Captain EO (Francis Ford Coppola, 1986): USA

Reviewed by Kathleen Amboy.  Viewed at Disneyland, Anaheim, CA.

Thanks to the pressure of MJ fans, Disneyland Resort re-opened a special film attraction at the park, calling it the Captain EO Tribute in honor of the late Michael Jackson.

At the pinnacle of Michael Jackson’s success (after Thriller and before Bad), Francis Ford Coppola in partnership with George Lucas, Disney, and Jackson created a 17 minute, 3-D film attraction for Disneyland Theme Parks titled Captain EO.

Captain EO (Michael Jackson) and his handful of bumpkin crew members are on a spaceship, with a mission to deliver a gift to the evil Supreme Leader (Angelica Huston).  On arrival, their plans run afoul and tick her off, causing the crew to be turned into trash cans, but not before Captain EO, having the last word, breaks out in song and dance.

The attraction was quite popular from 1986 up to the mid 1990’s.  It quietly disappeared in the late 1990’s due to Michael Jackson incurring an overflow of bad press.  After Jackson’s passing in 2009, Disney became deluged by fans demanding that Captain Eo be reinstated at the park, which did occur in February 2010.

While the film is definitely dated, with hair and costumes straight out of the 80’s, it is a gem for fans of both Jackson and of film in general.  Jackson was no A-list actor; with trite dialogue and corny plot this comes across loud and clear.  He was however an outstanding performer and this comes across as well, with his song and dance performances of We Are Here to Change the World and Another Part of Me.

The presentation is the most creative use of 3-D to date.  As EO’s spaceship flies through narrow corridors, cool wind blows on your face and the audience senses it visually and physically as well.  Hydraulic struts within the seating lift and move in sync to the music, and The Supreme Leader’s tallons reach out at you as she reaches for EO.

Although the attraction does not contain the original laser display it once had, and the hydraulic seating component is questionable – in fact the EO tribute replaces the Honey I Shrunk the Audience attraction – you get the gist of what the original attraction once was, and it is fun to experience as-is.

Unfortunately, it seems as though Disney was not about to spend one more dime than necessary to reinstate the film, since it has not been updated digitally and appears scratchy, nor has the sound quality been improved.  The hydraulic mechanism is fun and different but when it thumps to the bass of the music it becomes a bit of an overkill.

The experience is not worth the price of admission – it is however worth standing in line for.  Perhaps if enough interest is generated, Disney will invest the dinero needed to improve the quality of the attraction.