Captain EO's Grand Re-Opening Celebration at Epcot

The grand re-opening celebration of Captain EO took place at Epcot yesterday. Here you are some pictures of this very special event (photos subject to the copyright of the Walt Disney® Company. All rights are reserved.), along with some comments of guests and Walt Disney Company representatives:

Captain EO flies again

Epcot Vice President Dan Cockerell and Mickey Mouse cut the ribbon at the reopening of Captain EO.

After an absence of 16 years, the song-and-dance space adventurer known as Captain EO is back and ready to entertain a new generation of fans.

With a snip of a ribbon, Dan Cockerell, vice president of Epcot, and a space-suited Mickey Mouse, officially reopened the famous Michael Jackson film on July 2. "He's coming back today," said Cockerell, as a large crowd pressed forward and cheered the grand-opening event at the Imagination Pavilion.

Dan Cockerell and astronaut Mickey Mouse welcome guests.

Amid cheers, hundreds of guests and cast members streamed into the first public showing of the 3-D musical fantasy at Epcot since 1994. The film also stars Oscar winner Anjelica Huston as an evil queen who enjoys quashing all joy, not to mention all color, out of her planet.

But she didn't figure on the singing, dancing Captain EO, played by Jackson, crash-landing into her dreary world somewhere in the outer reaches of a strange galaxy. 

And she certainly hadn't counted on the captain's irrepressible crew of comical characters, including Hooter, a green space elephant, and Fuzzball, a winged space monkey with orange fur, who seems to zip around the 3-D theater like a crazy bug.

Fans crowd into theaters to catch the first public showing of Captain EO since 1994. 

The grand opening also highlighted some of the cast members who worked at the theater during Captain EO's run from 1986 to 1994. The honorees included two entertainers who performed during the opening ceremonies in 1986.

"It was so much fun," recalled Tami Drury-Smith, who danced at the grand opening 24 years ago. "Everything at Epcot was new, and it was always exciting."

Drury-Smith, who is now manager of Disney Performing Arts and Education Programs, said the reopening brought back many happy memories from those days when she wore a Tina Turner wig and performed in a popular high-energy act. "It was the high-energy show," said Jeff Burton, who was part of the band that played at the first grand opening.

From left: Tami Drury-Smith, manager of Disney Performing Arts and Education Programs, and Jeff Burton, manager of Magic Music Days, entertained at the original opening in 1986. 

Burton, now manager of Magic Music Days, recalled the band members being decked out in white space outfits and having a great time with a revved-up crowd. He said it felt good to play a role in some of Epcot's historic moments. "It's nice to be recognized and remembered."

The futuristic musical also featured the talents of a couple of other Hollywood heavyweights. Francis Ford Coppola, of Godfather fame, directed Captain EO, and George Lucas, creator of Star Wars, was the executive director of the 17-minute groundbreaking film.

The space movie has been a favorite among fans, who have been asking Disney to bring back Captain EO and his zany shipmates. That outpouring grew even greater following the entertainer's death last year.

At an earlier preview for cast members, Cockerell told them that it was the insistence of Jackson fans such as themselves who convinced Disney to get the film ready for a new generation of fans. Indeed, after the early morning ribbon cutting, cast members and guests thronged into the first public showing.  An excited guests said: "I've never been to a grand opening, and this is classic Epcot."

Welcome back, Captain EO!