Remembering Captain EO and Michael Jackson
by Tim Larison
With the sad passing of Michael Jackson this week I thought back to Jackson’s starring role in Disney’s Captain EO – a remarkable 3-D movie that played in Epcot, Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris in the late 80’s and early 90’s.
My first visit to Disney World was as a 30 year old in 1987 with my 23 year old sister Susan. We weren’t sure if a trip to Disney World would be fun for two young adults. We were wrong! We fell in love with Epcot and especially the “cool” 3-D Captain EO attraction (it was our favorite).
Michael Jackson was at his best in Captain EO. Director Francis Ford Coppola said afterwards “Michael Jackson was alot of fun to work with. He was like a kid working with a whole lot of big toys.” Captain EO was the most expensive 17 minute movie in history (with a pricetag of over 30 million).
In memory of Michael Jackson, relive the Captain EO movie here.
And watch this short feature with a young George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Eisner and others discussing the making of Captain Eo:
Did you know Walt Disney once owned a bowling alley, and that it was used to train workers for Disney World? One of the fun places to visit in my youth was Celebrity Sports Center in Denver. Celebrity was the first major Disney construction project after the completion of Disneyland. Celebrity opened in 1960 and was owned by Disney until the late 70’s. It featured 88 bowling lanes and an Olympic sized indoor swimming pool.
Our ownership in the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) gave us many fun family vacations. We started our email discussion