We Don't Need A Michael Jackson Halloween Special — Just Watch The "Thriller" Video
The Michael Jackson estate recently announced it was partnering with CBS for an hour-long animated Halloween special — Michael Jackson’s Halloween— scheduled to air this fall, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The plot revolves around Victoria and Vincent, two kids who “accidentally” meet on the night of October 31 and wind up at This Place Hotel (a nod to Jackson’s 1980 song “This Place Hotel). Ultimately, they wind up in an epic dance finale with the King of Pop.
But considering the late pop legend pulled off one of the best (if not the best) Halloween visuals of all time — 1983’s “Thriller” — is this really necessary? Co-written by Jackson and John Landis, who also directed the video, it singlehandedly changed the game, and is the only video in music history to be selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
With over 422,000,000 million views, the official Vevo video for “Thriller” combines the magic of MJ’s impeccable dance moves and vocal prowess with the brilliance of producer George Folsey, Jr., choreographer Michael Peters and make-up artist Rick Baker.
Inspired by the 1981 film An American Werewolf In London (also directed by Landis) and set in the 1950s, the 14-minute cinematic journey enlists a sizable cast of characters to play maniacal zombies who go after Jackson and his date, who is played by model/actress Ola Ray. But there’s a twist at the end that, as a kid, scared the living daylights out of me.
I had to have been 7-years-old when I first saw the video. By then, I was already a dedicated MJ fan. I had the now 33x diamond-selling Thriller album on vinyl and would keep it safe in my carrying case alongside my Bambi soundtrack (yeah, for real). Every kid in the ’80s idolized Jackson (even famed child actor Corey Feldman) and he epitomized the word ‘cool,” so when my musical idol turned into a flesh-eating zombie towards the end of “Thriller,” I was shocked. NOT HIM!!!! But as he danced along to the Quincy Jones-produced song, I realized he was still the illest zombie to ever do it.
At minute 11:45, when the group of ravenous zombies (led by Jackson) are closing in on the damsel in distress, suddenly MJ reverts to “normal,” and she appears to wake up from a nightmare. But as MJ puts his arms around her and glances at the camera, his eyes turn yellow and an evil laugh (courtesy of classic horror film actor Vincent Price) reveals he was one of the undead all along. Scary, right? Ok, maybe not now, but any kid who saw it then probably was a little freaked out.
Even CeeLo Green admitted in an interview with Rolling Stone that he was so scared of “Thriller” as a nine-year-old kid, he would flee the room whenever the video came on. “If he could be possessed, then I damn sure could be possessed, because Michael was so much stronger than I,” Green said.
The visual for “Thriller” went on to win a Grammy for Best Long Form Video in 1985, three MTV Awards for Best Overall Performance in a Video, Best Choreography and Viewer’s Choice in 1984, and serves as MTV’s first world premiere.
In 1999, MTV honored the video with yet another award recognizing it as one of the 100 Greatest Videos of All Time. Seven years later, the Guinness Book of World Records deemed it the most successful video in history with over nine million copies sold, while Billboard called it one of the Top 10 Halloween Songs ever. Over the past 34 years, no other video has had the same kind of cultural impact nor collected the accolades that “Thriller” did. Jackson’s tragic 2009 death makes it all the more significant. There’s never been another artist like him and never will be. The King of Pop will always retain his crown and “Thriller” will remain the most famous Halloween visual in music history. In fact, there are people on Twitter still talking about the video over three decades later, an undeniable testament to its permanent influence on popular culture. Source: http://hiphopdx.com/editorials/id.3826/tit...thriller-video#
Non abbiamo bisogno di uno speciale di Halloween di Michael Jackson - Basta guardare il video "Thriller"
TRADUZIONE BREVE: La tenuta di Michael Jackson ha recentemente annunciato che stava collaborando con la CBS per uno special animato per Halloween - "Halloween di Michael Jackson" - in programma per il prossimo autunno secondo The Hollywood Reporter.
Ma considerando che la leggenda del pop ha tirato fuori uno dei migliori (se non il migliore) spettacoli di Halloween di tutti i tempi - "Thriller" del 1983 - è davvero necessario? Co-scritto da Jackson e John Landis, che ha anche diretto il video, ha cambiato da solo la partita ed è l'unico video della storia musicale selezionato per il Registro Nazionale del Film dalla Biblioteca del Congresso (USA) Con oltre 422.000.000 milioni di visite, il video ufficiale di "Thriller" (trasmesso dal canale Vevo) combina la magia delle impeccabili mosse di ballo e la prodezza vocale di MJ con la brillantezza del produttore George Folsey, Jr., il coreografo Michael Peters e il make-up artist Rick Baker. [...]
Negli ultimi 34 anni, nessun altro video ha avuto lo stesso tipo di impatto culturale e non ha raccolto i riconoscimenti che "Thriller" ha fatto. La tragica morte di Jackson del 2009 lo rende ancora più significativo. Non c'è mai stato un altro artista come lui e mai ci sarà. Il Re del Pop manterrà sempre la sua corona e "Thriller" rimarrà la più famosa rappresentazione visiva di Halloween nella storia della musica.
Di fatto, ci sono persone su Twitter che ancora parlano del video più di tre decenni più tardi, un testamento innegabile per la sua influenza permanente sulla cultura popolare. [...]
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