Moonwalker

For a related video game, see Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. For other uses, see Moonwalk (disambiguation).

Moonwalker
Movie poster by Bill Gold
Directed by	Jerry Kramer Will Vinton (stop-motion sequences, segment "Speed Demon") Jim Blashfield (segment "Leave Me Alone") Colin Chilvers (segment "Smooth Criminal")
Produced by	Dennis E. Jones Jerry Kramer Will Vinton (segment "Speed Demon") Paul Diener (segment "Leave Me Alone") Executive: Michael Jackson Frank DiLeo Line producer: John Romeyn
Written by	Michael Jackson (story) (segment "Smooth Criminal") David Newman (screenplay) (segment "Smooth Criminal")
Starring	Michael Jackson Joe Pesci Kellie Parker Sean Lennon Brandon Quintin Adams
Music by	Michael Jackson Bruce Broughton Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Editing by	Dale Beldin David E. Blewitt Mitchell Sinoway
Studio	Lorimar Motion Pictures MJJ Productions Ultimate Productions Will Vinton Productions ("Speed Demon" segment)
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	October 29, 1988 (1988-10-29)
Running time	93 min
Country	United States
Language	English

Moonwalker, also known as Michael Jackson: Moonwalker, is an American anthology film released in 1988 by singer Michael Jackson.

Rather than featuring one continuous narrative, the film is a collection of short films about Jackson, several of which are long-form music videos from Jackson's Bad album. The film is named after the dance technique known as the moonwalk, which was one of his trademark moves. The name of the dance move was dubbed by the media, not by Jackson himself; however, he did choose the title of the film himself. The film is rated PG outside of the United States.

Release

The release of Moonwalker was originally scheduled to coincide with Jackson's 1987 album, Bad. During the theatrical release of Moonwalker, Jackson was also embarking on the Bad World Tour, his first tour as a solo performer. The film was released theatrically in Europe and South America, but Warner Bros. canceled plans for a Christmas 1988 theatrical release in the U.S. Moonwalker was released on home video in the United States and Canada on January 10, 1989, just as the Bad World Tour finished. (His tour was supposed to finish sooner, but had been postponed due to some vocal strain, so it went on until the last week of January 1989.) The video had sold more than 800,000 copies in the U.S by April 17, 1989.^[1]

Segments

"Man in the Mirror"

The first segment of Moonwalker is a live performance of "Man in the Mirror". It also features a montage of clips of children in Africa, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, John Lennon, and other historical figures.

"Retrospective"

A short biographical film about Jackson, covering the early years from the Jackson 5 until the Bad World Tour. Excerpts of the following songs are played:

• "Music and Me"
• "I Want You Back"
• "ABC"
• "The Love You Save"
• "2-4-6-8"
• "Who's Lovin' You"
• "Ben"
• "Dancing Machine"
• "Blame It on the Boogie"
• "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)"
• "Rock with You"
• "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough"
• "Can You Feel It"
• "Human Nature"
• "Beat It"
• "Thriller"
• "Billie Jean"
• "State of Shock"
• "We Are the World"
• "The Way You Make Me Feel"
• "Dirty Diana"

"Badder"

A parody of the music video for Bad's title song, featuring children filling the roles of various people from the original clip.

The video stars Brandon Quintin Adams, who would later star in The Mighty Ducks, as the young Michael Jackson. It also featured Jermaine La Jaune Jackson, Jr. (Michael's nephew) and a young Nikki Cox, who later starred in Unhappily Ever After and Las Vegas. The singing group The Boys appeared as background dancers. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog co-writer Maurissa Tancharoen, as well as future R&B star Bilal Oliver, are also featured in this segment.

"Speed Demon"

The fourth segment begins with the "Badder" short film transitioning into the second short film, "Speed Demon", directed by Claymation innovator Will Vinton. A portion of the clip is set to Jackson's song "Speed Demon".

After filming "Badder", Little Michael and his bodyguards (also young kids) are leaving the set and walk through a cloud of smoke and come out as their regular age. A boy and his grandmother spot Michael and prompts the other tourists to get off the bus and chase him for an autograph. In an attempt to avoid the overzealous fans (even The Noid) and some gunslingers (after stumbling upon the filming of a Western directed by Steven Spielberg), Jackson soon disguises himself as a rabbit named Spike, but ends up taunting the fans into chasing him once they realize it's him. During the chase, he morphs into other celebrities, namely Sylvester Stallone, Tina Turner and Pee-Wee Herman. After a long chase, the fans are finally pulled over by a cop and are arrested. After finally losing the fans, he pulls over in a canyon and removes the costume, which comes to life and challenges him to a dance-off.

In the end, a traffic cop tells him he is in a "No Dancing Zone", and when Michael turns to point to the rabbit, he sees that the rabbit has disappeared. The cop then sarcastically asks for Michael's autograph (as opposed to "signature") on the ticket. Just as Michael is preparing to leave, the rabbit's head materializes in a nearby rocky crag, who then nods to him and smiles.

"Leave Me Alone"

The fifth segment of the film is the animated music video for the song "Leave Me Alone", focusing on media interest in Jackson's personal life, because he had felt that people wouldn't leave him alone. It compares Michael Jackson's life to an amusement park. His beloved then-pet chimp Bubbles makes a cameo appearance as Jackson is seen picking him up and riding with him in his roller coaster car.

"Smooth Criminal"

The segment begins with three homeless children sneaking through a big city to see their friend Michael walk out of his apartment. As Michael stands in front of the door, he gazes at the night sky before he is attacked by mobsters with machine guns. The film then backtracks to show Michael and the children playing in a meadow in happier times. Their dog Skipper runs away, and as Michael and Katie look for him, they uncover the cottage of Dr. Big. Dr. Big is a drug-dealing warlock with a disciplined private army of soldiers at his command, he wants to get the entire population of Earth addicted to drugs, starting with children. He likes to eat nuts and leaves nutshells wherever he goes, He is obsessed with spiders, as displayed by their abundance at the entrance to his lair, and by the way he called his operation "bugs and drugs". He also has them engulfing a model globe when making a speech about his burgeoning drug empire. They signify the spread of his proposed control of the world via drug dealing. Further, all his henchmen sport a spider crest on their uniforms. Katie screams when she sees a spider, and Mr. Big discovers them spying on his operation.

The story returns to the shooting in front of Michael's store. Unknown to the gangsters, Michael has a "lucky star", and using it, he escaped the gunfire. Upon realizing that Michael has escaped again, Mr. Big orders his henchmen to track him down with dogs. He is eventually cornered in an alley, where he uses his lucky star again to turn into a sportscar (the 1970 Lancia Stratos HF Zero prototype) that mows down several of Mr. Big's henchmen. Michael is pursued through the city streets until he loses the henchmen. Meanwhile, the children scout out Club 30's, where Michael had told them to meet him, and find only an abandoned and haunted nightclub. As Michael arrives, Katie sees a silhouette of him turning back from a car into himself. The door of the club opens with a gust of wind, and Michael walks in to find it filled with zoot suiters and swing dancers. The children gather outside a window of the club and watch Michael dance to "Smooth Criminal".

The song used in the film is much longer than the album release, with several lyrics that clarify the story. There is also an interlude wherein Jackson joins the other dancers in a modern interpretive dance. At the climax of the song, Mr. Big lays siege to the club and kidnaps Katie. Michael follows them back to Big's lair and ends up surrounded by his henchmen. Mr. Big appears and taunts Michael by threatening to inject Katie with highly addictive narcotics. Katie breaks free for a moment, but Mr. Big grabs her again and starts kicking Michael. As Mr. Big stands over Michael and orders his henchmen to kill him and Katie, Michael looks up and sees his lucky star. He transforms into a giant robot and kills all of Mr. Big's soldiers, then turns into a spaceship. Mr. Big gets into a large hillside-mounted energy cannon, firing on the spaceship into a nearby ravine. The children are his next target, but the spaceship returns from the ravine just in time to fire a beam in the cannon with Mr. Big inside, killing him. The children watch the ship fly into the night sky with shower of light.

Note: A 4:36 suite of Bruce Broughton's score for this segment (Broughton also wrote the underscore for "Speed Demon") was recorded by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops for the album Fantastic Journey, representing the only (officially) released music from this film by an artist other than Michael Jackson, although bootlegs are available of the score.

"Come Together"

In the conclusion to "Smooth Criminal", Sean, Katie and Zeke return to the city, believing that Michael is gone forever. As the boys talk about Michael, Katie walks away crying and clutching a paper star. As she sits in a corner wishing for him to come back, the paper star flies out of her hand and Michael walks out of the night fog. He takes them to Club 30's, where they find that the club has turned into the backstage area of a concert. Michael's stage crew return the children's missing dog and then escort Michael onto the stage where he performs a cover of The Beatles song "Come Together" with the children watching and cheering him on from backstage. Jackson's version of the song wasn't officially released until 1995 when it appeared on the album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I.

"Closing credits"

During the closing credits, two more segments are shown. The first has Ladysmith Black Mambazo performing "The Moon is Walking" in Club 30's amidst behind-the-scenes clips. The second is the four-minute version of the "Smooth Criminal" music video.

Select Cast

• Michael Jackson
• Joe Pesci - Frankie "Mr. Big" LiDeo
• Kellie Parker - Katie
• Sean Lennon - Sean
• Brandon Quintin Adams - Zeke "Baby Bad" Michael (Smooth Criminal)/Kid MJ (Badder)

Reception

The movie received mixed reviews. Critics praised the music but complained that there was no plot, and that it seemed like a series of music videos poorly tied together. Variety reported that Moonwalker "seems unsure of what it was supposed to be. At the center of the pic is the "Smooth Criminal" segment, a musical/dramatic piece full of dancing, schmaltzy kids, sci-fi effects and blazing machine guns [directed by Colin Chilvers, based on a story by Jackson]. Around it are really just numerous Jackson music videos with little or no linkage. Although quite enjoyable the whole affair does not make for a structured or professional movie."^[2]

The "Leave Me Alone" video aired as a separate entity and won a Grammy in 1989 for Breakthrough Animated Video, which is the only Grammy Award Michael received for the album Bad.

Current availability

There are currently no plans for an official North American re-release. However, the short films Come Together, Speed Demon, Leave Me Alone and Smooth Criminal appeared in a DVD box set of Michael Jackson videos titled Michael Jackson's Vision. The set only featured the sequences from Smooth Criminal, Speed Demon, Come Together and Leave Me Alone as opposed to the entire short film.

Moonwalker was released on a Region Free Blu-ray in the UK in June of 2010 by Warner Brothers.^[3] This Blu-ray version contained a new remastered transfer, and a DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack.^[4] The release is however censored^[5], and is missing the final "Pow!" during the end of the Smooth Criminal dance number (this appears to be a technical error not a matter of censorship). It is also cropped to 16:9 from 4:3. Currently, the film can be rented through Netflix or region free third-party DVDs can be bought on eBay. However, some of the DVDs found on eBay contain several typos and errors on the DVD cover.

Video game

Main article: Michael Jackson's Moonwalker

Screenshot of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker arcade game

Moonwalker was first adapted in game form to home various computers by British developer U.S. Gold. This top-down action game followed the segments of the film, and bore little resemblance to the later, more popular games developed by Sega with Michael Jackson's cooperation.

Moonwalker was developed into an arcade video game by Sega with the help of Jackson, which was released on the Sega System 18 hardware. A distinct adaptation was also developed for Sega's Genesis/Mega Drive and Master System home video game systems. The console versions of the game were actually based on an evolved version of the side-scrolling Sega Mega Drive Shinobi series engine^{[citation needed]}, while the arcade version was a three-quarters beat 'em up.

Both the console and arcade versions are based on the "Smooth Criminal" segment of the film, following Michael in suit and fedora through stages based on his different music videos as he rescues children from the drug dealer Mr. Big. In the three player simultaneous arcade game, contact with Bubbles, Michael's chimp, transformed him into a robot warrior, replacing Michael's "star magic" and melee dance attacks with missiles and laser beams. In the console versions on certain levels, rescuing a certain child first would trigger a comet to fall from the sky that could be grabbed transforming Michael into the robot (which could fly with a rocket pack as well as use lasers and a missile special attack). Michael automatically changes into a robot for the final showdown with Mr. Big's henchmen and finally into a space ship for the last battle, in a sort of flight-sim shooter in the Genesis/Mega Drive version. All incarnations of the game featured the ability of Michael to use some form of "Dance Magic" which would force his enemies to dance to the music of various tunes from "Bad" or "Thriller" and be destroyed as a result.

Certification

Country	Certification	Sales
Canada	4x Platinum[6]	50,000
USA	8x Platinum [1]	800,000

References

1. ^ ^{a b} RIAA Gold & Platinum Certification information
2. ^ By (1988-01-01). "Moonwalker Review — Read Variety's Analysis Of The Movie Moonwalker". Variety.com. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117793231.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0. Retrieved 2009-07-18. 
3. ^ http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Moonwalker-Blu-ray/10513/
4. ^ http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0030A0ZD4/
5. ^ http://movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=224122
6. ^ ^ "Canadian certifications". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved August 2, 2009. (To search the database for Moonwalker, type "Michael Jackson" in the artist name field and "Moonwalker" into the title field. Choose "Video Longform" from the Format field, and complete the search.

External links

• Moonwalker at the Internet Movie Database
• Moonwalker at AllRovi
• Search for 'Moonwalker' on Games-db.com.
• Search for 'Moonwalker' on MobyGames videogame database.
• Moonwalker information and screenshots
• Michael Jackson lunar crater ("Moonwalker")