Michael Jackson's Cult Classic Disney Flick 'Captain EO' May Become a Video Game

George Lucas, Michael Jackson and Francis Ford Coppola on the set of ‘Captain EO’ (Everett Collection)

Could Captain EO be returning to save the digital world?

A famous — and famously expensive — short film directed for Disney Parks by Francis Ford Coppola, Captain EO featured Michael Jackson as the fearless dancing leader of a ragtag group of goofy aliens sent on a mission through space. It premiered in 1986, and now nearly 30 years later, the 3D film and cult classic may enter the video game age as part of the Disney Infinity franchise.

The game allows players to plug small figurines of Disney characters into a game console, and then play as those characters in an increasingly large universe. It features characters both new (the Inside Out add-on) and old, which is where Captain EO comes in.

John Vignocchi, the VP of production for the game, remarked on Twitter both last month and on Wednesday that he’s working hard to fit the fan favorite into the Infinity universe.

The 15-minute film cost $17 million to make, and featured an immense amount of talent: Not only was it directed by Coppola and star Jackson, it was produced by George Lucas (with his ILM team doing its many special effects) and co-starred Anjelica Huston as the evil queen that Captain EO and crew must save through the power of music.

The rest of Captain EO’s crew consisted of puppets and costumed performers, including a two-headed alien, a messy elephant-like creature, and a flying fuzzball (conveniently named Fuzzball).

The film ran at Disneyland and Epcot Center until 1996, and then was brought back after Jackson’s death in 2006 (the singer died from an overdose of the anesthetic propofol six years ago). It lasted until this past May, where it was briefly replaced by an exhibit touting the George Clooney flick Tomorrowland (it’s scheduled to return sometime this year).

Watch ‘Captain EO’ below: