September 12, 1986 – The Film Attraction Captain EO Opens at Walt Disney World’s Epcot
“We are here to change the world.”
On September 12, 1986, the 3D science-fiction adventure film opened in Journey to Imagination, located in Walt Disney World’s Epcot park. The film replaced the Magic Journeys film, and was based on a story idea from Walt Disney Imagineering artists. The film is noted as the first “4D” film, which not only incorporates 3D filmmaking, but adds another dimension of experience through in-theaters effects, such as lasers and smoke, synced with the film. It is also regarded as a “space opera,” as it incorporates two songs written and performed by its lead actor, pop singer Michael Jackson. The attraction was also opened in Disneyland on September 18, 1986; Tokyo Disneyland on March 20, 1987; and Disneyland Paris on April 12, 1992. The Walt Disney World version closed on April 7, 1997, and was replaced by Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. After the death of Michael Jackson, the film was brought back in tribute, opening on June 30, 2010. The film was produced by George Lucas, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and stars Michael Jackson as Captain EO, Anjelica Huston as the Supreme Leader, and Dick Shawn as Commander Bog.
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