Walt Disney Co. President and Chief Executive Bob Iger shot down rumors of a return of the Michael Jackson short film “Captain EO” — formerly an attraction at Disneyland and Walt Disney World — at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, Calif., according to media reports. Rumors propagated throughout the Internet that the return of the movie to Disneyland would be announced Thursday at the expo.

“There aren’t plans to bring back ‘Captain EO’ at this time. We are looking at it. It’s the kind of thing that, if we did it, would get a fair amount of attention and we’d want to make sure we do it right,” Iger said at the conference, according to reports. The reports said that Iger and other Disney executives recently watched the movie to evaluate whether or not to return the movie to Disney theme parks.

Iger’s comments Thursday did not stop the rumors on some blogs. “Bob Iger kicked off the lavish D23 Expo with no major news and a rather coy answer on the Captain EO topic, as apparently Burbank is furious both the Star Tours and EO info leaked ahead of (Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman) Jay Rasulo’s planned announcements on Saturday. Meanwhile, executives at (Walt Disney Imagineering) and (Team Disney Anaheim) continue to prep for the January opening of EO, and gab about it rather openly,” Al Lutz wrote in an editor’s note on the site MiceAge.

The film first opened at Disneyland in September 1986 and closed in April 1997. The movies also ran at Walt Disney World’s Epcot from 1986-1994, Tokyo Disneyland from 1987-1996 and Disneyland Paris from 1992-1998.

The 3-D film, produced by George Lucas and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, stars Jackson as the titular character as he and his group of intergalactic travelers travel to deliver a gift to the Witch Queen, played by Anjelica Huston. The movie features the song “We Are Here to Change the World,” which was not released on a CD until a version was released on “Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection.”

The movie has garnered renewed interest since Jackson’s death last June.

Source: Denver Business Journal