As some of you may know, Josh and I are Disney Theme Park fanatics.  Normally, I wouldn’t write a blog post about my experience in a Disney Park on our blog about filmmaking but this is different.  A few days ago, I had a chance to go as a member of the “PRESS” to the grand re-opening of Captain EO at Disneyland.

For those of you who don’t know, Captain EO is a short 3D film that used to be shown in the Disney Parks back in the 1980s and early 90s.  It featured the musical talent of a still recognizable Michael Jackson.  It was produced and written by George Lucas.  And it was directed by Francis Ford Coppola.  Add to that mix the geniuses at Disney Imagineering and you get Captain EO.

Tuesday morning of this week, I arrived at Disneyland around 8:30.  There was a line of people waiting outside to be the first to see Captain EO.  Some had camped out all night.  These were the die-hard fans of Michael Jackson.  One lady had dressed her kids up as Michael and was parading them around for the press.  It was a little disturbing.

I was there on behalf of Inside the Magic, a Disney podcast produced by our friend, Ricky Brigante.  If you have any interest in Disney Theme parks, you should check it out. It’s one of the only podcasts I listen to.  Ricky lives in Orlando so he asked me to cover the event – sort of the west coast liason to the podcast.

I was able to interview a few of the dancers and some Imagineers.  One of the highlights was being able to interview Debbie Lee Carrington who played one of the costumed characters in Captain EO.  She also played an ewok in Return of the Jedi and the Ewok Adventures. You can see my interview with her and the Imagineers over at Ricky’s blog.

Captain EO is a wonderful look back into the very heart of the 1980s.  The spirit and naivete of that wonderful decade jump right off the screen with all of the other 3D effects.  I felt like a kid again.  This film is classically cheesy and weird but full of warmth and wonder.  It is a must-see for any Michael Jackson fan, George Lucas fan, and even any Coppola fan.  (It is a VERY odd choice for Coppola considering the majority of his other work.)

You can watch Captain EO on Youtube.com but I would highly recommend getting to Disneyland to view it before the limited engagement ends.