The Return of Captain EO

After 16 years, Captain EO is back at Disneyland. I'm looking at the timeline and realized that Captain EO ended just about the time I became a Disneyland Annual Passholder. I remember seeing the last few performances of this 3-D movie. And I can tell you that I didn't miss it that much.

Now that Captain EO is back, I've become a little nostalgic. It was fun seeing the black Micheal Jackson and fun seeing the cheesy special effects.

I was also fun thinking about my own personal history of Captain EO. I was just a year into college when Captain EO first opened at Disneyland on September 12, 1986. I thought that it was cool that George Lucas and Disney we're teaming up on a project. I had no idea who Francis Ford Coppola was. Never had seen the Godfather.

I was at a stage when I paid for most of my own expenses so I never did see Captain EO the first year that it came out. I vaguely remember my first time in the theater, so I'll meld the several memories I had of seeing it. I'm pretty sure I was with a group of my church friends. I remember being in line for it. The line was outside the theater and when one performance ended I moved into the waiting area and watched the pre-show video about the making of Captain EO.

I remember really enjoying the film. Why, it had amazing 3-D effects. In fact, it was probably my first 3-D movie ever. It was the first use of external effect syncronized with a movie (e.g. the laser effects). I was a huge Micheal Jackson fan after the release of Billie Jean and Beat It. I was also a huge fan of Weird Al's Eat It. Say whatever you will about Michael but he was a great performer and extremely entertaining, especially during the 80's.

Does anyone remember the Disneyland special on TV? I remember a scene of George Lucas in the theater testing the lasers. I also remember Robert Palmer performing Addicted to Love. Remember that the was around the growing popularity of MTV back when they showed music videos 24 hours a day.

Anytime that I visited Disneyland, I would see Captain EO. The pre-show area was always filled and I had to time my entrance properly to get a middle seat. It's conceivable that I've seen Captain EO about 100 times.

Flash forward to 2010. I decided not to participate in the hype of the first day performance of Captain EO. Instead, I waited about a week later. As usual I'm at Disneyland when it opens at 10:00 am. There's a decent crowd waiting to see the show, but hardly a packed theater.

Here's a few observations: The 2-D to 3-D starfield effect was not installed. The film was the original 70mm film when Captain EO first played and it showed. There were a lot of scratches and the color was fading. The effect still work and the sound was good. The laser effects we're also not working. The Imagineers decided to use the moving floor and shake us a few times, but it was hardly in logical places during the story and often felt random.

That said, it was a whole lot of fun reliving my past. Although it pains me to remember that I was in college Captain EO first came out.

If you're at Disneyland, it's well worth the time to see this 3-D classic.