Remember last December, when Disneyland Paris clarified to Cast Members that they wouldn’t be following Disneyland Resort in California by bringing back the previous Captain EO 3-D film to what we’ve more recently known as Honey, I Shrunk the Audience?

Oh, but then 23rd February this year came and went, and the slightly re-titled ‘Captain EO Tribute’ opened in California, proving an immediate crowd-puller — especially compared to the tired old tricks of HISTA. As MiceAge calculated, the theatre was now welcoming not 1,500 to 2,500 visitors a day but more like 15,000 or 16,000, clearly using the space much more efficiently.

So it’s confirmed: ‘EO’ will return to ALL its former locations, officially opening (or re-opening) on 12th June 2010 at Disneyland Paris. This of course means we have to say goodbye to Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, which closes in just a few days’ time on 3rd May 2010, giving around six weeks for a swift changeover of the theatre to get it looking a little more like its original 1992 state.

Still don’t believe it? Here’s the press release:

‘Captain EO’ Returns to Disneyland Paris

Classic Attraction Featuring Michael Jackson to re-open in June

LONDON 28 APRIL 2010 Due to the overwhelming response from both guests and Michael Jackson fans at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim since February, “Captain EO,” the classic musical spectacular that thrilled Disneyland Park guests from 1992-1998 will return to Disneyland Paris, Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland Resort this summer.

The attraction’s return to Disneyland Paris’ Discoveryland on 12 June 2010, provides new audiences with the opportunity to experience the original 3D production for the very first time, as well as a nostalgic look back for longtime fans wanting to see “The King of Pop” in a rare performance created for the big-screen.

Twenty-three years ago, at the height of his phenomenal entertainment career, Michael Jackson joined forces with Disney, producer George Lucas and director Francis Ford Coppola to create a groundbreaking 17-minute 3D film experience starring Jackson as Captain EO performing two original songs, and featuring Academy Award®-winning actress Anjelica Huston, and a cast of merry, mythical space characters with dual personalities who undergo magical transformations to become Jackson’s electronic band in conquering the forces of darkness.

The colorful Disney-created characters include: Hooter, the little green elephant-like creature who sneezes wild musical notes through his flute-like trunk; Fuzzball, the orange-haired space monkey with butterfly wings; the Geex, a golden-haired, two-faced personality with two left feet, one right foot and two shaggy heads named Idy and Ody; Major Domo, whose mirrored silver costume becomes a complete set of drums, and Minor Domo with his sparkling purple torso that turns into an electronic synthesizer played by Hooter.

For all its technology, “Captain EO” is first and foremost a musical spectacular and a thrilling space-fantasy adventure. The realism of the 3D process will once again make it seem that Jackson dances right out of the screen into the theater. It will boast a new 70mm print of the film and sound better than ever thanks to acoustical enhancements made to the theater since the film last played there. The total effect is one of motion, color and high energy filled with Jackson’s musical brilliance and various illusions to create an exciting and realistic journey in space for the audience.

During the journey, Captain EO and his merry crew discover a colorless planet where they are confronted by the Supreme Leader (Huston) and her forces of darkness. Using the power of music, dance and light to fill the planet and the theater with all the shades of the rainbow, the EO crew turns the black and white land into a magical world of color and happiness.

“Captain EO” makes use of more famous-name talents than any other film of its length ever produced. The production called on Hollywood’s finest choreographers, set designers, costume creators and special effects artists — all of them excited by the challenge of shooting this kind of imaginative film in three dimensions.

“Captain EO” will be presented multiple times daily at Disneyland Paris from 12 June 2010

Along with the video above, several stills have been dug out to accompany the press release:

The attraction will also re-open at Tokyo Disneyland on 30th June and at Epcot in Florida on 2nd July, making Disneyland Paris the first park beyond California to welcome back the sci-fi adventure film. Something that, given the resort’s past reluctance to catch up (‘EO’ was already almost six years old when it opened, ‘HISTA’ took over five years after its Epcot debut) comes as even more of a surprise.

Of course, though 16th August 1998 was the last time you could see the 3-D George Lucas “space opera” in Paris, guests actually enjoyed it under the name of ‘CinéMagique‘ (probably making our Disney resort the only one to have had two completely different attractions share the same name). Like the Magic Eye Theater in California, this was the name given to the building — but also as the title on park maps and at the entrance. Captain EO just happened to be the film playing. So, in a round-about way, ‘Captain EO’ (or perhaps ‘Captain EO Tribute’) will be a brand new addition to the park maps come 12th June — that’s presuming they’re reprinted, since the current lot extend to 6th November but will now soon be out-of-date.

Captain EO‘s return to these parks will be on the same “limited time” basis as its reopening in California, though with no end date currently announced, serving both to celebrate Michael Jackson truly at his peak and to bide some time before a true follow-up to HISTA can be Imagineered. Rumours for California have suggested the interactive “living character” attraction Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, but this already being at Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, would still leave Epcot needing a new filler for its Imagination pavilion, and for us, those Pixar monsters (even with a now-confirmed sequel on the way) might finally prove one step too far from the original Discoveryland concept.

But back to today — let’s say our fond farewells to HISTA, the mice tails and dog sneezes which so entertained us on our first visit, and prepare to welcome back an unexpected piece of the past — a rare chance for the visitors of today to experience some Euro Souvenirland history… in 3-D!

Pictures, video © Disney