That’s right — Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, and Michael Jackson combined forces to create the iconic and incomparable Captain EO.

Captain EO debuted in 1986 and ran through 1995 at Disney Parks around the world. It returned after Michael Jackson’s death to run again from 2010 to 2015. The 17-minute short film was groundbreaking and reportedly cost over $30 million to make. At the time, it was the most expensive film ever made based on cost-per-minute, with costs averaging out to over $1.7 million a minute.

Captain EO came shortly after Michael Jackson’s incredibly successful Thriller video, which sparked the King of Pop’s interest of making movies. Jackson was a lifelong Disney fan, and was working with Disney leadership to come up with a collaboration. Michael Eisner (then Disney’s CEO) suggested an exclusive Disney Parks film. Jackson agreed — but only if George Lucas or Steven Speilberg was involved. Speilberg was busy with The Color Purple, but Lucas (who was already working with Disney on Star Tours), agreed to assist. He called up some filmmaking pals to help, including Francis Ford Coppola.

Captain EO was directed by Coppola, whose extensive list of credits include The Godfather series, Patton, and Apocalypse Now (not exactly classic Disney material, but mega-talented, obviously). George Lucas executive-produced Captain EO, which as you probably know, was not his first go at a space opera. And, of course, the film starred Michael Jackson as Captain EO himself.  It was Coppola who named MJ’s character Captain EO, after Eos the Greek Goddess of the Dawn.

Other impressive credits on Captain EO include Costume Designer John Napier (Cats on Broadway), Makeup Artist Rich Baker (An American Warewolf in London), Choreographer Jeffrey Hornaday (Flashdance), Visual Effects Artist Harrison Ellenshaw (Star Wars), and Composer James Horner (Avatar, eventually). Talk about an A+ Lineup!

Captain EO told the story of a band of ragtags (Michael Jackson + puppets and robots) who are on a special mission to deliver an important gift to the Supreme Leader (Anjelica Huston) of an unfriendly garbage planet. Turns out, the special gift is an elaborate song and dance number (obviously), which frees the Supreme Leader and transforms her and the planet into a colorful utopia.

Captain EO was groundbreaking, not only because of the production team behind it, but because of the special effects. It was only shown in specially-designed Disney theaters that shook, smoked, and incorporated laser effects. It was also in 3D, which wasn’t new technology but still was not widely used and seen as it is today. (Ahhh, life before Avatar.)

Captain EO also brought us two new songs from the King of Pop — “We Are Here to Change the World” and “Another Part of Me.” The latter was released on Michael Jackson’s album Bad, but “We are Here…” wasn’t released until 2004 as part of Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection.  

Fun fact: the Disney team was horrified at how many times Michael did his signature “thrusting” dance move when they finally saw the footage. They had to cut it out several times, however it was impossible to remove them all as it was so prominent.

Captain EO replaced Magic Journeys at Epcot and Disneyland and opened to great praise from guests. It eventually went on to play at Tokyo Disney and Disneyland Paris (then EuroDisney), both of which resurrected the film for tributes after MJ’s death.

So now you know the tale of Captain EO — the 80’s adventure that brought together some of the leading names of entertainment. It may be gone, but it is certainly not forgotten.

Have you seen Captain EO? Let us know in the comments!

 

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