(07/23/2011) Tokyo, Japan – Executives at the Tokyo Disneyland Resort have recently announced that the 1980′s 3-D musical space adventure, “Captain E.O.” is now a permanent attraction at its Tokyo Disneyland theme park. The film-based attraction stars the late Michael Jackson as Captain E.O., a fledging space pilot who is charged with bringing the gift of music to the dark and mysterious Supreme Leader, played by Anjelica Houston; it was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and executive produced by George Lucas in association with Walt Disney Imagineering and Industrial Light & Magic.
“Captain E.O.”, which premiered in the States at Epcot and the original Disneyland in 1986, opened in Tokyo in 1987 to a strong fan base and critical acclaim. The popularity of the attraction was in large parts due to Jackson’s signature dance moves performed, including the Moonwalk, as well as two original songs created by Jackson for the film – “Another Part of Me” and “We Are Here to Change the World”; later versions of these songs appeared on Bad (1987) and Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection (1994), respectively.
After nearly a decade-long run – the later years of which were marked with declining popularity – “Captain E.O.” was closed in 1996 to make way for MicroAdventure!, a re-titled version of the state-side “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience” 3-D film from Epcot, which starred Rick Moranis in a reprisal of a role made famous in the “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” movie series. While this attraction was initially popular, MicroAdventure, performed poorly with theme park guests in Anaheim, Orlando, Tokyo and Paris.
Shortly after Michael Jackson’s untimely June 2009 death, several DIsney fan sites began online petitions to bring “Captain E.O.” back to the parks for a limited engagement. Disney obliged, but only in their Anaheim theme park. Thanks to overwhelming popularity, the decision was made to bring the film back in Orlando, Tokyo and Paris for limited-engagement runs under the moniker, “Captain E.O. Tribute”. The film reopened in Tokyo on July 1, 2010. Originally set to be a run through the holidays, the attraction’s run was continually granted extensions until the decision was made in Summer 2011 to let the attraction remain a permanent feature of Tokyo Disneyland.
This move marks the official permanent closure of MicroAdventure! in the park. No similar announcements have been made regarding the attraction’s three other international showings, though no closure date has been set either.
-Report by William J. Nash-McAdam | Will@theCaliforniaSource.com
How come this is not shown in Disney Hk. I’m at lost why after so much fans signing for the petition, Disney HK would only consider in 2013 … They even suggested fans from local areas to go to Tokyo for the film. Don’t know how many would travel only for that but we may as well watch from YouTube
I’d agree that it’d be a great attraction to show in Hong Kong, but Disney’s justification is this: because it was brought back as a tribute attraction only, Disney only brought it back to its original showing locations in Disneyland, Epcot, Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland. In each of those four parks, the film was replaced by “Honey…”, which was then replaced with the return of E.O. The film was never shown in Hong Kong because HKDL opened after the film was already phased out … and Tomorrowland also lacks a purpose-built 3-D theater to house an attraction like “E.O.” or “Honey…”. Though they could easily construct one, or temporarily replace The Golden Mickeys with this show in Fantasyland, but with three new lands (albeit small lands) opening in HKDL over the next couple years, I doubt they’d spend the extra money on this, unfortunately.
-Will