Friday, March 26, 2010

Wondertime, I Miss You



The March issue of Family Fun magazine just arrived so I'm sitting here ripping out all the pages that have ads on both sides. While I understand the necessity of advertising revenue, the shameless self-promotion of Disney Inc really pisses me off. The rrriiiiippp as I tear out the pages advertising the Disney channel's new family comedy or Disney Cruise Line or Disney Mobile Magic ("Put the magic of Disney Parks at your fingertips!") is so satisfying. The ads for ADHD meds (the highest grossing market for child pharmaceuticals) are another pet peeve. Rrrriiiippp. Soon I have pared it down to a few extremely ugly "craft" ideas and one or two "helpful hints" for moms.
I never signed up to receive Family Fun magazine. I had a subscription to Wondertime, another magazine owned by Disney, which met its tragic demise when the economy took a downturn last year. My subscription was automatically changed to Family Fun. The infinite superiority of Wondertime was immediately obvious. Not only were their crafts beautiful, their big, colorful photos and long, thoughtful articles always engaged me. The recipes were delicious. Their frequent contributor, the hilarious Catherine Newman, is one of my favorite mommy bloggers. I read each issue from cover to cover and laughed and cried and felt empowered.
Obviously, that is the kind of thing Disney abhors.
Otherwise my beloved Wondertime would still exist. Disney, why must you crush everything that is beautiful?

3 comments:

  1. I thought Disney was an incredible company until I had a child. Now I couldn't agree with you more. Their high powered, ubiquitous marketing is sickening.

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  2. I miss Wondertime too :( The sad thing, I think Disney made the decision to cut it (vs something like Family Fun) because of lack of revenue(i.e. subscriptions)/interest. Maybe more parents want the kitschy crafts over thoughtful insight and discussion.

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  3. hi there... i'm a former wondertime editor and I just found your blog when I was looking for some old Wondertime stories online... thanks, belatedly, for your comments. I edited crafts for a long time, along with features... I miss the magazine too. : (
    Rachel Simpson

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