Image Copyright 2010 Disney
Rejoining the Tomorrowland offerings after a 13-year hiatus, “Captain E.O.” once again brings the music and imagination of Disney, George Lucas and Michael Jackson back to Disneyland Park. This limited-engagement run, officially titled “Captain E.O. Tribute”, is a nostalgic and sentimental nod to Michael Jackson and the thousands of fans who requested a brief return of this once-popular show to the park. Books can be written on the relationship between Disney and Jackson, from the custom pieces created by Walt Disney Imagineering for his Neverland Ranch clear to his frequent visits with his children to Disneyland Paris. After Jackson’s passing in June 2009, plans were developed to bring back “Captain E.O.” as a tribute to the man, the music, and his fans.
The show originally debuted in 1986 to tremendous praise, and was the first 3-D show in the world to offer in-theater special effects, pioneering a new generation of theme park experiences known as “4-D”. The story was developed as a collaborative effort between Walt Disney Imagineering and Industrial Light & Magic, with original music developed specifically for the show by Michael Jackson. Co-starring Anjelica Houston as the Supreme Leader, “Captain E.O.” is directed by Francis Ford Coppola and executive produced by George Lucas. The show remained in the park through 1997, when it and several other Tomorrowland attractions were closed in preparation for the 1998 Tomorrowland make-over. The Magic Eye Theatre was converted into The Imagination Institute to present a new 3-D film, “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience”, starring Rick Moranis. The newer show never proved as popular as “Captain E.O.”, but remained due to the lack of a replacement. As a tribute to Michael Jackson, “Captain E.O.” was returned to Disneyland for a limited engagement on February 23, 2010. It is expected to run through the year.
The show begins by the audience being introduced to a “rag-tag team” of space travelers, led by “the infamous Captain E.O.” As the ship blasts away a rock right in front of guests’ faces, we’re introduced to the crew: Oldie, Hooter, Major Dimo, Minor Dimo, and of course, Fuzzball! Michael Jackson makes his first appearance as captain on deck to steer their ship to the landing beacon on a far-away planet. Under threat of hostile fire, Captain E.O. navigates the ship in “Star Wars” fashion while Hooter struggles to find the map and locate the landing beacon. After the crew crashes, they wearily make their way through a space wasteland as they attempt to find the Supreme Leader and deliver the gift. It isn’t long, of course, before E.O. and his crew are taken hostage and brought before the Supreme Leader for punishment. Descending from a tangled mess of cables, the gaunt and reclusive evil leader (Anjelica Houston) carries out sentencing. E.O. accepts, but first asks to deliver his gift, to help her unlock her inner beauty. Intrigued but guarded, the Supreme Leader inquires to see this gift. It is at this pivotal moment that E.O. says, “Not just see your highness, but hear”.
As the crew produces musical instruments to heal the Supreme Leader by the power of music, Hooter slips, crashing the key board and breaking it. The Supreme Leader orders her guards to seize the crew just as Hooter repairs the keyboard. Using the energy and power of music, Captain E.O. blasts away her guards, converting them from menacing henchmen into vibrant, joyful back-up dancers. This back-and-forth battle between Captain E.O. and the Supreme Leader continues on through the signature number, “We Are Here to Change the World”. Ultimately, when even her finest guards are converted from hate to love, Captain E.O. is able to transform the Supreme Leader. When he does so, the space wasteland is converted to an intergalactic oasis, the Supreme Leader is transformed into a beautiful queen, and she is freed from her chains. Captain E.O. and his crew triumphantly dance back to their ship to the song, “Another Part of Me”.
Keeping in mind that this is a “tribute” showing, the experience is not entirely the same this time around as it was in the mid-1980’s. While the music and film print are digitally improved to a degree, the in-theater effects have been changed. Some elements, such as the starfield, the green lasers and the smoke were removed when the facility was converted in 1997; they have not been replaced. What has been added, however, are a few effects that take advantage of the theater’s large hydraulic motion base installed for “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience”. As E.O.’s ship flies through the planet, the floor moves along with the screen, providing a type of simulator experience. In the songs, the floor slightly bounces to the beat of the music. In addition, the glasses handed out are now yellow, not purple. A new Kodak-sponsored preshow is incorporated with a screening of the original trailer for the attraction.
