Monday, August 2, 2010

Captain EO

American pop singer Michael Jackson attends the opening of the stage musical 'Dream Girls,' In Los Angeles, 1983. (Photo by Frank Edwards/Fotos International/Getty Images)
Michael Jackson. The man was a world renowned performer and easily one of the most popular and controversial figures in American history. In his time, he was a media and entertainment giant. Anything attached to his name made money and was deemed successful.  So in the 1980s, the Disney Company sought out this megastar for a new 3D adventure. Directed by the great Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Jackson stared in the Kodak 3D epic Captain EO.

 Here is a description taken from the Captain EO IMDb page:

-"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 queen, the Supreme Leader, on her home world of rotting, twisted metal and steaming vents. Captain EO's alien crew consists of his small flying sidekick Fuzzbucket, 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 who always manages to blunder the crew's missions. Upon arriving on the planet, the crew is captured and sentenced to be tortured. Before being sent away, EO tells the Queen that he sees the beauty hidden within her, and that he brings her the key to unlock it: his song."

Due to decreased attendance, the attraction closed at EPCOT in 1994. In the aftermath of Jackson's recent death, the public clamored for the fabled show to be brought back into the parks. Surprisingly, the company responded and the show reopened on July 2, 2010. While I was on my recent family vacation to WDW, I got a chance to see the show for the first time.

Since I am the only Disney fanatic in the family, I was the only one who understood what the show was. Everyone else took it on my word that it would be entertaining. This proved to be unfortunate once i realized Captain EO was really only the world's most expensive music video.

Going into the theater, i was really excited. I was about to experience a piece of vintage Disney history. However, when I looked around and only saw 10 other people in the theater. I started to become worried. Then the cliche behind the scenes pre-show played, and the fear grew inside me. After the preshow we moved into the almost vacant theater and the show began.

I have never been so disappointed by a Disney show in my entire life. It was horrible. Sure, in it's time it was ground breaking and cool. But it's 2010. Times have changed. Tastes have changes. Technology has vastly improved. Regardless of how popular Michael Jackson is, this show did not need to be brought back. Instead of spending money on a new, entertaining attraction, Epcot's Future World just took one giant leap into the past.

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