Captain EO Articles
10 Disneyland Attractions That Do Not Exist Anymore But We Wish Did
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It's not easy being Disneyland. To keep people coming back and visiting year after year, the Anaheim amusement park has to constantly reinvent itself while not changing in ways that'll alienate diehard fans whose nostalgia runs deep. A few months ago, the park permanently closed the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror to turn it into Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout!, which opens May 27. While Disney ...
10 Things That Disneyland Took From Disney World
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Disneyland was Walt Disney's revolutionary theme park that brought families together, but his "Florida Project" was designed to be a constantly evolving endeavor that would be unlike anything his original had done before. This has become more or less true as decades have rolled on. While Disneyland remains the gold standard, Walt Disney World is the bigger and better version. So much so, in ...
9 Extinct Disneyland Attractions You Probably Never Knew Existed
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Over 60 years ago, Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California. In the decades since, Walt Disney's original theme park vision has undergone changes both big and small. Rides, attractions, and entire swaths of land have sometimes been overhauled or torn down to make way for modern amusements. But thanks to documentaries and numerous Disney bloggers, we can still look back at some of the most iconic rides ...
A 6-Year-Old's First Visit To Disneyland Hits Some Attractions, Misses Others
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You can't do it all, and truth be told, a child doesn't miss what she doesn't know about. A look back at what we saw and did -- and didn't do -- in one day. Don't miss the Toontown roller coaster, somebody said. Don't bother with Toontown, somebody else said. Don't risk the Matterhorn with a first-grader, somebody said. Don't miss the Matterhorn with a first-grader, somebody else said. ...
A Park With A Powerful Spell
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Disneyland opened on this day in 1955. For five decades, the Anaheim attraction has worked its magic on our culture and transformed the entertainment industry. To build his dream theme park in Anaheim a half-century ago, Walt Disney borrowed against his life insurance policy and cashed in property, including a vacation home in Palm Springs, to pay the $17-million construction bill. When the ...
California vs. Paris: The Lands of The Future - Part Three
This month I shall conclude my comparisons of California's Tomorrowland with Paris's Discoveryland, by looking at their versions of Autopia and Captain EO. Captain EO, the $30million 3-d musical starring Michael Jackson and Anjelica Huston, was an opening day attraction at Disneyland Paris, by which time the film had already been showing for five and a half years in the California Park and EPCOT ...
Can The Average Person Visit Disneyland These Days
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I remember the times when my mom took my brother and me to Disneyland during summer vacation. We didn't go every summer, but I can probably count a good five times in my lifetime that we'd attended the theme park as kids. I remember looking forward to the "It's A Small World" ride, the mock President Abraham Lincoln production, Michael Jackson's "Captain EO" 3D movie...all of which I'm not even ...
Captain EO Not For Little Ones
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When I took my son to Disneyland last week, an employee stopped me at the "Captain EO" theater gate with a warning: 3-D glasses are not recommended for children under 3. What he should have told me is that the movie itself isn't for toddlers. I was surprised because no one warned me about the glasses for "It's Tough to Be a Bug" 3-D movie in Disney's California Adventure when I brought my son, ...
Captain EO Returns To Disneyland
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"Captain EO," the 3D film starring the late "King of Pop" Michael Jackson, is returning to Disneyland for a limited time starting in February, Disney announced today. It's the first time Disney has confirmed rumors of the film's return - rumors that have been flying since shortly after Jackson died in June. The 17-minute film will return to its original home at the theater inside Tomorrowland, ...
Captain's EO's Michael Jackson Singer, Actor Film Has Sprung Back To Life!
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After Michael Jackson's death, memorials, funeral and wake, his past musical and acting projects are beginning to resurface and take on a life of their very own. One such is that of the short film Captain EO. Captain EO (1986) is a 3-D film starring The King of Pop and directed by Francis Ford Coppola that was shown at Disney theme parks in the 1980s and 1990s, and again in Disneyland Park in ...
Disney Buys Lucasfilm For $4.05 Billion
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For more than two decades, Jedi Knights and Darth Vader have wielded their lightsabers at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. On Tuesday, they officially became part of the family when The Walt Disney Co. acquired Lucasfilm Ltd. from founder George Lucas for $4.05 billion. Disney is paying approximately half in cash and issuing 40 million stock shares at the deal's closing, the company said. "This ...
Disney Drains River Changes Shows This Week
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With the holiday season ending Sunday, the Disneyland Resort is closing attractions and switching shows for the slower season starting this week. Today, Disneyland plans to begin draining the Rivers of America for the first time since 2003 for refurbishment. All river attractions will be closed until May: Mark Twain Riverboat, Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, Sailing Ship Columbia and Davy ...
Disneyland Marks 50 Years Of Magic
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To build his dream theme park a half-century ago, Walt Disney borrowed against his life-insurance policy and cashed in property, including a vacation home in Palm Springs, to pay the $17 million construction bill.When the theme park opened July 17, 1955, on a sweltering day, toilets clogged, the food ran out and women's high heels sank into wet asphalt. Disney officials still call it Black Sunday. ...
Disneyland Memorabilia Fetches $1.7 Million At Two-Day Auction
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An extensive private collection of Disneyland memorabilia that went on the auction block over the weekend generated sales of more than $1.7 million by the time the final gavel had come down, with an animatronic bird from the Enchanted Tiki Room fetching the most at $153,400 and a drinking skeleton prop from the Pirates of the Caribbean proving second-most popular with a final bid of $129,800.. Both of ...
Disneyland Scuttling Submarine Fleet
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Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday it will retire one of Disneyland's oldest rides, the venerable fleet of yellow submarines that have taken millions of passengers on underwater journeys, without ever fully submerging the vessels. The 39-year-old Submarine Voyage will close following the Labor Day weekend, to make way for a new, snazzier attraction that will debut in 2003. It may be ...
Disneyland Sets Return Date For Michael Jackson's 3D Film Captain EO
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Disneyland has set an official date for the re-opening of Michael Jackson's 1986 3D film "Captain EO." The film will officially open to Disneyland guests on Tuesday, February 23rd. "Captain EO" will return to its former home in the California theme park for a limited engagement. The 17-minute musical film, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and executive produced by George Lucas, featured Jackson as the ...
Disneyland Through The Years
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1954-Summer Construction gets under way and Disneyland begins to emerge from the surrounding bean fields and orange groves of Anaheim. 1955-July 17 The opening day ceremonies are beamed coast-to-coast in a TV special. One of the hosts: actor Ronald Wilson Reagan. 1956-October Attendance hits the five million mark; the Skyway, Tom Sawyer Island, Storybook Land attractions open this year. 1957 ...
Disneyland Urged To Bring Back Michael Jackson's Captain EO
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On various Internet sites, including the "Captain EO @ Disneyland" Facebook page, Disneyland is being urged to bring back the Captain EO attraction to honor Michael Jackson. Captain EO, which debuted at Disneyland on Sept. 18, 1986 (six days after its world premiere at Walt Disney World's Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida), and ran continuously through April of 1997, was the 17-minute film. Other ...
Disneyland: A Parents' Survival Guide
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Disneyland, a monument to childhood, is also a test of how well you've grown up. Your first visit is guaranteed to be interesting, just as the first time you drive a car, have sex or spend a night by yourself is filled with wonder. But by the tenth or hundredth time you do it, amazement will elude you unless you apply an adult imagination to the experience. The adults who have the least trouble ...
Do You Believe In Magic?
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Once upon a time in a popular tourist destination called the Magic Kingdom, there lived some very prosperous characters. They were happy all the time (except for Grumpy, but it was his job to be that way). They produced souvenirs, cartoons and movies that were the delight of families around the world. But one day a great disenchantment fell over the kingdom, for the magic no longer worked. Tinker Bell's ...
Ever Wonder
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Q: Ever wonder who or what Captain EO is? A: Captain EO was a 3-D film that debuted at Disneyland in 1986. It starred Michael Jackson as Captain EO and Anjelica Huston as The Supreme Leader. The film, which lasted about 17 minutes, cost more than $17 million - some estimate as much as $30 million - making it the most expensive film ever produced on a per-minute basis at the time. Originally, ...
Failed Ugly 90s Ride That Still Looms Over Guests
Disneyland is a kingdom of illusions. Forced perspective makes small buildings appear grander. Special paint colors hide eyesores in plain sight. Disney Imagineers company lingo for theme park creatives are the best in the business at keeping reality from creeping into guests ' consciousness.
But there is a glaring exception: a ride, dead now for nearly 25 years, that still looms large and ...
Family Fun At Disneyland
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With the recent launch of a new direct flight between Toronto's Pearson International Airport and the John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, CA, Air Canada teamed up with the folks at Disneyland and the tourism boards of Orange County, Anaheim, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, and Huntington Beach to send a select group of Toronto-based media to tour the West Coast paradise in order to get a feel of what there is to ...
Fans Cheer For Captain EO
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Michael Jackson fans hooted, chanted and clapped for the first showing of "Captain EO," which officially returned to Disneyland at 10 a.m. Tuesday. About 200 fans, who began gathering Monday night near the main gate, were led in from a special line to see the 3-D movie, which has been absent from Disneyland since 1997. Many screamed and chanted "EO!' as they filed into the theater, which fits ...
Favorite Attractions At Disneyland, California Adventure And Upcoming Changes
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Space Mountain, Indiana Jones Adventure, Haunted Mansion, Toy Story Mania! and 'World of Color' are among the best attractions. The granddaddy of American theme parks changes little from year to year but seems to get better with age. Among my favorite Disneyland standbys: The Space Mountain indoor roller coaster, the Indiana Jones Adventure dark ride and the venerable Haunted Mansion. The ...
For 'EO' Fans, The Thriller's Gone
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Brent Fidler gave it his best shot. He scrawled "Save Michael!" across a white T-shirt, distributed homemade "Pedal Captain Eo, not drugs" Pog milkcaps and even circulated a petition at school. Despite his allegiance, "Captain Eo" zoomed out of 3-D sight forever when Disneyland closed Sunday night. "I swear I'm going to cry," said Fidler, 14. Tomorrowland's 3-D musical space adventure starring a ...
Future Flock
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With rocket ships zooming overhead, Marsha Berlo shaded her eyes from the midday sun and wondered how long she would have to wait to step into the future. “It won 't be the 21st century when we get to the front,” Berlo said from the rear of a three-hour line. “It 'll just feel like it.” The Las Vegas resident, with husband Bill, was one of thousands on hand Friday for the opening ...
How Did Walt Disney Vision Of A Futuristic Metropolis Become A Quaint Symbol Of A Bygone Era
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When Disneyland opened its doors in Anaheim, California, on July 17, 1955, the word astronaut was not yet a household term. But a bright white rocketship towered over Tomorrowland (and, in fact, the entire park), poised to blast off into soon-to-be explored galaxies. Behind it stood a geometric space station, red letters over the entrance labeling it "Rocket To The Moon," with two large spherical theatres ...
How Eddie Murphys Movie The Haunted Mansion Could Change A Popular Attraction
Nothing came of it, but there was an idea to change the attraction “Haunted Mansion” to match the Eddie Murphy movie. Most of the attractions at Disneyland or Walt Disney World are based on popular movies. Some of the others, such as Pirates of the Caribbean, became films themselves, which, in turn, inspired the renewal of the wave itself. It turns out that once Disney briefly considered doing ...
Jackson Kids Attend Special Screening Of Captain EO
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Michael Jackson's young children were given a special treat during a trip to Disneyland, California last Thursday (10Sep09) - they attended a one-off screening of the late King of Pop's 3-D movie CAPTAIN EO. The 17-minute film closed as an attraction at the theme park in 1998, but Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and seven-year-old Prince Michael II, aka Blanket, were given a rare chance to catch the ...
Looking Back The Year In Tomorrow
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Was a time when Tomorrow was big. Back in the '60s and '70s, despite-or perhaps because of-Vietnam and nuclear missiles, Tomorrow was a good place to be. They even gave it a name: Tomorrowland. Unlike the rest of Disneyland's fluff, Tomorrowland had the feel of an exhibit, a place where we learned that the future would burst with helpful robots, time-saving products, efficient mass transit and commonplace ...
