There was no wait for Captain EO (Thanks for the tip, MouseWait!) so we walked right up, got our glasses and started watching the pre-show. The pre-show is supposed to be a behind-the-scenes look at Captain EO, but it looks more like a Hall & Oates music video crashed into an Olivia Newton John song. Cheesy, cheesy music combined with legwarmers (on the backup dancers) and bushy mustaches (George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola). It was exciting hearing the old music again, and it was nice to be back at the “Magic Eye Theater” instead of whatever it was called during Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. (I'm not a Honey fan, sorry!)
On to the show – Captain EO is still great. It is a little corny and the effects are a little rough in comparison to what we see today, but the story is simple, concise, and entertaining. I actually got a little emotional seeing Hooter, the Fuzzball, the robots Major and Minor Domo, and the two headed Muppet things Idey and Ody. I have so many memories of them as a kid! How many opportunities do you get to truly re-live your childhood favorites?
Warning: minor spoilers ahoy! Major spoilers for EO virgins.
Because the theater has been updated since Captain EO last played in 1997, they included some of the newer capabilities into the movie. During the space scenes, “lightning” and other effects flash around the room. When Hooter trumpets, the fans in front of your face blow to make you feel that he’s sneezed in your face. The most noticeable new effect though is the movement of the room. I thought that they did a really good job integrating the room movement during the space scenes – it made me feel more like I was a part of the show. But then, inexplicably, the room moved constantly during the music/dance scenes. The room was heaving up and down with every beat of the music and it was just distracting. I thought it would end rather quickly, but it just kept going throughout all of the music to the point where I started to feel a little seasick. I really thought that it detracted from the overall experience. And I believe that some of the original effects were not in this version. Maybe some of the older folks can comment on that because I was a dumb teenager the last time I saw the original show.
The story is more simplistic than I remember, and I think that’s a good thing. There’s only so much they can pack into a 15 minute movie. Basically, Captain EO and his team are on the outs with whatever organization they belong to, but they’ve been given a mission to find a beacon, find the Supreme Leader, and deliver “The Gift”. They find their beacon in space, but predictably, things go wrong, and they meet the Supreme Leader’s less-than-friendly minions. Captain EO uses his magical, music-driven abilities to turn the drone/soldier types into attractive back-up dancers. The robot turns himself into a full band, but Hooter bungles the keyboard thing and two of the more powerful soldiers approach. It looks like EO is done-for, but little Fuzzball ties the guards’ whips together and this gives EO the opportunity to transform them into backup dancers too (yeah, I told you it’s a little cheesy). The Supreme Leader is now transformed by “The Gift” into a colorful Anjelica Huston; she looks a little like the evil twin genie from I Dream Of Jeanie. Captain EO moonwalks, crotch grabs, and generally dances his way out of the castle (?) and the Supreme Leader is (presumably) better than she was when she was a scary claw monster. And the music is still good! I mean, it’s not MJ’s finest work, but I still liked the “Another Part of Me” song quite a bit. And he was so adorable at the time of filming! Like I said earlier, this was before his plastic surgery got really extreme, and before all the gross rumors of his personal life came to light.
I’m not sure how long the tribute will be around – there was no line yesterday, and there were only a few hardcore MJ fans in the audience. It seemed like most were Passholes (like me) or lucky tourists who just happened upon the Magic Eye Theater. Even if it’s just around for a few months, I’ll probably go see it again before it gets transformed back into the tired Honey, I Shrunk the Audience show. If it stays around too long, I think people will forget about it as they did the first time.
Overall, Captain EO has held up very well, and I think it's worth a trip to Disneyland for the side-trip down memory lane.
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