A Friend of Mickey

CAPTAIN EO IS COMING BACK TO WALT DISNEY WORLD!

I just saw the announcement on the Disney Parks blog.  It is scheduled to reopen at Walt Disney World on July 2nd.  It will replace "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience" in the Imagination Pavilion at EPCOT.

What is Captain EO?  First off, I'm sad that you don't already know.  It's amazing.  Captain EO was a space fantasy film starring Michael Jackson that ran from 1986 to 1994.  When it originally opened, it was in 3D; when it reopens in EPCOT, it will be in 4D, incorporating some of the hydraulics used in the "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience" ride.  Special effects include lasers, laser impacts, smoke effects, and starfields.  This film cost an estimated $30 million to produce, making it at the time the most expensive film ever produced on a per-minute basis ($1.76 million per minute).

As far as plot is concerned, it is a story of Captain EO and his ragtag team trying to deliver a package to the Supreme Leader of another planet.  Upon landing, Captain EO and the crew are captured by henchmen and are sentenced to being turned into trash cans and dungeon torture.  However, in true Michael Jackson style, through song and dance they are all able to escape.

I had the pleasure of seeing it as a child, although I was only four at the time.  I remember it being quite colorful, vivid, and very exciting, but that was twenty years ago, and memories fade, so I'm stoked to get to experience this again with new eyes.