Year One

E82
is dedicated to the
original philosophies of EPCOT-
the City, the Center, and its Legacy.
Here, the “Architects of the Future” are celebrated
through Art, Music, and History.

May E82 continue EPCOT Center’s original vision:
to entertain, inform and inspire.
And above all, may it present innovative
perspectives on still unrealized concepts
for the community of tomorrow.
Joshua L Harris
Founder
JLH Omnimedia
January 11, 2010

“This is Just the Beginning!”
-Walt Disney (the EPCOT Film, 1966)

And It’s Still Just the Beginning…

A year ago on this day, I started The E82 Project with the rather lofty goal doing nothing less than redirecting the destiny of park itself. A reach that probably exceeds my grasp, nevertheless small voices can usually become influential for the direction and tone of entire initiatives. E82 is largely and artistic project designed to capture the best elements of the park, the city and the “Center” and reinterpret its Classical concepts for the 21st Century.

In the past year, Epcot has gone back to the future in many new and extremely surprising ways. The most unusual of these is the return of Captain EO, a show that still manages to impress 25 years after its release. The amount of “Retrocenter” merchandise has continued to grow, and early in the year the affectionately termed “TRON-o-rail” heralded the release of the sequel to (for all intense and purposes) the EPCOT Center movie. Above all, the thing that most surprised me this year is the Company’s embracement of the EPCOT Center Legacy. D23 was giving members patches for all the original Future World Pavilions, and well as writing stories about the park for its “Twenty-Three” Magazine, The Disney Parks Blog recently posted a historical recollection of EPCOT’s original merchandise, and in the last week the company’s internal headlines series “This Week in Disney History” selected Horizons Last Operational Day (1-9-99) as a featured story. Following the now old cliché, “Acceptance is the first step to recovery” Epcot seems to be well on its way to a (slow but) full renewal!

To be quite honest, the evolution of E82 has been slow too and (thanks to unexpected “real world” distractions) filled with unexpected interruptions. I had hoped to be far ahead of where I am now, but it’s also important to note that for every project I complete there are at least ten others that I come up with. With that being said, I should also note that every new concept does get filed away for completion at a later date. All of this means the E82 is far from running on empty! In the next few months, the Imagination pavilion will reach completion and new pavilions with their music, history and art will soon rise into spotlight. (They may even start before Imagination has completed!) In addition, I am already hard at work on a project that will take Epcot into “The Digital Frontier” like never before! So as ISO Program-Castor would put it, 2011 is shaping-up to be “quite a ride”!

To follow up with the original poster for the E82 Project, I present this new design in which the Sun has now risen to become an optimistically bright morning.

The E82 OVERTURE
“Voices of Tomorrow”

To some of my closest friends this recording is nothing new. In fact, I had hoped to launch the blog with a full video “trailer” featuring my vision of all the E82 has to offer. Alas, as I am far too busy writing, designing, and “mixing” I have yet to find the time to learn video production.
SO HERE’S WHAT I’D LIKE TO DO INSTEAD…
If anyone out there is interested, and has a strong video graphics background please let me know if you’d like to working with me in making a video featuring this music.

AT E82...
We’ve Just Begun to Dream!