Sunday, May 6, 2012

From Well and Goods: A Rare Literary Find

Readers, it is an interesting and surprising moment during the blog's history, that evidence of any promotional or memorial for the Wonders of Life pavilion is existent. What started with another lazy-headed eBay search has landed me into an eBay listing for a souvenir book, titled "Experience the Wonders of Life", a promotional souvenir book.

This book has been sold over on eBay, accessible right here.

According to the listing details, it reads as follows
Pictures and descriptions of all the attractions in the Yesterland "Wonders of Life" pavilion at Epcot, including: Body Wars, Cranium Command, The Making of Me, Goofy About Health, The Sensory Funhouse, Anacomical Players and more. 32 pages, 11"x 9"
While the item has been sold, the listing contains a few sample pages and excerpts, but in appeal to how the book is composed, there are some spectacular photography work done by Wayne Eastep, and wonderful biological illustration work by Charles Bentz.

What's more, apart from a textual brief description of the attractions, exhibits and facilities, there are some informative aspects of the body covered in focus by the attraction itself - some top-notch illustrations, such as the brain and blood cells. have been included to give readers a little understanding of what's covered. Three of the pages, for preview purposes, are shown below, this time covering the attractions, as well as the contents of the pavilion souvenir guide:

I must say that this book is rather rare by today's standards, and is obviously/very likely to be out-of-print. However, given the adequate sample preview pages of the aforementioned book, this souvenir guide provides some relevant information, as well as a few attraction and prop photos never before seen (also, they are able to trigger some memories as well).

In my personal aspects, it could be plausible to do a resurrection of a book of this time, but given the Wonders of Life pavilion has been shut for five years counting, consider this:

  • health issues and problems have been largely different now compared to then - while stress and health habits are still relevant, childhood obesity and health problems are reportedly on the rise within the population; even now, health remains a topic of interest.
  • medical innovations have skyrocketed in progress, so it is useful to document them in reference to the attractions.
  • the graphics design done in the early 90s is now a step off by today's standards - the fonts and colour schemes deserve a change.

This means not just an informational update, but there is a whole lot of interest (yes, interest) of the historical aspect behind the attractions - concept art and photographs, as well as backstories and legends behind the attractions. Add to the graphics design, as well as a growing need to introduce a young audience to this little piece of history, we'll definitely need an extra edition.

Anywho, with this find out of the way, we return to normal transmission...

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