Captain EO

In 1986, Disneyland and Walt Disney World premiered a 17-minute 3D film that cost $23.7 million to produce. That works out to roughly $1.4 million per minute. The film was Captain EO, a science-fiction musical starring Michael Jackson, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and executive produced by George Lucas. It was the most expensive movie ever made on a per-minute basis, and it showed.

The story follows Captain EO and his misfit alien crew as they journey to a dark industrial planet ruled by a terrifying witch-like tyrant. Their mission: deliver a gift through music and dance that transforms the ruler's bleak world into a paradise of light and color. The film was designed as a theme park attraction, complete with 3D effects, in-theater smoke, lasers, and moving seats. It ran continuously from 1986 to 1998, then returned after Jackson's death from 2010 to 2015.

Jackson wrote two original songs for the film: We Are Here to Change the World and Another Part of Me, the latter later appearing on his 1987 album Bad. The instrumental score was composed by James Horner. The film's iconic red-and-gold spacesuit was designed by Deborah Nadoolman Landis, who also created Indiana Jones's outfit. Anjelica Huston played the Supreme Leader, requiring up to four hours of makeup application daily.[edit]

Captain EO pilots a small, ragtag spaceship through a treacherous asteroid field. His crew is a collection of misfits: Hooter (Tony Cox), a small furry creature with large ears; Idee (Debbie Lee Carrington), a diminutive elephant-like being; Geex (Cindy Sorensen), a tall slender alien with mechanical limbs; and Major Domo (Gary DePew), a robotic navigator. Their leader is Captain EO (Michael Jackson), a charismatic otherworldly hero in a distinctive red and gold spacesuit with a glowing medallion.

A benevolent cosmic force sends Captain EO on a mission to a dark industrial planet ruled by the Supreme Leader (Anjelica Huston), a terrifying witch-like tyrant. This planet is a grim metallic world filled with smoke, machinery, and enslaved inhabitants who live in fear. The Supreme Leader commands an army of grotesque creatures and robotic guards, and she has transformed her realm into a place devoid of color, joy, or music.

Captain EO and his crew crash-land on the planet and are immediately captured by the Supreme Leader's forces. They are brought before the ruler, who is initially dismissive and hostile, threatening to destroy them. Captain EO remains calm and confident, explaining that he has come to deliver a gift: the gift of music and transformation. The Supreme Leader scoffs at this notion, viewing it as weakness.

When she refuses to listen, Captain EO begins a musical performance that gradually transforms the environment. The drab industrial setting pulses with light and color as Jackson's iconic music fills the space. The enslaved creatures and guards are drawn into the performance, their mechanical movements becoming fluid and joyful. The Supreme Leader watches with growing unease as her control over the realm begins to slip.

The film builds toward a confrontation between Captain EO's message of hope and the Supreme Leader's tyranny of fear, with the fate of the entire planet hanging in the balance. The story emphasizes themes of transformation, the power of art to change hearts, and the idea that even the darkest souls can be redeemed through beauty and creativity.[edit]