirled about the fate of The "E" Ticket after Jack Janzen decided he no longer wanted to publish it after his brother's passing. Jack announced that issue 46 would be the last one.
Lo and behold, when I opened my copy of Issue 46, I read the opening remarks:
The "E" Ticket Magazine began in 1986 by two brothers, Jack and Leon Janzen, who wanted to add something to the new hobby of collecting Disneyland souvenirs and memorabilia. Years passed and the small-time magazine flourished. Leon Janzen, eldest of the brothers, died suddenly in 2003, leaving brother Jack to continue. Well, it hasn't been much fun without Leon, and it's time for this ride to come to an end. As most of you already know, Issue #46 is our last.
Now for the Good News! The "E" Ticket Magazine will soon become part of the extraordinary effort of the Walt Disney Family Foundation to establish a museum commemorating Walt Disney the man. The "E" Ticket body of work of the last twenty-three years will be safe and accessible to fans of Walt Disney and the Disney Theme Parks for many years to come. We couldn't be more pleased.
If you have the opportunity, make sure to purchase the archive CD-ROMs before they sell out.
For more information on the Walt Disney Family Museum Memberships, click here.
4 comments:
Fantastic news about the magazine and the WD Museum! I turn to my complete set of E-Tickets constantly while working on projects for the Park. The Janzen's passion for early Disneyland resulted in a resource like no other, especially in the pre-internet era before wonderful blogs with historical content (like this one!) existed!
The Museum is lucky to inherit such a terrific resource.
Agreed, E Ticket was a ground breaking magazine, and the brothers were just good people. I had the opportunity to get to know Leon pretty well, and he helped me out a great deal over the years. Glad to hear that WD Museum values their work as much as we do.
Somebody had suggested to me that the interviews conducted for The "E" Ticket must have been longer than what made it into each issue. It's wonderful that these sound like they will be well cared for, rather than disappearing into a black hole.
It's interesting that the mag stopped at "23" years.
...I think I've heard that number recently.... interesting...
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