In the wake of the smashing box office success of Michael Jackson’s final rehearsal/concert film This Is It, there are new reports that MJ’s 1986 classic sci-fi 3D film Captain EO will return from exile to be shown again at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, CA starting next year. Now, none of this has been officially confirmed by the folks at Disney but it makes total sense that they would want to revive the mini-movie/music video in the wake of MJ’s untimely death earlier this year:

“Captain EO” is coming back. The word from Hollywood is that Disneyland is planning to revive Michael Jackson’s 3D film beginning in January. Heavily influenced by “Star Wars,” the 1986 short film was produced by George Lucas and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Back in those days, Michael had the money from “Thriller” to make anything happen. Among the cast: Michael, Anjelica Huston, Dick Shawn — the latter died less than a year after “Captain EO” was released. It’s the 3D version coming back to Disneyland, but you can watch a less complex version on YouTube. “Captain EO” was pulled from Disneyland years ago. But with Jackson’s “This Is It” up to about $220 million worldwide, interest in him is rekindled. It’s another tragic irony for Jackson. And, believe it or not, the “This Is It” companion CD looks like it sold well over 125,000 copies last week — even though it’s just greatest hits. “Captain EO” contains a video of Jackson dancing and singing a song called “We Are Here to Change the World.” No word yet on whether Huston or any of the other “Captain EO” cast members will get paid for this revival. According to sources, Disney has the right to use the film whenever it wants to. I’m told they’re even thinking of having a premiere — with a red carpet — if they can get Jackson family members to attend. Hey, La Toya — you should call them right away!

Again, until we get official confirmation from Disney, I think it’s a bit premature to be celebratin’ this good news just yet … but it is encouraging that this rumor is making the rounds. I never got to see Captain EO (which I always regarded as the bastard child of The Muppet Show and Star Wars) when it was showing at Disney in the late 80’s so I would be VERY interested in seeing it on the big screen with my own eyes. I wonder if it’s possible for updated new scenes to be added to the original film. That being said, the entire Captain EO mini-movie can be viewed online right now. After the jump, watch it in full for yourselves …

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Back in early September, the late Michael Jackson was finally laid to rest at Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA some 70 days after he passed away in his home back in June of this year. At the time, we saw photos from MJ’s lavish funeral service attended by family and friends but we were not made privy to his actual resting place. MJ has been interred in a private crypt that is accessible only to an approved list of visitors so up until now we were unable to see where MJ will spend his eternity. Today, tho, we get our first look at MJ’s crypt adorned by tributes and gifts left in his memory:

Gone but not forgotten! Here is the first photo of Michael Jackson’s final resting place — a regal tomb adorned with flowers, framed photos, letters and other souvenirs. The tributes were left in the crypt at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Mortuary in Glendale, Calif., by longtime Jacko pal and makeup artist Karen Faye, sources told The Post. Jackson’s family picked Forest Lawn’s Great Mausoleum section for its high security. At the mausoleum’s entrance, visitors are greeted by a huge stained-glass reproduction of da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” But to get any farther inside, they have to be on a preapproved list. Faye, who made up Jackson, 50, for his journey into eternity, has been collecting Jacko trinkets for weeks. She’s on the list of approved visitors, and she has been personally taking the tributes to the crypt herself every other week since Jackson’s funeral on Sept. 3, sources said. “She feels like she’s the friend of the fans, that she’s the only thing that can connect the fans to Michael now,” said a source close to Faye. “This is very important to her because she knows the fans loved Michael so much. She does this for them, especially those who traveled to be near Michael.”

Before these first photos were made available, we only had descriptions of MJ’s crypt to go by … now fans can have a better sense of where MJ has been laid to rest. Considering how much larger than life Michael Jackson was when he lived, I was sure he would be laid to rest in an opulent setting where legions of fans can make the pilgrimage to pay tribute to his memory. Because he did not make his wishes explicitly known before he died, his family was left with the decision on how he would be laid to rest. I honestly do not think MJ would want to be sequestered away from his fans … but this is what his family wants. I suppose it’s poetic for the King of Pop to be hidden away from his fans in such a humble setting. This way, fans can remember him in their hearts exactly the way they choose to.

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]

Today is Hallowe’en eve, otherwise known as Devil’s Night to some, and to get in the spooky spirit of the pagan new year, a group of psychics orchestrated the world’s first Twitter seance — or tweance, if you will — earlier today in the Twitterverse. A few weeks ago, I heard about this tweance and started following @tweance on Twitter to keep apprised of updates leading up to today’s event. The tweance “contacted” a group of deceased famous folk as voted on by Twitter followers — River Phoenix, Kurt Cobain, William Shakespeare and Michael Jackson. Here is the full Twitter transcript of the tweance communication with Michael Jackson:

(Jayne: Thank you to everyone who is following and sending in questions. We will try contacting William Shakespeare next…). / (Jayne: William Shakespeare is very weak. Many people have tried to contact him). / (Jayne: there is someone else. It is much stronger, someone who died recently…Someone who is waiting for us.) / (Jayne: Michael has been waiting. He is here now). / (Jayne: He is very strong. He is smiling as he is finally linking to his fans. He is in paradise). / Jayne: Does anyone have a question for Michael? He is here now and he wants to talk again. / (Jayne: He is singing. His voice is very powerful indeed still.)

HMMM … as you can see, the attempt to contact William Shakespeare was unsuccessful but MJ jumped right in there to start taking questions. After the jump, check out the full transcript Q&A with Michael Jackson in this tweance …

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We are just a couple weeks away from Hallowe’en and already we’ve seen a few celeb families (HERE, HERE and HERE) steppin’ out to pick their pumpkins for seasonal carving … but a gardener named David Finkle in Chelmsford, Essex, England is already hard at work carving his very special Hallowe’en pumpkins … here are a few examples of his work:

Yes, that is US President Barack Obama and Michael Jackson on top along with a couple of traditionally themed pumpkins on the bottom. When I carve pumpkins, I tend to keep it simple … you know, triangle eyes and nose, jagged teeth … so I’m always very impressed with work like this. Hallowe’en is one of the funnest times of the year … hopefully these jack-o-lanterns will inspire all y’all to have fun with the pumpkin carving this year. I would also like to urge all y’all to send in photos of your carved pumpkins so that I may feature them here on the blog!

[Photo credit: Splash News]

Last month we learned that Sony Music would be releasing a new single and new album from the late Michael Jackson to coincide with the release of the new documentary/concert film Michael Jackson’s This Is It which was pieced together from hours of rehearsal footage from MJ’s This Is It Tour preparations. The title song, This Is It, was released online late last night for all to hear:

Apparently, this track will be released in two versions on the new soundtrack album for the This Is It film … a slow ballad, This Is It has a bit of a mournful feel to it. After the jump, listen to the new track from Michael Jackson in full …

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On Friday we learned that Rabbi Shmuley Boteach was releasing a new book compiled from recordings that he made with Michael Jackson, supposedly with MJ’s permission, in order to share with the world the secrets that MJ wanted everyone to know. On Friday night, Dateline on NBC aired some of the recordings that Boteach made with MJ:

Speaking candidly to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach in conversations that were recorded with the express purpose of sharing them with the public and publishing them in a book, Michael Jackson related extensive personal information. During 30 hours of conversation, they discussed the star’s childhood scars, the price of fame, his spirituality, married life, his love for his children, his demanding father, his thoughts about dying young, his deep fear of aging, racism, his closest friendships and much more. With Michael’s sudden and unfortunate death, Rabbi Shmuley was moved to fulfill his friend’s wish that his true self and heart be known to the public. Their talks are the foundation of “The Michael Jackson Tapes: A Tragic Icon Reveals His Soul in Intimate Conversation.”

Despite the fact that MJ makes clear in these recordings that he did want Rabbi Boteach to release these conversations, I still can’t help but feel it is still extremely exploitative:

Who is making the money from this book? That’s the question that stands out in my mind. Even still … I cannot help but be intrigued by these conversations that Boteach had with MJ. After the jump, check out video from Dateline to hear some of the MJ recordings for yourselves — they are insanely enlightening …

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Today we are learning new information supposedly from the late Michael Jackson by way of the King of Pop’s religious leader Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. According to the rabbi, MJ believed that after a few dates in the early 90’s, Madonna fell in love with him and that MJ did not return her love because he did not find her “sexy at all”. HMMMM. Here is a photo of Madonna and MJ from their appearance together at the 1990 Academy Awards and the deets from Shmuley on what MJ really thought of her Madgesty:

The King of Pop befriended the singer in the early 1990s and several dates followed, but Jackson revealed he never had any romantic interest in her during a taped conversation with his close friend Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. Jackson told Boteach, “I think she (Madonna) likes shock value and she knows how to push buttons on people. I think she was sincerely in love with me and I was not in love with her. She did a lot of crazy things. I knew we had nothing in common. “She is not sexy at all. I think sexy comes from the heart in the way you present yourself.” The Thriller icon believed Madonna was one of several stars who envied his fame: “They admire you and know you are wonderful and great because they are jealous, because they wish they were in your shoes. Madonna is one of them. She is jealous. She is a girl, a woman and I think that’s what bothers her … I get the fainting and adulation and she doesn’t.” The star went on to confess he had considered dating actress Elizabeth Taylor but feared the media would mock their 27-year age gap. He said, “I know that if we ever did anything romantically the press would be so mean and nasty and call us the Odd Couple. It would turn into a circus and that’s the pain of it all.” Jackson also described the late Princess Diana as his ideal woman: “I thought she was very special – very feminine and classy. She was my type for sure, and I don’t like most girls. There are very few I like who fit the mould. It takes a very special mould to make me happy and she was one of them.” Boteach, who is publishing the conversations, maintains Jackson wanted the footage to be released to the public so his fans could gain a better understanding of his personal life.

LOL! It’s funny to hear these supposed comments from MJ especially after hearing Madonna’s heartfelt (and oftentimes rambling) speech about him at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards a couple of weeks ago. It’s funny, she never mentioned in her meandering monologue that she was “in love” with MJ. It’s so strange (and very unprofessional) that a rabbi would be blabbing MJ’s secrets, even if he maintains that MJ “wanted the footage to be released”. It seems so … opportunistic. Whether or not these comments are true or not … they do further enlighten on the man that was Michael Jackson.

[Source]