Captain EO
Presented by Kodak

A
GEORGE LUCAS
PRODUCTION
 
STARRING
MICHAEL JACKSON
 
DIRECTED BY
FRANCIS COPPOLA

Supreme Leader:
“You think me
beautiful?”
 
Captain EO:
“Very beautiful
within, but
without a key
to unlock it...
and that is my
gift to you.”

Get ready to experience the singing, dancing, and song-writing talents of Michael Jackson, in a spectacular, 70-millimeter, 3-D space adventure.

You might have to wait a while. There’s only one theater, and it only has around 500 seats. The show lasts 17 minutes, and it takes several minutes to reload the audience between the shows.

It’s worth the wait if you’re a Michael Jackson fan... or if you’re a special effects fan. There are 150 special effects in the film, and a bunch of in-theater effects too.

Pick up your 3-D glasses as you enter the Magic Eye Theater... but please don’t put them on until you’re seated.

The doors open. Please move all the way to the end of a row and take a seat. You may put on your 3-D glasses now. (If you wear eyeglasses, don’t worry; the 3-D glasses fit right over them.) If you don’t like really loud music and noises, this also might be a good time to put some cotton in your ears.

Sit back and watch Captain EO and his faithful, if unusual, crew—Hooter, Fuzzball, the Geex, Major Domo, and Minor Domo—as they prepare to land their little spaceship on an oppressed planet. Where’s landing beacon? Don’t trip any alarms... Oops. The crew tripped the alarm. Oh no! There’s an enemy patrol ship. Still no landing beacon? How about a map? Hooter ate the map?

Crash! Too late—but there’s the landing beacon.

Oh, oh... Captain EO and his crew have been captured, taken to the wicked Supreme Leader (played by Anjelica Huston), and sentenced. “Justice” is swift and severe. Captain EO accepts his sentence, one hundred years of torture, with grace. He tells the Supreme Leader that he has brought her a gift, which she will see—and hear.

The music begins, and the battle begins. Lasers fire above your head. What is happening to the Supreme Leader’s troops? The power of music is transforming them. Look! Even the awful Supreme Leader is now a beautiful queen, and the planet looks great.

Who said rock music is a bad thing? Captain EO just proved that rock music causes good to triumph over evil!

As you exit, please drop your 3-D glasses in the receptacle.

It was 1984. Michael Jackson was at the height of his career. His 1982 album Thriller, already the best-selling album of all time, was still on the charts. In 1983, Jackson had debuted the moonwalk. His 1984 “Victory” tour played to sold-out stadiums. Michael Jackson wasn’t just a pop star. He was a cultural phenomenon.

Also in 1984, movie executives Michael Eisner and Frank Wells took over the top jobs at Disney. In addition to launching an aggressive slate of movie projects, Eisner and Wells sought to invigorate Disney’s theme parks. They brought their movie experience to the parks too. Traditionally, theme park attractions didn’t rely on star performers. That would now change.

In his 1998 book Work in Progress, Eisner explained:

The third idea we came up with for Disneyland was to create something with Michael Jackson, who appealed to teenagers, but also to young kids, and even their parents. Jackson was a huge fan of our parks, sometimes visiting several times a month, in and out of disguise. Our notion was to put him in an extended 3-D music video. George Lucas happened to be one of Jackson’s heroes, and provided another lure. Ultimately, Lucas decided to produce the video and recruited Francis Ford Coppola to direct.

The result of this collaboration was Captain EO, which opened at DIenyland on September 18, 1986 (six days after it opened at EPCOT Center).

At Disneyland, a new theater for Captain EO would replace the Space Stage.

Although built for Captain EO, Disneyland’s Magic Eye Theater opened in May 1986 with the delightful Magic Journeys, the original 3-D movie from Epcot’s Imagination pavilion. (Actually, Magic Journeys was no stranger to Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, having enjoyed a previous run at the outdoor Space Stage.) In September of the same year, Captain EO moved into the Magic Eye Theater.

Most guests reacted favorably to Captain EO. A few newspaper articles were more critical.

Here’s a paragraph from Charles Solomon, writing in the Los Angeles Times, October 9, 1986:

For all its wondrous imagery, “Captain EO” is nothing more than the most elaborate rock video in history, like a hollow chocolate Easter bunny, it’s a glorious surface over a void. No one expects an amusement-park diversion to be “Gone With the Wind,” but given that list of credits and the film’s lavish budget (rumored to be between $16 million-$20 million, although Disney refuses to release any figures), audiences have a right to expect more than empty flash.

Here’s a paragraph from the Chicago Tribune, September 18, 1986:

The movie thrusts its characters into danger immediately. They are flying into your face, lasers blasting, just as you learn their names. Within such a short time you can’t empathize with their plight. But the novelty of the 3-D effect is enough to occupy you through the start, though the plot is overcomplicated for the time available.

Over years the crowds disappeared. Movie-based attractions tend to have less repeat appeal than rides. Michael Jackson’s star shined less brightly. After a run of over ten years at Disneyland, Captain EO closed quietly in April 1997.

In May 1998, the former Magic Eye Theater became the West Coast home of the 3-D movie Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, which had already replaced Captain EO at Epcot in 1994.

At one time, Captain EO was showing at Disney parks in California, Florida, Japan, and France. The final place at which you could see Captain EO was at CinéMagique, presented by Kodak, in Discoveryland at Disneyland Paris. In late summer 1998, the Captain departed from Paris as well.

Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, at age 50. In the years leading up to his death, Jackson had been in the news for his behavior in public and allegations of what he might have done in private. But after his death, there was a renewed interest in his music. The King of Pop left behind an extensive catalog of Jackson 5 albums, solo albums, and compilations. His CD and music download sales soared. Apple’s iTunes named Michael Jackson the 2009 Artist of the Year.

Meanwhile, at Disneyland in 2009, Honey, I Shrunk the Audience had trouble filling seats, even on busy days. After it had played more than a decade in the Magic Eye Theater, few Disneyland guests were eager to see the aging 3-D film based on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, a largely forgotten movie from 1989.

This disparity of popularity was not lost on Disneyland management. In September 2009, the Magic Eye Theater was temporarily closed to the public for several days. Officially, the reason was to show Captain EO to Michael Jackson’s children. But it was also an opportunity to test the feasibility of bringing back Captain EO for a public run.

On December 18, 2009, the official Disney Parks Blog announced the news: “We are excited to confirm that the classic musical spectacular that thrilled Disneyland park guests from 1986-1997, will return for an exclusive, limited engagement at Disneyland park beginning in February 2010!”

Captain EO reopened at Disneyland on February 23, 2010.

It was the same movie in the same theater, but the in-theater effects had changed. For Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, the Imagineers removed the lasers and installed a mechanism to allow the theater floor to move. So Captain EO no longer had in-theater laser effects, but the theater floor became part of the show.

The 3-D technology and special effects of Captain EO had been state-of-the-art in the 1980s, but now looked dated. The audiences of 2010 were accustomed to digital 3-D at their local cinemas and complex CGI wizardry such as in James Cameron’s Avatar. In comparison, Captain EO was downright old-fashioned.

But what really mattered was Michael Jackson’s music and his performance. The audiences of 2010 could again see Michael Jackson at his best. And, overall, it’s still 17 minutes of fun entertainment.

If Captain EO is back, why is this article still part of Yesterland? Well, technically Captain EO is not back. The current attraction at Disneyland is called Captain EO Tribute.

So how long will the “exclusive, limited engagement” be? There’s no official word. Ultimately, the answer will depend on how well Captain EO draws audiences and when Disney executives approve funds for something new.

All indications are that Captain EO is a success, pulling in far more guests than Honey, I Shrunk the Audience in its later years.

Captain EO reopened at Disneyland Paris on June 2, 2010; at Tokyo Disneyland on June 1, 2010; and at Epcot on July 2, 2010.

Click here to discuss this page on the Yesterland Discussion Forum at MiceChat!

Character Shop America Sings Home

© 1997-2011 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks

Updated July 13, 2011.

Photograph of Magic Eye Theater sign: 1996 by Werner Weiss.
Photograph of Captain EO and Space Mountain pylons: 1995 by Chris Bales.
Photograph of Mission to Mars with Captain EO sign: 1991 by Chris Bales.
Photograph of Magic Eye Theater exterior at night: 1997 by Werner Weiss.
Captain EO poster: Copyright The Walt Disney Company), and is included here for historical illustration.
Scanned image of a small section of the 1983 Disneyland souvenir map: Copyright 1983 Walt Disney Productions (now The Walt Disney Company), and is included here for historical illustration.
Scanned image of a small section of the 1987 Disneyland souvenir map: Copyright 1987 The Walt Disney Company, and is included here for historical illustration.
Photograph of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience: 2006 by Werner Weiss.
Photograph of Captain EO Tribute sign: 2010 by Werner Weiss.
Photograph of Captain EO Tribute sign: 2011 by Tad.
Photograph of top portion of Captain EO Tribute poster: 2010 by Werner Weiss.
Photograph of Captain EO Tribute poster: 2011 by Tad.
Photograph of Captain EO Tribute at Epcot: 2010 by Werner Weiss.