Captain EO, the 3D film starring Michael Jackson which ran at Disneyland from 1986-1997, re-opened at Disneyland on Tuesday, February 23 as Captain EO Tribute.
In addition to Michael Jackson starring as the title character, the cast features Anjelica Huston as the Supreme Leader. It was produced by George Lucas and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The 17-minute film features original songs and new Disney-created space characters with magical transformation powers, such as Hooter, Fuzzball, and Major and Minor Domo.
Captain EO is playing multiple times a day in Tomorrowland in the theater formerly occupied by Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Disney is saying it will be showing for a limited time, though there is no word on just how long that might be. According to Imagineer Tony Baxter, at this point there are no plans to bring it to Walt Disney World.
Jeanine Yamanaka attended the media event on Opening Day and shares some of her thoughts, photos, and interviews.
Guests began lining up outside the park the night before – there was a separate line for the EO crowd:
Once inside, there were signs directing guests back to Tomorrowland:
New signs on the entrance – those in the queue attended a showing for the Early Magic Morning crowd before the “official” first showing at 1000.
Captain EO cast members set up the queue for a busy day:
More new signs:
Disneyland president George Kalogridis was in attendance.
Two of the original performers from EO were there. Debbie Lee Carrington (middle) played Idy, half of the two-headed “Geex”. Renee Colette (right) was a dancer in the film.
Some thoughts:
— No photos or video were allowed during the movie.
— The film uses a new 70mm print and the audio is great.
— Some effects were new, like seat motion, but quite a few were missing, like the smoke, lasers, and starfield.
— It will apparently be open until they notice a crowd drop-off, at which time they’ll close it.
— They have no plans for a replacement, since they don’t know how long they’ll have it open.
After the first show Jeanine had the opportunity for several interviews.
Imagineer Tony Baxter talks about bringing the movie back as well as its future:
Debbie Lee Carrington shares some of her experiences in making the movie:
Rick Rothschild, In-Theater Effects Director, on bringing Captain EO back:
New merchandise is available both with the classic Captain EO logo, and with the new Captain EO Tribute logo. In this clip, Merchandise Manager Cheryl Stockwell talks about some of the new merchandise:
An embroidered Captain EO nylon jacket will be available in mid-March.
Note: Captain EO merchandise is available only at Disneyland park, and is not available for purchase via Disneyland Merchandise Guest Services.
Saw Captain EO last week while in DL. It was so great to see it again and to be able to share it with my 13 year old son who had only seen it on YouTube. Truthfully, I don’t like “Honey”, and I’d love it if they just left EO there. The movie looked great, sounded great, and the new effects were fun!
On re-opening day of Captain EO many of us asked at the Startrader store if the original designed Captain EO t-shirts were available and we were told they were not!!
Is there any chance of its return??? That was a really cool rainbow logo t-shirt that glowed in the dark, the same one Michael Jackson wore in the movie!! Please bring it back! I’ve seen a version of it available online at various websites but I think Disney should bring it back!! Trust me when I say it will be a big hit with old and new Captain EO fans!!!
Just got back from DL and saw Captain EO for the first time. I never saw it in the 1980s. Though I was deeply involved in Broadcast Radio and the music scene in the 1980’s, the music in Captain EO did nothing for me and MJ’s constant crotch grab got old a long time ago… I don’t think they should leave the attraction open too long. A few months…then put in something worth seeing.
There are much better attractions they could use the space for. I would love to see Mickey’s Philharmagic come to DL. That is a perfect theatre for it.
Captain EO was no great shakes. If you don’t manage to see while it is there, you have missed nothing, really. I thought it was pretty lame and not really worth all the fuss.
I could see how it would have been received so well in the 1980’s, due to MJ’s popularity back then, but it is old and overworked and it should not have been brought back, in my opinion.
If the only reason they are brought it back was to eulogize MJ, then whatever. Not a great eulogy to his legendary star. It was not one of his better performances. He was not really a good actor, but he could sing and dance and should have stuck to that!
AND, Of course, everyone wants to cash in on MJ now that he is gone. I am saddened by Disney’s grab for a piece of the MJ frenzy by pulling an old and tired attraction out of the Disney attic just to pull in guests.
I don’t think it was that important of an attraction to bring back for the sole purpose of honoring MJ. It reslly is a not so great bit of entertainment. He certainly did much better performances than this.
It should not take up valuable space in Tomorrowland which could be put to much better use. Just my opinion, of course. I did not care for it, nor did my hubby.
So don’t fret if you miss it. You won’t miss anything. Spend your time on attractions that are fun and worthwhile.
They need to bring it to WDW, it was made for it to begin with, so it only makes sense.
I’m with Missy. Please bring it to Walt Disney World, preferably before my trip in September.
I hope they bring to it to Disney World!!!
I am going to DL in April and when I called to make dining reservations I asked how long Captain EO would be open for. I was told that, as of now, they have NO plans to close it anytime soon.