Following the success of the This Is It concert film, Disney has decided to dust off the 23-year-old music video for a limited engagement at the Anaheim theme park.
The 17-minute Captain EO cost an estimated $30 million to make and featured a star-studded list of credits, including executive producer George Lucas, director Francis Ford Coppola and Anjelica Huston as the evil Supreme Leader.
The 3-D movie featuring lasers, smoke and stars that extend into the audience tells the story of Captain EO on a mission to deliver a musical gift to a wicked alien queen on a dystopian planet. EO's rag-tag crew included his sidekick Fuzzbucket, security officer Major Domo and blundering shipmate Hooter.
The return of Captain EO presents a perplexing challenge to family-centric Disney: How to market a movie relic starring a controversial character without appearing to capitalize on his demise.
EO's revival also raises another question for Disneyland: What to do with the 4-D theater after the films limited run bring back the waning Honey, I Shrunk the Audience or install a new attraction?
