Michael Jackson's Thriller

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Michael Jackson's Thriller

"Michael Jackson's Thriller" title card.
Directed by John Landis
Produced by George Folsey Jr.
Written by John Landis
Michael Jackson
Starring Michael Jackson
Ola Ray
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Epic Records Productions
Release date(s) December 2, 1983
Running time 13:43
Language English
Budget $500,000[1]
Sales:
9 million units

"Michael Jackson's Thriller" is a 14-minute music video for the song of the same name released on December 2, 1983 and directed by John Landis, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jackson. The mini-film music video was broadcast on MTV three weeks before Christmas 1983. It was the most expensive video of its time, costing US$500,000[1], and Guinness World Records listed it in 2006 as the "most successful music video", selling over 9 million units.[2]

"Thriller" was less a conventional music video and more a full-fledged short subject or mini-film: a horror film homage featuring choreographed zombies performing with Jackson. The music was re-edited to match the video, with the verses being sung one after the other followed by the ending rap from Vincent Price, then the main dance sequence (filmed at 3701 Union Pacific Avenue in East Los Angeles[3]) to an instrumental loop, and finally the final: the choruses in a "big dance number" climactic scene. During the video, Jackson transforms into both a zombie and a werecat (although makeup artist Rick Baker referred to it as a "cat monster" in the "Making of Thriller" documentary); familiar territory for Landis, who had directed An American Werewolf in London two years earlier.

Co-starring with Jackson was former Playboy centerfold Ola Ray. The video was choreographed by Michael Peters (who had worked with the singer on his prior hit "Beat It"), with Michael Jackson. The video also contains incidental music by film music composer Elmer Bernstein, who had previously also worked with Landis on An American Werewolf in London. The video (like the song) contains a spoken word performance by horror film veteran Vincent Price. Rick Baker assisted in prosthetics and makeup for the production. The red jacket that Jackson wore was designed by John Landis' wife Deborah Landis to make him appear more "virile".[4]

Jackson, who at the time was one of Jehovah's Witnesses, added a disclaimer to the start of the video, saying:

“ Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult. ”

To qualify for an Academy Award, "Thriller" debuted at a special theatrical screening, along with the 1940 animated motion picture Fantasia.


Contents

[edit] Plot

Jackson dancing with the undead.

It is the early 1960s. A teenaged Michael and his unnamed date (Ola Ray) run out of gas in a dark, wooded area. They walk off into the forest, and Michael asks her if she would like to go steady. She accepts and he gives her a ring. He warns her, however, that he is "different". A full moon appears, and Michael begins convulsing in agony – transforming into a horrifying werecat. His date shrieks and runs away, but the werecat catches up, knocking her down and begins lunging at her with its claws.

The scene cuts away to a modern-day movie theater (exteriors filmed at the Palace Theatre in downtown Los Angeles[5]), where Michael and his date – along with a repulsed audience – are actually watching this scene unfold in a movie called "Thriller" starring Vincent Price. Michael's date is scared, but he is clearly enjoying the horror flick. Frightened, his date leaves the theatre. Michael puts his popcorn down, and catches up to her, smiling and saying "It's only a movie!" Some debate follows over whether or not she was scared by the scene; she denies it, but Michael disagrees.

Michael and his date then walk down a foggy street, and he teases her with the opening verses of "Thriller". They pass a graveyard, where corpses suddenly begin to rise from their graves as Vincent Price performs his rap. Michael and his date then find themselves surrounded by the zombies, and suddenly, Michael becomes a zombie himself. Michael and the undead perform an elaborate song and dance number together, followed by the chorus of "Thriller" (in which Michael is changed back into human form), frightening his girlfriend to the point where she runs for cover.

The girl is chased into an abandoned house (filmed in the Angeleno Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles at 1345 Carroll Avenue[6]), where Michael (who reverts back to zombie form) and his fellow zombies back her into a corner. As Michael slowly reaches for her throat, she lets out with a blood-curdling scream, only to awake and realize it was all a dream. As a human Michael calmly asks "What's the problem?", he offers to take her home. As the two depart, Michael glances back at the camera, grins and reveals his yellow cat-like eyes (accompanied by Vincent Price offering one last haunting laugh).

After the credits, when they concurrently show the zombies dancing again, the disclaimer humorously states, "Any similarity to actual events or persons living, dead (or undead) is purely coincidental." Landis' An American Werewolf in London likewise offered this disclaimer.

[edit] Awards

[edit] Grammy Award

Year Category Result Notes
1985 Best Video, Long Form Winner "Thriller"
1984 Best Video Album Winner Making Michael Jackson's Thriller

[edit] MTV Award

Year Category Result
1999 100 Greatest Music Videos Ever Made[7] #1
1984 Best Overall Performance in a Video Winner
1984 Best Choreography (Michael Peters) Winner
1984 Viewer's Choice Winner

[edit] Making Michael Jackson's Thriller

Released in tandem with the video was an hour-long documentary providing candid glimpses behind the scenes of the production. Called Making Michael Jackson's Thriller, it, too, was shown heavily on MTV for a time and was the top-selling home-video release of all time at one point, with over 900,000 copies sold.

[edit] Behind the Scenes

Well, it was a delicate thing to work on because I remember my original approach was, 'How do you make zombies and monsters dance without it being comical?' So I said, 'We have to do just the right kind of movement so it doesn't become something that you laugh at.' But it just has to take it to another level. So I got in a room with [choreographer] Michael Peters, and he and I together kind of imagined how these zombies move by making faces in the mirror. I used to come to rehearsal sometimes with monster makeup on, and I loved doing that. So he and I collaborated and we both choreographed the piece and I thought it should start like that kind of thing and go into this jazzy kind of step, you know. Kind of gruesome things like that, not too much ballet or whatever.

—Michael Jackson[8]

[edit] Broadway and litigation

In 2009, Jackson sold the rights of "Thriller" to the Nederlander Organization, to stage a Broadway musical based on the video.

Jackson was sued by director John Landis in a dispute over royalties for the video; Landis claims he is owed four years worth of royalties.[9][10]

Ola Ray has also complained in the past about difficulties collecting royalties. At first, Ray blamed Jackson, but then apologized to him in 1997.[11] However, Ray eventually sued Jackson on May 6, 2009 in a dispute to obtain uncollected royalties.[12] Jackson died suddenly less than two months later on June 25.[13]

[edit] In popular culture

The video, particularly its choreography, has been the subject of numerous parodies and homages in television and film.

  • In 2007, a "Thriller"-inspired video featuring the dancing inmates of a high security penitentiary in the Philippines imitating the zombie dance became a popular viral video.
  • Since 2007, Canadian dancer Ines Markeljevic has organized "Thrill the World," an annual worldwide simultaneous dance to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" with specially arranged choreography from the music video. The event takes place in October each year (just before Halloween), and features dancers in cities all over the world performing the dance at the exact same moment. Thrill Toronto 2006, the predecessor to Thrill The World, set the first Guinness World Record for "Largest Thriller Dance" (in one location). Thrill The World set the world record for "Largest Simultaneous Thriller Dance" in 2007 with 1,722 people in 55 cities on 5 continents. In 2008, Thrill the World broke that record when 4,177 people from 10 nations around the world simultaneously danced the Thriller at 11:00 PST on October 25/26[14].
  • The dance number was also seen in 13 going on 30 , where Jenna (played by Jennifer Garner) tries to save a party from becoming a disaster.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Director: Funds for "Thriller" almost didn't appear
  2. ^ Guinness World Records (2006)
  3. ^ Lindsay (2008-10-08). "Cause This Is Thriller". iamnotastalker.com. http://www.iamnotastalker.com/2008/10/30/cause-this-is-thriller/. Retrieved on 2009-07-03. 
  4. ^ Lauren Goode (June 30, 2009). "Deborah Landis, Designer of the Red Jacket Michael Jackson Wore in “Thriller”". Wall Street Journal. Speakeasy. http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/06/30/deborah-landis-designer-of-the-red-jacket-michael-jackson-wore-in-thriller/. Retrieved on July 4, 2009. "At the time, she says, the 25-year-old Jackson weighed only 99 lbs, with a 26-inch waist (“exactly the same height and weight as Fred Astaire”), and one of the challenges she faced was making the performer appear more “virile.”" 
  5. ^ Lindsay (2008-10-22). "Darkness Fall Across the Land, the Midnight Hour is Close At Hand...". iamnotastalker.com. http://www.iamnotastalker.com/2008/10/22/darkness-fall-across-the-land-the-midnight-hour-is-close-at-hand/. Retrieved on 2009-07-03. 
  6. ^ Lindsay (2007-12-07). "Charmed I'm Sure". iamnotastalker.com. http://www.iamnotastalker.com/2007/12/04/charmed-im-sure/. Retrieved on 2009-07-03. 
  7. ^ MTV: 100 Greatest Music Videos Ever Made
  8. ^ "Michael Jackson's Life & Legacy: Global Superstar (1982-86)". VH1. Archived from the original on 2009-07-06. http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/1615220/20090702/jackson_michael.jhtml?rsspartner=rssMozilla. Retrieved on 2009-07-07. 
  9. ^ Legal Thriller: Michael Jackson Sued by John Landis Yahoo News, January 27, 2009
  10. ^ Michael Jackson sued by 'Thriller' director
  11. ^ http://www.mjfanclub.net/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=633:ola-ray-apologizes-to-michael&catid=85:latest-news&Itemid=82
  12. ^ [1]
  13. ^ latimes.com
  14. ^ http://www.recordholdersrepublic.co.uk/recordholdersdetails.asp?id=683

[edit] External links

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