RIYADH: Just as Walt Disney established one of the world's largest and most influential entertainment companies, an Egyptian journalist has been named the “Walt Disney of the United Arab Emirates” by Majid Magazine for his pivotal role in shaping the region's media landscape. It is praised.
For many Arab adults now in their 50s, the magazine and its popular characters, such as Majid, Kaslan Jadan and Nakhda Khalfan, are cherished symbols of childhood happiness. However, few know the creative genius behind these precious memories: Ahmed Omar, who died on August 9 at the age of 85.
His powers of vision and storytelling were instrumental in shaping the magazine's enduring legacy.
Born in Egypt in September 1939, Omar began a lifelong journey with words and stories.
His passion for reading blossomed at a young age and school and public libraries became his refuge, where he immersed himself in a world of diverse books and developed a deep love for literature.
Omar's frequent visits to Cairo's Uzbekiya book market, where he discovered affordable second-hand books, helped him build a personal library full of titles. His extensive reading played an important role in shaping his vision and enriching his ideas, which later shone through in his literary works.
He studied to build a deep reservoir of knowledge, with classical literature having fascinated him since childhood. Najib Mahfouz's novels, which deal with the complexities of life in Egyptian neighborhoods, had a deep impact on him. Omar was also shaped by the works of famous Egyptian writers such as Youssef Idris, Jamal al-Ghitani, Mohammad Hassanin Haykal and other prominent writers.
He began his professional career at Al Ittihad Newspaper of the Emirates, where he was one of the founding members and contributed to its founding. He later managed the local news section.
His most important professional achievement was the establishment of Majid magazine for children and its editorship in 1979. The idea of this magazine was born in Al-Ittihad newspaper and eventually became one of the most important children's magazines in Arab countries. the world
Omar recognized the need of Arab children to have a magazine that represents them, stimulates their imagination and nurtures their minds. Working alongside a team of talented journalists and illustrators, he turned the magazine into a platform for expressing the thoughts and feelings of Arab children through words and drawings.
With his tireless efforts, Omar turned the magazine into a symbol of Arab childhood and a cherished part of the memories of successive generations.
He spends most of his time in the magazine's offices creating, planning, supervising writers and content, and preparing issues. When a new issue was printed, the issues were ready several weeks in advance.
The inaugural issue of the magazine was published on February 28, 1979 with 5,000 free copies, which quickly disappeared from the shelves. Majid, a character who represents human values rather than superpowers, interacted with the children. Majid magazine maintained its weekly schedule every Wednesday flawlessly and gained considerable popularity across the region.
Omar supervised and managed the magazine for nearly 30 years with utmost care and interest. He prepared guidance articles for children and wrote scripts for humorous stories and enriched each issue with popular characters such as Zaki Bahush and Nakhda Khalfan and others.
His editorials in Majid magazine as a weekly lesson for both children and adults were full of educational messages and moral guidance. His contributions established him as an educational pioneer as he devoted his knowledge to serving the younger generation and imparting valuable lessons.
Through his deep understanding of the nuances and mysteries of childhood, Omar managed to capture the attention of children from all over the Arab world. The number of readers of the magazine increased to hundreds of thousands of young readers.
This late journalist believed that fostering the love of reading in children is the collective duty of families, schools and magazines. He stated, “It's important to foster a reading habit early in life because it can be difficult to cultivate later in life. Introducing a child to a magazine is not just about providing entertainment, it's an important step toward fostering a lifelong passion for reading.”
Since the magazine's inception, Omar has been dedicated to imbuing it with a distinctive Gulf Arabic flavor that is reflected in its content, stories and characters. He attracted leading children's writers and cartoonists and ensured that the magazine resonated with young readers across the Arab world while maintaining a unique Gulf children's identity.
Prominent personalities such as Kaslan Jaden, Fadouli, Abul Zarfa, Zakia Al-Zakieh, Shamse and Dana, and Captain Khalfan and his assistant Fahman became popular figures of the magazine's young audience.
Omar stressed that his magazine is designed to appeal to children growing up in a traditional environment and instill religious values, cultural awareness and pride in their Arab heritage.
As a testament to the success of his magazine, Majid's mail subscriptions flourished throughout the Arab world as fans eagerly awaited each Wednesday issue. For decades, it was able to compete with translated comic magazines such as Mickey (licensed by Disney and Egyptian translation) and Little Lulu (licensed and translated by Lebanon).
As a result, the magazine has evolved alongside the social development of the UAE and embraced digital developments with a YouTube channel and a website, although critics argue that today – despite the greater prevalence of modern technology – there is no such thing as it was in the 1990s. It is not effective. and the 1980s
