‘Captain Eo’ Fans Skeptical About Settlement : Reaction: Some at Disneyland say Jackson was victim of his celebrity and should not have paid to end lawsuit.

As Disneyland’s Captain Eo, Michael Jackson throws himself on the mercy of a scary space witch, saying, “I accept your punishments.”

On Tuesday, some of the guests at the Disneyland attraction couldn’t help wondering if Jackson was accepting real-life punishments that he should have avoided.

By agreeing to pay a reported $20 million to the family of a 14-year-old boy who had alleged molestation, Jackson is paying the price of celebrity--whether he is innocent or not, Eo viewers suggested.

When people become famous, “all of a sudden they get picked on,” said Eric Strotz, an airline pilot from Incline Village, Nev.

Added Larry Bright, a professional drummer from Baltimore: “I just don’t think paying looks good. . . . If someone knows they’re innocent, they fight for that.”

News of the Jackson settlement, however, did not appear to diminish the popularity of the Gloved One’s 3-D movie.

A smattering of people showed up at each afternoon showing, even though the Magic Kingdom was so empty Tuesday that no one waited more than a few minutes for any of the park’s rides.

Disneyland has said it is considering replacing the movie, a 1986 George Lucas-Francis Ford Coppola production, released when “Star Wars” fervor was still at its height.

But, officials insist, any change will have nothing to do with Jackson’s recent legal troubles.

“In spite of some people’s conclusions, it does not change our status on this,” Disneyland spokesman John McClintock said Tuesday. “We’ll keep showing the movie.”

Jackson has had a reputation for showing up at the park now and then with an entourage--and even signing autographs like one of the Disney costumed characters. It is the kind of celebrity association that the Walt Disney Co. treasures.

The 17-minute film shows Jackson at the peak of his stardom before he became tarred by the molestation allegations or regularly grabbed his crotch in public.

Kids still “ooh” and “aah” at laser battles between spacecraft and reach out to clutch a little winged fuzz ball that flutters in a 3-D haze before their noses.

Jackson plays Captain Eo, the moon-walking spacecraft skipper whose offer to accept punishment is only a ruse to turn the ugly Medusa-like creature into a docile Anjelica Huston in a flowing gown.

Jeff Olson, a music shop owner from Lodi, patiently waited outside the Magic Eye theater while his family watched the film inside. Jackson, he said, will always suffer the stigma of implied guilt by settling the lawsuit.

“Now we’ll never know,” he said. “The whole thing is an unfortunate deal.”

But as for the movie, which he says he has seen “a bunch of times,” the court case does not diminish its innocent appeal.

“The technology is something you can’t see anymore.”