The return of Captain EO

[elizabethswann]

I was born in the late 80s so I knew that this was a retro thing when I went to see the tribute.

[Amy]

Oh my, that picture is so cute, Amy. And we're almost the same age, too (I thought you were just a baby, my dear).

Btw, has anyone seen Capt. EO since he's returned? MF, have you? How bad was it?

Thanks momeja...I tend to live a sheltered life so I probably sound as young as I look. Well, or at least I try to remain youthful...maybe that is a better way of putting it. I teach piano as well as sub at the schools so I am surrounded by youth ~ I think that helps keep you young. And I help my Mom with her home so being around older people helps me stay grounded.
I'm sure we will pop into Captain EO if we get there, if nothing else, just to remind ourselves how bad the movie truly was...

[disneylizzy]

I was born in the late 80s so I knew that this was a retro thing when I went to see the tribute.

Yeah, I felt like the most obvious 80's part was the use of furry animal-like characters - very Alf or Flight of the Navigator to use a disney reference

[mindflipper]

Oh my, that picture is so cute, Amy. And we're almost the same age, too (I thought you were just a baby, my dear).

Btw, has anyone seen Capt. EO since he's returned? MF, have you? How bad was it?

I had two friends who saw it and told me they were EXTREMELY disappointed in it. They felt it looked like they used the same movie film that was used in the attraction went it went off. They said the image quality looked bad. On top of that, given how special effects have advanced since then, they wondered why they could have not spent a very small amount of money to fix some of those bad 80's special effects. How expensive would it have been with the computer generated effects today? I hated the film back then (my friends used to drag me to it unwillingly), and now those friends seeing again now complain about how bad it looked. George Lucas upgraded Star Wars. They've done it also with the original Star Trek series with cleaning up special effects. Both done without changing the show or its story - so why could have Disney not done the same with Captain Eo? Just TOO FRIGGIN' CHEAP!

If this was being done as a tribute to Michael Jackson, then upgrading it a bit would have been a great memorial. Instead, Disney is just doing a money-grubbing cashing-in on his celebrity death to make some $$$ on his death. Shame on Disney.

[Jacca5660]

Oh my, that picture is so cute, Amy. And we're almost the same age, too (I thought you were just a baby, my dear).

Btw, has anyone seen Capt. EO since he's returned? MF, have you? How bad was it?

I had two friends who saw it and told me they were EXTREMELY disappointed in it. They felt it looked like they used the same movie film that was used in the attraction went it went off. They said the image quality looked bad. On top of that, given how special effects have advanced since then, they wondered why they could have not spent a very small amount of money to fix some of those bad 80's special effects. How expensive would it have been with the computer generated effects today? I hated the film back then (my friends used to drag me to it unwillingly), and now those friends seeing again now complain about how bad it looked. George Lucas upgraded Star Wars. They've done it also with the original Star Trek series with cleaning up special effects. Both done without changing the show or its story - so why could have Disney not done the same with Captain Eo? Just TOO FRIGGIN' CHEAP!

If this was being done as a tribute to Michael Jackson, then upgrading it a bit would have been a great memorial. Instead, Disney is just doing a money-grubbing cashing-in on his celebrity death to make some $$$ on his death. Shame on Disney.

No not Disney?

[Mousekedude]

I agree, Mindflipper. If it had been anything more than just a cynical attempt to cash in on his death, they would have invested in some upgrades. The very fact that they refused to spend the money on improving it just proves to me that they only wanted to do something quick and easy to cash in, and never meant it to be anything substantial. They were hoping they would get "good citizen" points for "doing something to show they care", and that no one would notice that they did it on the cheap. I never liked MJ or Eo anyway, but I'm still offended by the cynicism of Disney in the way they did this.

[NaCler]

Devil's Advocate... How about they wanted to honor him by showing the film as he originally "performed" it?? If they changed it, then people would say that it dishonored him as it obviously wasn't good enough, so Disney had to go in and improve it. Think about how we bash most of the changes that are made at EPCOT. Why not keep the original?

[mindflipper]

Devil's Advocate... How about they wanted to honor him by showing the film as he originally "performed" it?? If they changed it, then people would say that it dishonored him as it obviously wasn't good enough, so Disney had to go in and improve it. Think about how we bash most of the changes that are made at EPCOT. Why not keep the original?

When Lucas re-vamped the original Star Wars Trilogy years back - did that dishonor the original films? I don't think so. It was more like fixing it because the technology didn't exist back then where it does today. Disney could have revamped the film around Michael Jackson without changing one bit of his performance or singing. Few years ago, Natalie Cole changed some of her father's songs in order to have it where she sang duet with him. Those changes were done to honor her father, not dishonor him. Changing the film to update it can be done without impacting the original Michael Jackson content.

[elizabethswann]

I was born in the late 80s so I knew that this was a retro thing when I went to see the tribute.

Yeah, I felt like the most obvious 80's part was the use of furry animal-like characters - very Alf or Flight of the Navigator to use a disney reference

I just have to say that I love you for the Flight of the Navigator reference.

[NaCler]

When Lucas re-vamped the original Star Wars Trilogy years back - did that dishonor the original films? I don't think so. It was more like fixing it because the technology didn't exist back then where it does today.

The major difference here is that none of the main stars, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford... died right before he re-did the movies, or there may have been a back-lash about changing it.

Disney could have revamped the film around Michael Jackson without changing one bit of his performance or singing. Few years ago, Natalie Cole changed some of her father's songs in order to have it where she sang duet with him. Those changes were done to honor her father, not dishonor him. Changing the film to update it can be done without impacting the original Michael Jackson content.

This, I definitely agree with. They could have done some CGI characters super-imposed on the furry sidekicks he had. But, there again lies the point. We didn't want them to take out Dreamfinder from the Imagination ride but it would look rather old if he was still there. Same with World of Motion, half of that ride was cardboard cutout characters. If they changed them it wouldn't have been the original and people would have complained.

[disneylizzy]

I was born in the late 80s so I knew that this was a retro thing when I went to see the tribute.

Yeah, I felt like the most obvious 80's part was the use of furry animal-like characters - very Alf or Flight of the Navigator to use a disney reference

I just have to say that I love you for the Flight of the Navigator reference.

LOL!

I'd have to agree that I think disney wanted to jump on the Micheal Jackson bandwagon with the return of EO. If they were serious about honoring him, why not update the film?

Also, I think we can all agree that if MJ were still alive, the EO film would never have returned.

[mindflipper]

This, I definitely agree with. They could have done some CGI characters super-imposed on the furry sidekicks he had. But, there again lies the point. We didn't want them to take out Dreamfinder from the Imagination ride but it would look rather old if he was still there. Same with World of Motion, half of that ride was cardboard cutout characters. If they changed them it wouldn't have been the original and people would have complained.

Personally I could not stand the cardboard cut-outs used in Dreamflights, Horizons in other attractions. It looked far too cheap to be part of Disney quality. If they were removed from the attraction, I would have not complained and I think most people would have not either.

Also, I think we can all agree that if MJ were still alive, the EO film would never have returned.

Good point! It was only brought back because he was dead. If MJ was alive, it would be collecting dust in a warehouse. So if Disney wanted to "honor" MJ, then they could have done more with Captain Eo to make it better without changing the original story & music.

[Len90]

Well I got to see it during a soft-opening on June 30th. Thanks to fellow board member packwingfan It was really funny to see the change over happen as opening day came close. On June 28th the merchandise showed up in Mouse Gear and at a cart in front of the Imagination pavilion. During this time period the imageworks uniforms were dropped and the classical Blue Epcot shirt and beige pants were the costumes the CM's started wearing. Rumors had it that Kodak had backed out of imageworks and Disney bought back the pavilion temporarily while Nikon would end up replacing Kodak. There is also the rumor that the entire building is going to be painted blue. Finally, once Captain EO started soft opening the costume was the same colored shirt with a Captain EO patch instead of the SSE ball.

I agree with the comments posted by mindflipper. It was nice to see that they used the original 70mm film. However, the quality of the film and effects was not that good. I liked how they tried to incorporate some 4D effects with strobes in the floor and the lasers. However, it was one of those things that I walked out saying never again. I didn't enjoy it at all and it left me missing HISTA.

[NaCler]

I know, I know... I actually agree with you guys. I just like playing devil's advocate sometimes. I am looking forward to it though, as I loved it as a kid but I know I'll be let down and join in on the bashing when I return.

[Mousekedude]

You did a pretty good job of playing Devil's Advocate, NaCler. You made some good points. What if Disney really was looking at it that way? Bottom line, you just can't win when your customers come from such diverse backgrounds and have opinions that cover the entire spectrum from one extreme to the other. No matter what they did, someone would complain that they didn't do it some other way. That having been said, though, I do believe that some techno-upgrades that don't detract from the original show but actually enhance it would have honored him more, if that's what they really wanted to do.