Captain Eo is coming back to Disneyland! Woot!

[DiosaBellissima]

I suppose this is fairly mundane and pointless, but according to (the usually correct) Disney sites, Captain Eo is coming back to Disneyland in January. Originally, tons of fans were trying to get Eo put back before Halloween, but it looks like there isn’t enough time for that (they have to take out Honey I Shrunk the Audience).

For those that don’t know, via Wiki:

Captain EO is a 3-D film starring Michael Jackson and directed by Francis Ford Coppola that was shown at Disney theme parks in the 1980s and 1990s, and again in Disneyland Park in California beginning in January 2010.

The film’s executive producer was George Lucas. The film was choreographed by Jeffrey Hornaday, photography by Peter Anderson, produced by Rusty Lemorande, and written by Lemorande, Lucas and Coppola. The score was written by James Horner, and featured two songs (“We Are Here to Change the World” and “Another Part of Me”) by Michael Jackson. The Witch Queen was played by Anjelica Huston. Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro acted as visual consultant.

and

The movie tells the story of Captain EO and the ragtag crew of his spaceship on a mission to deliver a gift to a wicked alien leader, the Witch Queen, on her home world of rotting, twisted metal and steaming vents. Captain EO’s alien crew consists of his small flying sidekick Fuzzball, the double-headed navigator and pilot Idee and Odee, robotic security officer Major Domo, a small robot Minor Domo (who fits like a module into Major Domo), and the clumsy elephant-like shipmate Hooter (Tony Cox) who always manages to blunder the crew’s missions.

Parts 1 and 2 are on Youtube in HD if anybody is a nerd like me :D.
Woo! I’m excited. As a little kid, I would always make a beeline for Captain Eo and make my parents go on it over and over. Luckily for me, my parents were Michael Jackson fans, so they were all about it.

Anywho, apparently this will be officially announced at the D23 Expo in a few weeks. Is anyone going to that or has anyone been? I’m a big Disney nerd and have been considering it, but I’m not sure if it’s worth it.

In the editor’s note at the top.

[Spatial_Rift_47]

Hooter!

[CalMeacham]

I was just looking up Captain EO on Wikipedia yesterday and they mentioned this possibility. I’m not surprised.
I notice that none of the articles or entries – Wikipedia and IMDb included – give Will Vinton Studios credit for the effects work. Bummer.

[garygnu]

While I did like Honey better than EO, they both got old rather quick. I’m glad to see them mixing it up.

Now, when will they come up with a new version of Star Tours?

[Yookeroo]

Yuck. It was a cheesefest back in its original run.

[as_u_wish]

Wow! I’m glad–I enjoyed it back in the day.

[FriarTed]

I’m glad I got to see it about 2-3 years before it was pulled. After MJ’s death, I was looking at the DVDs on eBay & pondering. (No, I didn’t.) Glad to see it coming back.

NOW RELEASE SONG OF THE SOUTH, YA BASTIDS!

[mobo85]

Apparently, the Disney “cast members” like to do spoof videos which are meant for internal consumption, a few of which have gotten out, one of which was a spoof of Captain EO called Captain Eeyore. Besides spoofing the show itself, it also contained inside jokes that only Disney employees would get, such as a joke about how the Winnie-the-Pooh costume at the time had arms so small that the person inside it could not pick himself up if knocked over, and the following dialogue between Tweedledee and Tweedledum which also pokes fun at the name of a character in the film:

“We’re looking for the Supreme Leader.”
'You mean Diana Ross?"
“Wow. You really are a Mongoloid.”

(Michael Eisner had decreed that Tweedledee and Tweedledum be removed from the parks because he believed their faces resembled Mongoloid features and thus could be considered offensive, but the characters were so popular with guests the request was ignored.)

[Red_Barchetta]

@garygnu

Now, when will they come up with a new version of Star Tours?

You clearly don’t keep up on the Disney rumors Star Tours 2 has practically been confirmed, with the initial filming already complete. It’s due to replace Star Tours in 2011.

Personally, I’m bummed by this–I love Star Tours and I don’t feel there’s anything they could do involving the prequels (which this is based on) that could exceed that level of quality.

“I know this is probably your first flight…and it’s mine too…ha, ha”

Love it.

[DiosaBellissima]

@mobo85

Apparently, the Disney “cast members” like to do spoof videos which are meant for internal consumption, a few of which have gotten out, one of which was a spoof of Captain EO called Captain Eeyore. Besides spoofing the show itself, it also contained inside jokes that only Disney employees would get, such as a joke about how the Winnie-the-Pooh costume at the time had arms so small that the person inside it could not pick himself up if knocked over, and the following dialogue between Tweedledee and Tweedledum which also pokes fun at the name of a character in the film:

“We’re looking for the Supreme Leader.”
'You mean Diana Ross?"
“Wow. You really are a Mongoloid.”

(Michael Eisner had decreed that Tweedledee and Tweedledum be removed from the parks because he believed their faces resembled Mongoloid features and thus could be considered offensive, but the characters were so popular with guests the request was ignored.)

Ha! That’s funny.

[MovieMogul]

@DiosaBellissima

Anywho, apparently this will be officially announced at the D23 Expo in a few weeks.

I spoke to someone who went to D23 and apparently the Cpt. Eo story isn’t true after all…

[GIGObuster]

@mobo85

Apparently, the Disney “cast members” like to do spoof videos which are meant for internal consumption, a few of which have gotten out, one of which was a spoof of Captain EO called Captain Eeyore. Besides spoofing the show itself, it also contained inside jokes that only Disney employees would get, such as a joke about how the Winnie-the-Pooh costume at the time had arms so small that the person inside it could not pick himself up if knocked over, and the following dialogue between Tweedledee and Tweedledum which also pokes fun at the name of a character in the film:

“We’re looking for the Supreme Leader.”
'You mean Diana Ross?"
“Wow. You really are a Mongoloid.”

(Michael Eisner had decreed that Tweedledee and Tweedledum be removed from the parks because he believed their faces resembled Mongoloid features and thus could be considered offensive, but the characters were so popular with guests the request was ignored.)

Well, good thing this got bumped because I found clips from the Captain Eo spoof, Captain Eeyore:

Captain Eeyore 1 - Captain Eo (Michael Jackson) Parody

Captain Eeyore 2 - Captain Eo (Michael Jackson) Parody

[Yookeroo]

@ArchiveGuy

I spoke to someone who went to D23 and apparently the Cpt. Eo story isn’t true after all…

Sanity prevails at Disney. My guess is that they actually watched it before making the final decision.

[Troy_McClure_SF]

@CalMeacham

I notice that none of the articles or entries – Wikipedia and IMDb included – give Will Vinton Studios credit for the effects work. Bummer.

So add it to Wikipedia!