Michael Jackson's "Captain EO" Returns to Disneyland Feb. 2010

This Is It's limited theatrical run may have ended, but we won't have to wait long to see the King of Pop on the big screen again: After a 13-year hiatus, Michael Jackson's 3-D sci-fi adventure film Captain EO will return to Disneyland for a limited engagement starting in February 2010, Disney's Parks Blog revealed this weekend. It's been long rumored since Jackson's June 25th death that Captain EO, which screened at the Disney family of parks from 1986 until 1997 (or 1998 in Euro Disney), would be returning to the original home of Mickey Mouse.

Look back at Jackson's epic career, in photos.

Captain EO isn't your typical music video: The 17-minute film was directed by The Godfather's Francis Ford Coppola and co-written by Star Wars mastermind George Lucas. In the film, Jackson stars as the title character who must deliver a gift to the wicked universe-enslaving Witch Queen, played by Anjelica Huston. Of course, Jackson's EO has ulterior motives, namely delivering freedom to the universe and ending the Queen's reign.

The film featured two Jackson songs, "We Are Here to Change the World" and "Another Part of Me," and the latter later featured on Jackson's Bad album. To use the parlance of the times, EO was to the mid-'80s what Avatar is to the present, with Jackson's film utilizing not only 3-D technology but smoke and lasers to add a "fourth dimension" to the entertainment, something hitherto unknown to audiences.

Related Stories:
• Michael Jackson to Be Honored With Lifetime Achievement Grammy
• Michael Jackson's "This Is It" DVD Out Jan. 26th, Packed With Extras
• "Michael": Rolling Stone's Ultimate Jackson Book Is in Stores Now

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Star Trek' Is Crazy Good
• 
  TV 10 Shows to Watch This Summer
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“Tonight's the Night”

The Shirelles | 1960

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter