Changes

Captain EO got it's beginning when Michael Jackson's adviser, David Geffen called Disney. The pop singer was coming off the blockbuster album “Thriller” and Geffen thought that Jackson (a huge Disney fan) should make a movie for the company. To facilitate the partnership, Geffen called his longtime friend (and head of the Disney Studio) Jeffrey Katzenberg and pitched his idea. Although Disney was interested, Katzenberg and Michael Eisner asked Jackson if he would instead make a movie/music video for Disneyland. Imagineer Rick Rothschild then drew up three different story lines, before both he and Jackson picked the same one to do- Captain EO.

As part of his agreement to do the attraction, Jackson insisted that either George Lucas or Steven Spielberg be involved in the project. Since George Lucas was already working with Disney to create [[Star Tours]], he was brought in to work on the new film. Joining him, was director Francis Ford Coppola, actress Angelica Houston , and Rusty Lemorande (who wrote the screenplay with Lucas). Famed composer James Horner wrote the score for the film, and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro worked the lighting and photography. Jackson also wrote two new songs for the attraction, "We Are Here to Change the World" and "Another Part of Me". The movie was shot in 3D, and in-theater effects were used to enhance guest’s experience. Because of these effects, many consider Captain EO to be the first 4D movie film ever created.

The production of Captain EO was not an easy one. Although the initial budget for the film was 11 million, it ended up costing 23.7 million dollars to make. This was due to the fact that production had begun on the attraction without a firm plot. Another problem with the production was that while Coppola was there for the three weeks of principal photography, it took the rest of the production crew nearly six months to try to complete the story. Further complications then arose, when the in theater effects were not in sync with the film. The attraction finally opened in the [[Journey Into Imagination]] pavilion's Magic Eye Theater on September 12, 1986.

On July, 6 1994, following a decrease in both the film and Jackson's popularity, Captain EO was replaced by a new 4D film [[Honey, I Shrunk the Audience]]. Although now without a home in the Disney Parks, MTV showed the film (in regular 2D) on June 26, 1996 (the only known time the film was shown outside of Disney).  On July 2, 2010, following the death of Michael Jackson, Captain EO returned to Epcot as a tribute to the late singer. The film replaced Honey, I Shrunk the Audience almost exactly 16 years after its initial closure. Although the film had returned however, many of the original in-theater effects were removed when Honey, I Shrunk the Audience was built, and thus they are not used in the current second version of the attractionCaptain EO.