Early in 1985, Michael Jackson was invited to visit Walt Disney Imagineering with then head of Walt Disney Pictures, Jeffrey Katzenberg. They met with the Imagineers and discussed the possibility of a 3-D movie. Jackson was interested and suggested they involve George Lucas and Steven Spielberg as well. When Michael and George picked the same story out of the three proposed they knew they had a hit.
3-D Science Fiction
Some of the biggest names in entertainment at the time joined to make the 70-millimeter, 3-D science fiction adventure film in 1986. Captain EO was a cumulative effort, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Michael Jackson, Angelica Huston and Dick Shawn. Jackson also provided two original songs and the Disney people provided the story and a motley conglomeration of space creatures including Hooter, Fuzzball and the Geek.
EPCOT Premiere
The film premiered in EPCOT’s Journey Into Imagination on September 12 and in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland on September 18, 1986. The delay between parks provided time for word of the show to spread across the nation and when Captain EO opened in Disneyland six days later, the park was to remain open for a marathon sixty straight hours. The number of celebrities who arrived for the premiere rivaled the turnout at the Grand Opening in 1955. Only 17 minutes long, the $30 million adventure was the most expensive film made to that date. The theatre in which the film was shown had been updated with the latest state of the art technology in audio and video equipment as well as apparatus for other special effects such as laser blasts, fog mists and an overhead fiber optic star field.
Captain EO
The story concerns Captain EO and his ragtag crew traveling through space bringing peace and beauty to desolate worlds. The ship crashes on a bleak planet ruled by the Supreme Leader (Huston) who lives spider-like amongst twisted cables and tubes. She attempts to destroy EO and his crew but his promise of a gift stays her hand. Backed by his comical crew/band, EO uses colour, dance and the power of music to transform the colorless world and its leader into a place of beauty. Despite attacks by whip wielding warriors (which incidentally resulted in Jackson actually sustaining an injury) EO unleashed his powers, sang his songs ("We Are Here to Change the World" and "You're Just Another Part of Me") and converted the world into a paradise of love and colour.
Tokyo and Disneyland Paris
Scored by James Horner of Titanic fame, the film was an immediate hit with fans if not with critics who did not understand what the film was meant to accomplish. It was basically a 17-minute music video, filmed with high speed cameras and in the MTV saturated atmosphere of the time it was a huge success with visitors in both parks. In March 1987 Captain EO opened in Tokyo Disneyland and in Discoveryland in Disneyland Paris in April 1992.
End of an Era
Over the years, as Michael’s reputation became tarnished the parks began dropping the film for more family friendly fare such as Honey I Shrunk the Audience. The run ended in Walt Disney World first in July 1994, Tokyo Disneyland in 1996, then Disneyland in April 1997. Disneyland Paris held out the longest not ending the show until August 1998. With the untimely death of the pop icon petitions have circulated to revive Captain EO.
Disneyland announced on December 19 , that Captain EO will return for an exclusive, limited engagement at Disneyland park beginning in February 2010!
Bibliography
Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia– Dave Smith – 2006
Disneyland: Inside Story – Randy Bright - 1987
Birnbaum’s Disneyland 1988 – Steve Birnbaum - 1988
William Silvester - Most of Bill's writing over the past few years has been for the philatelic press and consists primarily of columns and articles about the ...
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