Goodbye Captain Eo
June 26, 2009 I can remember sitting at a friend's kitchen table and hearing "Thriller" for the first time. The synthesizers, the beat, that creepy voice telling a tale of ghouls "getting down" - I was mesmerized. And even though I was pretty young at the time, that memory has stayed with me for over twenty years.
I bet you have a similar story to tell, and fond memories of the childhood icon who had us wearing silver gloves and practicing our moon walk. So in the spirit of the widespread MJ tributes out there today (and because so many of you asked) here are a few Michael Jackson cakes:
The year was 1984, and everyone at the party was soooo jealous.
Care posted this over at Craftin' on the Couch. It's her sixth birthday cake, and I think you can see it was love at first sight. :)
Marzipan is an almond paste, by the way. So this isn't technically a cake, but it IS edible - technically. That's my excuse for including it, anyway.And lastly, this morning Daun D. sent me the tribute cake her office ordered:
Although with all that airbrushing, cracked icing, improper spacing, and head-scratching yellow and gray color combo, it looks like a tribute to Cake Wrecks as well as to the King of Pop. Which is only appropriate, I suppose.Plus, Daun's office had a moon walk contest, complete with prizes for the winners. See, now that is just awesome. In fact, if you're reading this at work I think you should organize moon walk-offs immediately. And take lots of video, too; you never know when your friends might need to blackmail you.
And finally, here's a snippet of one of my all-time favorite MJ incarnations: Captain Eo. (This was a 3D film at Disney, and I still hold out hope that they'll bring it back, even if just for a few days.)
If you want to watch the whole thing, go here.
Thanks to Rob D. & Liz for helping me find these cakes!
- Related Wreckage: See Michael Jackson's 16th birthday cake here.
NOTE: I know Michael Jackson is a controversial character, but let's keep today's comments in good taste, Ok?
Reader Comments (102)
I will never forget the first time I saw Captain Eo. It started my love of sci-fi that continues even to this day!
Whoa, that's a lot of marzipan.
Thanks for these. Nice tribute :)
I actually put the Captain EO video on my iPod while ago so I could watch it whenever I want. I remember seeing it at Disneyland when I was little and LOVING IT!!! :-) It's probably my earliest memory of MJ.
Those cakes are awesome, but not quite as awesome as the MJ himself. Thanks for the lovely cake tribute. :)
RIP MJ, you were an icon and will be missed.
I went to Captain EO opening day weekend at Disneyland! It was the most coolest awesomest brilliantest thing that a middle schooler could do back in the day. Always best to remember the good parts of a life, I agree. Best tribute post I've seen today.
I vividly remember the first time I saw Thriller-it scared the crap out of me but I couldn't look away.
Years later at my fifth grade graduation, we sang/signed 'Heal The World' & I had a solo-I thought I was the coolest thing ever for it.
I got a new phone yesterday & at 3pm eastern time, decided my new ringtone would be "The Way You Make Me Feel"-I was pretty shocked to hear the news a few hours later.
It's unreal to think that something I've known since childhood is gone & won't be coming back. I just hope he can be remembered for what he was at heart: a talented & brilliant musician.
FYI to any fellow Dinsey Nerds (like myself): trace from the Disney Dudes podcast has the entire audio track from Captain EO attraction posted ad a special podcast. Search iTunes for Disney Dudes, it's podcast #18.5. Enjoy!
OMG... Captain Eo. I had totally forgotten about that!
My mom used to work at Disneyland, and she once saw Jacko himself walking around Fantasyland. He loved the place so much. RIP Michael Jackson.
I'm glad to see that people are remembering MJ... but did everyone forget Farrah Fawcett died yesterday too?
Great tribute! I actually came here because I was a little sad at all of the negative MJ stuff that was starting to appear. I'm glad you did a lovely tasteful tribue. It's even better because it is cake.
I always dug on Michael Jackson's songs - I remember when Off The Wall came out (just before Thriller). I won't say that I'm mourning - I never knew the fellow. But it is a loss to the world.
So's Farrah.
Wow, I had totally forgotten about Captain EO as well, even though I saw it at Disneyland when I was 5. Great tribute to Michael, he will be greatly missed.
Thank you for including a tribute today. I stayed up last night watching the tributes on MTV and BET.
I also remember watching Captain EO on my very first Disney trip. I was already a Jackson 5 fan (and at age 7 that was considered odd) so I was very excited to see him on screen! I loved it then and have been dying to see it again, thanks for posting a link to it as well! I think they should run it again as a tribute as well!
OMG...I saw Captain EO when we went to Disney. It's the ONLY memory I have from that trip. I was in love with MJ from then on!
I heartily concur on Captain EO - I LOVED it!!!!!
RIP MJ
I just saw on the news (I live in Hollywood) that they are most likely going to bring back Captain Eo.
It's time to rejoice....and plan a trip to Disneyland!!
These cakes represent Michael Jackson so well: weird-looking and puzzling. Let's hope his children can have a normal childhood from now on.
Aw, that video brings back a lot of good memories! MJ was the bomb. Most recently, he wasn't the bomb, but I like to pretend that part of his life doesn't exist.
Anyways, along with "Kermie" (aka: Kermit the Frog), he was one of my first crushes at the tender age of 5 years old. Those were good times...
OMG - Captain Eo! I remember seeing that at Epcot Center when I was 10 and loved, loved, loved it!
Great tribute!
:) I will always remember MJ as Captain EO.
I had the privilege of seeing Captain EO on two trips to Disney World.
Also, Jen, if you were pretty young, were you a Pretty Young Thing?
I went to Disney World when I was six years old, and saw Captain Eo three times in the time we were there. It is also one of my few memories from the trip.
I loved Dangerous because it had the song from Free Willy on it, and I wanted to be a whale trainer because of that movie.
I saw Captain Eo at Epcot just after it came out. It was very cool and I distinctly remember keeping the plastic purple 3D glasses we were supposed to drop in the buckets on the way out. I used to make up routines to all MJ's songs in the late 80s.
I grew up in Southern California and Captain EO was my FAVORITE throughout childhood. I was heartbroken when it was replaced. I was just making my husband watch the video on YouTube the other day, as he accused me of making it up. Goodbye MJ!
I did my own little MJ tribute today. How can you not be a child of the '80's and think of the Bad/Thriller days. Nice edible hommage!
Immortalized in cakes...too bad he didn't seem to eat them much he was so skinny.
Thanks for the good MJ tribute. I've been bombarded with horrible MJ jokes so its nice to hear from a fan of his work.
Oh Man! I had forgotten about Captain Eo... I saw it in Disney World!! When I was 10! RIP MJ!
When I was young, my family took me into the Captain Eo thing. Unfortunately, as soon as Michael appeared, I started screaming my head off and they had to remove me.
Which was actually sort of weird, as I adored him as a kid.
There's my fondest memory!
can we see some farrah fawcett cakes? i know michael jackson's death is pretty significant, but a lot of people are forgetting that farrah died yesterday, too.
it's weird. as far as musicians go, i always thought ozzy osbourne would die before michael.
I was hoping there would be an MJ Cakewrecks tribute, and here it is! It's so sad, but until now it never really hit me how much he contributed to our music landscape.
Ahhhh, Captain EO! Hooter! Thanks for the flashback. I worked at the mouse house for awhile and even now there are still people who ask if it's still around.
Love,
A Former Cast Member
P.S. Yes, they still have the film reels in storage.
I particularly like how the stringy curls are so defined in the birthday cakes. *Sigh* Farewell, Michael.
Thriller was the very first album I bought as a kid - played it all the time. MJ was a great entertainer - in more ways than one - and he will be missed by all.
Ah MJ
In grade 4 I wanted to be Mrs. Jackson. I would sit in my room at night with the lights off and put on Thriller. The sound effects would scare me at the beginning and then I would get up and dance. He was such a big part of my childhood!
I heard they had Thriller in 3D at Disneyland. Now THAT sounds cool to me.
Thanks for sharing those. I remember seeing Captain Eo at Disney. It rocked!
Thank you for the wonderful tribute. MJ was an amazing talent that will always be missed.
confusion & despair will do it & you cant push a seven year old to do that much, not that hard, not in a context he cant understand & can never escape. poor thing. poor thing. me, i'm older--but not as old as MJ. i remember being a little kid & hearing ABC for the first time--& there was a cartoon, too, wasnt there? but his pure voice as a child--nothing, nobody could match it. poor thing. my heart goes out.
OH.
What about Farrah Fawcett?
I would like to see a Farrah Fawcett cake of awesomeness.
Please :D
Being an Aussie girl and far away from every getting to Disneyland, I'd never even heard of Captain Eo till now. From the snippet I watched, it looks like he was rescuing the Borg Queen.
Thanks for the tribute, you've shown him at his best, which is how I'll always remember him.
Er, this question is a bit off topic, but...can marzipan be used in place of fondont? I hate fondont.
Thanks,
Shmee
I saw Captain Eo at Disneyland back in 1988. I still have the 3D glasses that I took home with me as a souvenir. Not many people actually remember Captain Eo. It was a great show! RIP MJ.
I definitely remember seeing Captain EO at Disneyland and loving it. RIP Michael and Farrah.
Thank you for a nice tribute. MJs music is the soundtrack of my childhood in the late 80's-early 90's and those memories will keep MJ alive for me. I am sorry for all his problems and dramas as they took a lot away from the amazing person who single-handedly transformed the music scene and continues to come out in artists like Beyonce, Usher, Chris Brown, Rhianna.. etc. He influenced everyone in one way or another and I pray that he is resting in peace.
God Bless You Michael.
Also, Farrah.. I was born in '82 so I don't have the fond memories of her as I do MJ but I do think she was a fantastic talent and she will be missed..
RIP to you both.
PS- to those of you asking about Ferrah and where are tribute is.. maybe the creater of this site doesn't have the memories of Farrah like she does MJ. She can post what she wants.
Captain Eo. I must've seen that 15 times over the years. And I didn't live anywhere near California or Florida.
Despite his shortcomings, the music he recorded was the soundtrack of my youth.
R.I.P MJ!
Nobody can upstage Thriller. Ever.