MJ, You're Just Another Part of Me.

It was a sad day in my childhood when the beloved 3-D movie Captain EO was removed from Disneyland. And, yes, I am one of those people turning a blind eye to the allegations against Michael Jackson in the wake of his death.

Anyway. Back to the sad day. I don't know what I loved most about Captain EO...Was it MJ's sweet moves complete with weird little ff-fft noises? His soothing voice? The claymation? Fuzzball? (I did have a stuffed animal of him at one point, and whatever day he was lost was also a sad one I'm sure.)

When I'd get a little tired from spending the day at Disneyland, I imagine, my parents would take me into Tomorrowland and we would get our purple plastic glasses that didn't fit anyone's face. I'd sit in a cushy chair in the dark, anticipating the show. No matter how long the lines were for the rides, or how much I had walked around that day, it was impossible to not dance myself out of the theater's automatic doors as the song "Another Part of Me" resonated through the speakers. Rejuvenated, I could go back out into Disneyland feeling peaceful and exquisitely happy.

Which is probably why I downloaded both "Another Part of Me" and "We Are Here to Change the World" when I was in high school and still have both tracks on my workout playlist on my iPod.

Watching Captain EO again today (an ex-boyfriend scored me the DVD from eBay some years ago) I get that same childhood excitement to watch MJ moonwalk like a champ and save the evil queen from her hideousness. (Somehow, this film is so powerful I am able to ignore how it conforms to the common narrative that strong, ugly women need to be transformed into beautiful, man-adoring ladies. Thus is the power of EO).

This is the way I will remember Michael Jackson--young, cool, without a tainted reputation, and the proud owner of a nose. I wonder if Disneyland will consider bringing EO back for a short run...I will certainly pay the steep $60-something fee just to get to hang with that rag-tag space crew one more time.