Throwback Thursday 5/21/15 - Captain Eo

Captain EO is a 1986 American 3D science fiction film starring Michael Jackson and directed by Francis Coppola (who came up with the name "Captain EO" from the Greek, "Eos", the Greek goddess of dawn) that was shown at Disney theme parks from 1986 through 1996. The attraction returned to the Disney Parks in 2010, as a tribute after Jackson's death, but as of 2015, the show is no longer playing at any of the Disney parks.

The film's executive producer was George Lucas. The film was choreographed by Jeffrey Hornaday and Michael Jackson, photographed by Peter Anderson, produced by Rusty Lemorande and written by Lemorande, Lucas and Coppola, from a story idea by the artists of Walt Disney Imagineering. Lemorande also initially designed and created two of the creatures, and was an editor of the film. The score was written by James Horner, and featured two songs ("We Are Here to Change the World" and "Another Part of Me"), both written and performed by Michael Jackson.

The Supreme Leader was played by Anjelica Huston. Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro was the lighting director during much of the principal photography. Captain EO is regarded as one of the first "4D" films (4D being the name given to a 3D film that incorporates in-theater effects, such as lasers, smoke, etc., synchronized to the film narrative).

PLOT

The film tells the story of Captain EO (Michael Jackson) and the ragtag crew of his spaceship on a mission to deliver a gift to "The Supreme Leader" (Anjelica Huston), who lives on a world of rotting, twisted metal and steaming vents. Captain EO's alien crew consists of his small flying sidekick Fuzzball, the double-headed navigator and pilot Idey (Debbie Lee Carrington) and Ody (Cindy Sorenson), robotic security officer Major Domo (Gary Depew), a small robot, Minor Domo (who fits like a module into Major Domo), and the clumsy elephant-like shipmate Hooter (Tony Cox) who always manages to upset the crew's missions. Dick Shawn plays Captain EO's boss, Commander Bog.

Upon arriving on the planet, the crew is captured by the henchmen of the Supreme Leader, and brought before her. She sentences the crew to be turned into trash cans, and Captain EO to 100 years of torture in her deepest dungeon. Before being sent away, Captain EO tells the Supreme Leader that he sees the beauty hidden within her, and that he brings her the key to unlock it: his song, "We Are Here to Change the World".

The two robot members of the crew transform into musical instruments, and the crew members begin to play the various instruments. As Hooter runs toward his instrument, he trips over EO's cape and breaks it, stopping the music. The spell broken, the Supreme Leader orders her guards to capture Captain EO and his crew.

Hooter manages to repair his instrument and sends out a blast of music, providing EO with the power to throw off the guards. He uses his power to transform the dark hulking guards into agile dancers who fall into step behind him for a dance number. As EO presses forward toward the Supreme Leader, she unleashes her Whip Warriors, two cybernetic defenders each with a whip and shield that can deflect EO's power.

The others all run away, leaving Captain EO to fight the Whip Warriors alone. EO is trapped by a closing gate and is preparing for a last stand as both the whip warriors draw their whips back for a final blow. Fuzzball drops his instrument and speedily flies over to tie the two whips together, causing the Whip Warriors to be thrown off balance giving EO an opportunity to transform them as well. With no further obstacles, EO uses his power to transform the remaining four henchmen (not yet unleashed) and they, the transformed whip warriors and the other dancers, press forward in dance before EO transforms the Supreme Leader into a beautiful woman, her lair into a peaceful Greek temple, and the planet into a verdant paradise.

A celebration breaks out to "Another Part of Me", as Captain EO and his crew triumphantly exit and fly off into space.

CAST

Michael Jackson - Captain Eo

Anjelica Huston - The Supreme Leader

Dick Shawn - Commander Bog

Tony Cox - Hooter

Gary Depew - Major Domo

Debbie Lee Carrington - Idee

Cindy Sorenson - Geex

 

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Throwback Thursday 5/14/15 - Discovery Island

Discovery Island is an 11.5 acres island at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake. Between 1974 and 1999, the island was open to guests. Disney originally named it Treasure Island, and later, Discovery Island. Here, guests could observe the island's many species of animals and birds. Disney bought the island in 1965 as part of its strategic property acquisitions before building the Walt Disney World Resort.

The island opened as Treasure Island on April 8, 1974, as a place to observe wildlife, and was later renamed Discovery Island when it was recognized as a zoological park. It closed to the public on April 8, 1999, but continued to operate until July 9, 1999, at which point all of its animals had been relocated to new homes at Disney's Animal Kingdom (whose Safari Village hub area was renamed Discovery Island) and other zoos.

The island remains closed to the public. It can easily be seen from Disney's Contemporary Resort and from Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground, as well as from boat trips between them. The island is adjacent to Disney's River Country water park, which is also closed. The decision to close the attraction may have been affected by a change in Florida laws, which prohibited unchlorinated natural water bodies from being used for water parks. Uncertainties and a lack of general information about the island has led to speculation that the island was shut down due to a virus being found in the water park.

It's Attractions included:

• Trumpeter Springs - trumpeter swans
• Parrots Perch - The Discovery Island Bird Show, featuring macaws, cockatoos, and other trained birds.
• Bamboo Hollow - lemurs from Madagascar.
• Cranes's Roost - demoiselle cranes
• Avian Way - The United States' most extensive breeding colony of scarlet ibis
• Pelican Bay - brown pelicans
• Flamingo Lagoon - flamingos
• Tortoise Beach - five Galápagos tortoises
• There was a beach where no swimming was allowed, but playing and walking in sand was permitted.

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Throwback Thursday - Back to Neverland

Back to Neverland was an award-winning short film shown at the beginning of the tour inside The Magic of Disney Animation at Disney's Hollywood (formerly MGM) Studios. It opened on May 1, 1989. The film left the park in 2004. The attraction has since been redesigned and a Mulan-inspired film starring Mushu has taken it's place.

The film was directed by Jerry Rees. Hosted by veteran newsman Walter Cronkite and Robin Williams in the role of a Disney tourist, the film takes the audience through the animation process in the form of an adventure to Never Land, where Robin takes on the role of one of the Lost Boys and has a run-in with Captain Hook. He meets Tinkerbell before being sent to walk the plank and they plan to use the Tick-Tock Crocodile against Hook by using Pixie Dust. However, after defeating Hook and returning to the real world, he returns to the animated world with Peter Pan for another adventure. 

CAST
Robin Williams - himself
Walter Cronkite - himself
Corey Burton - Captain Hook, Peter Pan

Click HERE to watch a great YouTube video of the film!






This film was one of Robin's many contributions to Disney and devoted fans (including me) would love to see this film make a return to the attraction!

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Throwback Thursday 4/30/15 - Delta Dreamflight/Disney's Take Flight

Delta Dreamflight was an attraction located in Tomorrowland and was sponsored by Delta Air Lines. Dreamflight replaced an attraction called If You Could Fly, which was originally the attraction, If You Had Wings, sponsored by Eastern Airlines. It opened on Juen 23, 1989 and closed on January 5, 1998, after being changed to Take Flight. It was finally replaced by Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.

Ridethrough

Guests entered the building into a small queue designed to look like an airport boarding terminal. The front-end nose and cockpit of an actual Delta 767 was situated on the left entering the queue, "passengers" appearing as though they were actually boarding a jetliner. The Delta jet was marked as "The Spirit of Delta" in bright gold. As guests made their way into the queue opposite the jet, they entered a terminal gate with posters on the wall that included many exciting and exotic destinations of the world. Eventually, the guests would make their way back up the terminal gate and enter the side of the jet into a mirrored hallway with bright blue, green, red and yellow neon lights. As guests walked up a ramp they entered the boarding area which was set up in a very similar fashion to the Haunted Mansion. As the bright blue 'cars' rode past one would walk onto a moving escalator ramp and board the flight.

Guests first encountered a giant mural depicting the golden era of aviation in America, adorning the wall in the first room. The next room that guests entered on the attraction had a giant, pop-up book style spinning room which had a hot air balloon and other flying contraptions spinning by them as the Dreamflight song played. Then guests entered the second room of the flight which was designed to look as though they were in a giant crop field of the American mid-west in the roaring 1920s. Biplanes, stunt planes and barnstormers were flying all over the ceiling above a flying circus air show. The pilot of a plane had crashed through a barn and was stuck in the rafters on the ceiling of the barn. The third room was just a big screen with a film clip of an aerial stuntman standing on top of a prop plane while it performed dizzying stunts in the air.

Next came the propeller plane era, where commercial flights started taking passengers all over the globe. On the left, guests passed the inside of a posh, elegant airliner's fuselage that was the dining area of a first-class trip. Then a gentleman in a suit stood on the guest's left in a Japanese garden where he was being greeted by the Japanese locals. Coming up on the right hand side below the guests were the rooftops and the skyline of Paris, France. Guests flew past the rooftops of a Paris street and could see quaint little shops and tourists sitting below on the patio of a French cafe. As the guests moved ahead, a sign saying Jet Age, spun in circles and a male voice notified them to "please prepare for supersonic takeoff". Then another female voice said, "Ladies and Gentlemen. Your Dreamflight will depart immediately for the future. Please prepare for supersonic takeoff". To the immediate left on the wall was a giant painting of a jetliner taking off towards the sky.

As the guests made their way forward, a giant spinning light along with fog and fans, gave the impression that they were about to actually enter the inside of a turbo jet engine. The sounds of an engine roaring to life and taking off then blasted out over the sound system. As guests entered a gigantic film projection room, they saw footage of a plane taking off a runway to simulate their flight's departure, eventually lifting off and flying through the clouds in the sky. The next room was another film clip on the right which showed computer-generated clips of the guests above the earth, flying in a canyon above water and eventually flying in a futuristic city with fireworks exploding all around them; the first theatrical-format 70mm computer animations ever produced. The final room of the attraction was a giant pop-up book with destinations spread out on huge pages, while a little projection of a Delta jet flew by above the display into the clouds.

The exit area was a room with the Delta logo painted on the wall and with more posters of destinations from around the world to visit.

Transition

Due, in part, to the cost of sponsoring the 1996 Olympics, Delta discontinued their sponsorship of this ride at the end of 1995. It was simply renamed "Dreamflight" as it's future was determined. On June 5, 1996 it reopened as Take Flight with only a slight refurbishment; all references to Delta were removed and the attraction's popular theme songs were rerecorded. When "Take Flight" closed its doors for good in January 1998, it ended the dynasty of flight-based attractions to occupy the space. 

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Throwback Thursday 4/23/15 - Cranium Command

Cranium Command was an attraction at the Wonders of Life pavilion at Walt Disney World Resort's Epcot theme park. The show was a humorous presentation on the importance of the human brain. It opened on October 19, 1989. It closed permanently on January 1, 2007. 

Preshow

The preshow consists of an animated segment featuring General Knowledge (voiced by Corey Burton) briefing his "Cranium Commando" troops on their mission: to pilot human brains and keep the people they're in out of trouble. A bumbling little soldier named Buzzy (Scott Curtis) has been given one of the most difficult missions of all: piloting a twelve-year-old boy.

When General Knowledge speaks in the pre-show and is explaining that they are different kinds of brains, he shows a picture of Albert Einstein, as the example of a person who uses his brain and Ernest P. Worrell (a popular fictional character played by Jim Varney, who was appearing in series of feature films produced by Disney at the time), as an example of the opposite. At the end of the preshow, General Knowledge asks the guests, "Where do you think you are, Disney World?!", and in the same preshow, calls the recruits "Minnie Mouse meatheads."

Show

The main show is presented in a theater which is designed to represent the inside of a human head; the outside world is seen on video displays where the eyes would be. Buzzy is an Audio-Animatronic on an articulated seat so that he can move around during the performance. Helping him pilot the twelve-year-old (also acted by Scott Curtis), via appearances on other video screens, are the logical Left Brain (Charles Grodin), the wacky Right Brain (Jon Lovitz), the hungry Stomach (George Wendt), the panicky Bladder (Jeff Doucette, in an uncredited role), the Adrenal Gland (Bobcat Goldthwait) who is prone to overreacting, and the heart's Right and Left Ventricles (Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon, reprising their Hans and Franz roles from Saturday Night Live). The Hypothalamus (voiced by Kirk Wise), which regulates autonomic bodily functions, is represented via Audio-Animatronics as a robot.

The show takes Buzzy's host through a typical day: getting up, skipping breakfast, running to school, meeting a cute girl (Annie, played by Natalie Gregory), getting involved in a food fight at lunch, getting sent to the principal (Kenneth Kimmins), and being thanked by the girl, then kissed. At each point in the day, the various organs of the body talk to Buzzy and explain the problems they're facing.

The script was written by Jenny Tripp, a staff writer in Disney Feature Animation.

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Disney SUPER Fans is celebrating their first anniversary with a small giveaway to say "Thank You" to all our Pixie Dusters! We are giving away this Disney Artist Series 1000 piece Jungle Book puzzle.

Check out this great fan group. Some of our features are: weekly photo games, Where Are We Wednesday photo games, Throwback Thursday articles on extinct Disney attractions, Rate & Review Fridays on all WDW Restaurants, plus lots of friendly question and answer discussions!

Visit them by clicking HERE and requesting to join to find the Rafflecopter link to enter. You must join the group to enter.

Don't forget to share this post and invite all your friends to join as well! Hurry! Giveaway ends 4/27/15.

Throwback Thursday 4/16/15 - River Country

River Country was Walt Disney World's first water park. Positioned on the shore of Bay Lake at Fort Wilderness, it opened on June 20, 1976. It ceased operation on November 2, 2001. On January 20, 2005, it was announced that it would remain closed permanently.

River Country was featured in a musical number from the 1977 The Wonderful World of Disney episode "The Mouseketeers at Walt Disney World", which included a song titled "River Country" and featured the then-current Mouseketeer lineup from the late 70s incarnation of The Mickey Mouse Club enjoying the attractions at the park.

 River Country featured a rustic wilderness theme, complete with rocks and man-made boulders. It was described as an "old-fashioned swimming hole" with "a twist of Huckleberry Finn"

River Country survived despite the competition of the opening of two newer and much larger water parks, Typhoon Lagoon in 1989 and Blizzard Beach in 1995.






The park featured a sandy bottom and unique water filtering system using confluent water from adjacent Bay Lake, which was dammed off creating a natural-looking man-made lagoon. But even with the filtration system, the water from the lake was not completely purified.

Attractions included:

• Upstream Plunge, a kidney shaped clean-water pool.
• Slippery Slide Falls, two water slides that emptied into Upstream Plunge.
• Kiddie Cove, a kids zone with two large water slides and a cove. This area was targeted toward preteens.
• Barrel Bridge, a bumpy bridge with barrels under it, similar to the one at Tom Sawyer Island.
• White Water Rapids, a 330 foot (100 m) long inner tube river.
• Bay Cove, a half-acre (2,000 m²) sand-bottom lake which featured a tire swing, boom swing, rope climb, and T-bar drop.
  • Boom Swing
  • Cable Ride
  • Tire Swing
• Whoop 'n' Holler Hollow, two water slides, 260 ft (79 m) and 160 ft (49 m) long, that emptied into Bay Cove.
• Bay Bridge
• Indian Springs, a very small splash zone with fountains spraying kids. This area was mainly designed for guests under age 8.
• Cypress Point Nature Trail, a trail among trees beside Bay Lake.
• Pony Rides
• Mercury WaterMouse Rental

As it did every year, River Country closed at the end of the warm-weather season (the park closed on November 2, 2001), with the expectation that the water park would reopen in the spring of 2002. But after the 9/11 attacks, the decline in business for all Disney parks and hotels prompted Disney to halt the reopening of River Country. The attraction may also have been affected by a change in Florida laws, which prohibited unchlorinated natural water bodies from being used for water park attractions.River Country never reopened and remains abandoned as a forgotten Disney relic as of today. The park was abandoned rather than demolished. The following photos show how it stands today:

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