Tag: Michael Jackson
Pictures and Video from the reopening of Captain EO at Disneyland
The 3D theme park film “Captain EO” starring Michael Jackson reopened to hundreds of excited fans this morning at Disneyland. While I couldn’t be there personally, I was able to send Jeremiah Daws in my place to cover the opening of the long-rumored return of this popular attraction.
We’ll have a complete video of the morning’s activities (including interviews) a little later, but here’s a quick glimpse at what we’ve received so far.
The photo above shows the new “Captain EO Tribute” sign and poster that has been installed in the former location of “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience” -- which took over for “Captain EO” in that location in the first place.
Before reaching that point, hundreds of Disneyland guests lined up outside:
Captain EO merchandise was for sale outside the Disneyland entrance, including T-shirts and buttons:
Walt Disney Imagineer Tony Baxter was on hand to mark the occasion, seen here talking with two Captain EO fans who drove all the way from San Francisco overnight to see the return of the film.
Main Street signs directed guests to the attraction:
And here’s a quick video of fan reactions just after seeing Captain EO for the first time today:
I’ll keep updating this post as more fun emerges.
TweetListen to Michael Jackson’s new “This Is It” song and pre-order the album
Even Michael Jackson’s passing hasn’t stopped him from releasing new music. A new Michael Jackson song entitled “This Is It” premiered at MichaelJackson.com last night (October 12) at midnight. It is the title track for Jackson’s upcoming double-album of the same name.
You can listen to the entire song here:
The new song and “This Is It” album are set to be released on October 27 and are available to pre-order now for just $9.99. There are also some collector’s versions being released, though those are more expensive.
While the official web site doesn’t allow you to download the song, there are many sites that have found ways around that. I won’t link to them here, but if you must own the song now, Google should be able to help you with that. There are even a few different versions of it floating around.
Here’s a full track listing for the double-album:
This Is It Disc One
1. “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”
2. “Jam”
3. “They Don’t Care About Us”
4. “Human Nature”
5. “Smooth Criminal”
6. “The Way You Make Me Feel”
7. “Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)”
8. “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”
9. “Thriller”
10. “Beat It”
11. “Black Or White”
12. “Earth Song”
13. “Billie Jean”
14. “Man In The Mirror”
15. “This Is It”
16. “This Is It (Orchestra Version)”
This Is It Disc Two
1. “She’s Out Of My Life (Demo)”
2. “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (Demo)”
3. “Beat It (Demo)”
4. “Planet Earth (Poem)”
The set will also include a 36-page booklet with photos from a rehearsal from Jackson’s final “This Is It” rehearsal before his death.
Again, you can pre-order the album now to be released on October 27.
TweetWatch Captain EO in 3D at home
For those of you still thinking about Michael Jackson, here’s a great way to enjoy some of his music along with a fun old movie. I recently discovered that a couple of months ago, a YouTube user posted fairly a high quality copy of the classic Epcot 3-D film Captain EO, starring Michael Jackson and Angelica Houston.
While there are many copies of this now-extinct show circulating the Internet, this one was uploaded to YouTube in HD. While the movie isn’t exactly high-definition, it still looks pretty good. But the best part is that this particular copy uses red/cyan 3-D to try to duplicate the original experience of seeing it in Epcot. The copy is a little dark and one of the colors seems to lag slightly behind the other, but it’s still worth watching on a big screen at home.
I’ve embedded both parts of the movie below with links to watch them on YouTube in HD:
Link: Captain EO in 3-D, Part 1
Link: Captain EO in 3-D, Part 2
But the best way to watch it is to download both parts from YouTube and play them on your TV or home projector. Generally, when it comes to 3-D imagery, the bigger you make it, the better the effect becomes. Here’s an easy way to download HD video from YouTube.
I’d love to see Disney swap out Honey, I Shrunk the Audience for Captain EO, even if only for a day, as a tribute to Michael Jackson’s legacy. But since that is not likely to happen, this is the best way I’ve found to enjoy this show in 3-D.
TweetMicrosoft offers free ‘Thriller’ video download today only
The news of Michael Jackson’s untimely death has certainly been the hot topic for the last few days. Most music video television channels (MTV, VH1, etc) have devoted their entire airtime to looping Jackson’s many classic videos. But if you simply can’t get enough of “Thriller” and want to enjoy the full 10-minute version at your leisure, Microsoft has a great solution for you.
Right now, you can download the entire “Thriller” music video via XBox Live onto your XBox 360 console for free. You’ll find it in the XBox Live Marketplace or on the console or you can just queue it up here.
Just hurry, because the free download is available today (Sunday, June 28) only.
TweetWEEKEND WEB: The Collection of Michael Jackson Up for Auction
The former King of Pop is having hundreds of items from his personal collections auctioned off by Julien’s Auctions. There are so many items being sold that Julien’s has separated the collections into categories:
- Session I: Garden Statuary and Outdoor Furniture
- Session II: Furniture and Decorative Arts
- Session III: Furniture and Decorative Arts
- Session IV: Antiques, Paintings and Fine Decorative Art
- Session V: Amusements, Arcade Games and Disneyana
- Session VI: Amusements, Arcade Games and Disneyana
- Session VII: Memorabilia From the Life and Career of Michael Jackson
- Session VIII: Memorabilia From the Life and Career of Michael Jackson
Most of the items up for auction are available to preview here, with some coming online soon.
Items include numerous arcade game machines, limos, clothing, original gloves worn by Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands, and custom Disney sculptures created for Jackson’s home, amongst many others.
Casually browsing through all of the available items will take at least an hour, so it makes for a great Weekend Web entry to keep you occupied (even if I’m actually posting this on Monday… yes, another late post.)
Check it all out at Julien’s Auctions.
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