In 1986, if you wanted to see Michael Jackson’s new movie, your local theater couldn’t help you. Neither could the video store.
You had to go to Disney.
The movie was called “Captain EO,” and it opened at Epcot in Florida in September 1986. Six days later it opened at Disneyland in California, and it later played at Disney’s parks in Tokyo and Paris too. It ran just 17 minutes. Guests put on 3D glasses, the lights went down, and the show didn’t stay on the screen. Laser beams, smoke and twinkling stars came right out into the room.
Michael was a big Disney fan. He reportedly loved visiting the parks so much that he’d go in disguise. When Disney asked him to star in something for them, he said yes, and he reportedly hoped Steven Spielberg would direct. Spielberg was too busy, so the job went to the director of “The Godfather.” George Lucas, the man behind “Star Wars,” came on to help make it.
All that talent didn’t come cheap. Sources don’t agree on the exact price, but the movie reportedly cost more per minute than any film made up to that time.
So what was it about? Michael plays Captain EO, the leader of a small spaceship crew made up of odd little space creatures, including a furry sidekick that rides on his shoulder. Their job is to deliver a gift to a dark, gloomy planet ruled by a frightening queen called the Supreme Leader. She’s played by Anjelica Huston, who had just won an Oscar.
The queen doesn’t want their gift. Her guards surround the crew, and things look bad for Captain EO.
Here’s the whole movie, start to finish.
The full 17-minute Disney movie
Michael sang two of his own songs in “Captain EO.” One of them, “Another Part of Me,” later turned up on his album “Bad.” The other one, “We Are Here to Change the World,” wasn’t officially released until 2004, almost 20 years after the movie opened. For years, the only way to hear it was to sit in that dark Disney theater.
Here’s Michael performing both songs in the big scene from the movie.
Michael’s big song and dance from “Captain EO”
So what does Captain EO do when he faces the queen? He doesn’t fight. He sings and dances, and his music turns her gloomy planet bright and changes the frightening queen into a kind, beautiful woman.
“Captain EO” left the parks in the 1990s, and Disney never put it out on tape or DVD. For a long time it was just a memory for the families who’d seen it on vacation.
Then in 2010, it came back. Disneyland brought it back first, then Paris, Epcot and Tokyo. It ran for a few more years, and the last showing at Epcot was in December 2015.
Disney still hasn’t released it on video or streaming, so the copies fans have saved online are the only way to watch it today.