Between his Mad Hatter costume and the trippy adventures of Alice as she tries to escape Wonderland, the video is ful of memorable scenes. What's likely the most popular second-generation "Thriller" video came from an unlikely place: a prison in the Philippines. Much of Cher's body is exposed and both she and the Navy received criticism for it. [13], Other memorable episodes include: "Someone at the Top of the Stairs", one of a handful of forays into the supernatural, in which two female students move into a boarding house and begin to notice that none of the other residents ever go out or receive any mail; and "I'm The Girl He Wants to Kill", in which a witness to a murder finds herself trapped in a deserted office block overnight with the killer, and is forced to play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with him to survive (there is barely any dialogue throughout its second half). The Thriller video sent album sales into orbit, with Jackson's label Epic reportedly shipping a million copies a week in its immediate aftermath. It's hard to forget. The trailer for the new TV show, which launched at 3pm on March 1, introduces Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas' characters, Nadia Sinh and Mason Kane, across multiple high-octane action sequences. Connections The video includes clips from "Purple Rain," too. / The foulest stench is in the air / The funk of 40,000 years / And grizzy ghouls from every tomb / Are closing in to seal your doom / And though you fight to stay alive / Your body starts to shiver / For no mere mortal can resist / The evil of the thriller. When the documentary was released on VHS, selling for $29.95, it attracted more than 100,000 advance orders in its own right. Michael Jackson had a huge 1983. "In many ways, it wasn't something you really wanted to aspire to," he says. See production, box office & company info, The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018), At the Movies: Christine/Silkwood/Sudden Impact/Thriller, Palace Theater, 630 S Broadway, Los Angeles, California, USA. [10] At the time, commercial directors did not direct music videos, but Landis was intrigued. It references numerous horror films and sees Jackson dancing with a horde of zombies. [8] Within months, the documentary sold a million copies, making it the bestselling video release at that point. Thriller, released in 1983, was initially given a late-night premiere on Channel 4 - a formula repeated by Jackson five years later with his Bad video. Michael Jackson's Thriller is a 1983 music video for the song "Thriller" by the American singer Michael Jackson, released on December 2, 1983. Before my time, but I gather it was shown on Channel 4 late at night. Missy Elliot is also featured in the video and song. [3] Background [ edit] Welcome to the Digital Spy forums. [29], Jackson's red leather jacket became a fashion icon and has been widely emulated. The "Life on Mars" music video was filmed for the song's release as a single. According to Vanity Fair, Vestron Video helped offset the high production cost of "Thriller" by paying for the VHS and Betamax distribution rights for the Making Michael Jackson's Thriller documentary and then gave it a $29.95 retail price tag. Nevertheless, the Thriller video was set to be so expensive $900,000, to pay for not just the filming and effects but 10 days of dance rehearsals that Landis and Jackson had to find a way to fund it (Jackson had paid the $150,000 cost of the Beat It video himself). It's dark and striking and fits perfectly with the song. The second stars Bush in a red dress doing the same memorable dance moves and emotive faces, but instead of a room, she is in the middle of the woods. And then 4 months later it was spoofed on the very first episode of ITV's Spitting Image. He said he had blocked further distribution and promotion of the film where he had been able. I remember watching it on C4 late at night. NCTV chairman Thomas Radecki said: "It's not hard to imagine young viewers after seeing Thriller saying, 'Gee, if Michael Jackson can terrorize his girlfriend, why can't I do it too? [12] Jackson's parents Joseph and Katherine Jackson also visited. We didn't get a Channel 4 signal until late 84 so missed out entirely! The video starts in black-and-white as Whitney Houston finishes a show and heads backstage. The scenes incorporated claymation, pixilation, and stop-motion animation to come to life. The massively successful "Thriller" video was a close collaboration between performer Michael Jackson and director John Landis, although it would seem that of the pair, only Jackson greatly benefited financially from the project. There's running on a moving train, there's dancing in a blue room, there's a dog chase, and a car chase. If youd like to join in, please sign in or register. The song was originally going to be called "Starlight". Additionally, Landis equates the process of man turning to beast, in "Thriller" and in other werewolf-based movies (such as the director's own An American Werewolf in London), with puberty. The video features the four guys of OK Go doing a choreographed dance on treadmills all filmed in one shot. However, after the new channel Showtime agreed to pay half the budget, MTV agreed to pay the rest, justifying the expenditure as financing for a motion picture and not a music video. The changes applied starting with the Game of the Year edition and all future releases since. Michael Jackson's estate owes Quincy Jones $9.4m in royalties, jury decides, NewMichael Jackson music to be produced by Timbaland, Michael Jackson is top-earning dead celebrity, beating Prince and Bowie, Mysurreal 1980 interview with Michael Jackson: Direct your questions to Janet; shell put them to Michael, Michael Jackson's Thriller becomes first album to sell 30m copies in the US, Michael Jackson: Five years after his death, how his influence lives on, Michael Jackson: Xscape review - a fitting bookend to the man's career, Kirsty Wark can perform the Thriller dance. Avril Lavigne's disastrous romp through a mall was every teen's dream in the early 2000s. She was the mother of the character Ken Reeves from the TV Show "The White Shadow". Then it shifts to the musicians performing on stage. I was suing him for 14 years. MTV paid $250,000 and Showtime $300,000 for the rights to the documentary, Jackson would take care of upfront costs, and the video was able to go ahead, with the label coughing up $100,000. Love it or hate it, labels are obsessed with it and it's here to stay. It's an unexpected video in the best way. Peter Gabriel's video for "Sledgehammer" was an impressive 16-hour feat. It's directed by John Strickland (Bodyguard, Line Of Duty) and follows the crew on the fictional Kinloch Bravo oil rig stationed off the Scottish coast on the dangerous waters of the North Sea.When the group of workers is due to return to the mainland, an eerie fog descends, and a mysterious force begins to take . It even stops briefly for a countdown. "[21], Vinny Marino of ABC News said that the video's selection as the "Greatest Video of All Time" was a "no-brainer", and that it "continues to be considered the greatest video ever by just about everyone". It was also the first big break for drag queen RuPaul. It was shown on Channel 4 in November 1983 at something like 1 in the morning, as I remember sitting up waiting for it to come on and then being amazed and a little bit scared as I was only 13 at. It's a weird video, but that's why it's unforgettable. The Untold Truth Of Michael Jackson's Thriller Video. MTV, which, to that point, had never paid for content, contributed $250,000, and Showtime paid $300,000. The video was directed by John Landis, written by Landis and Jackson, and stars Jackson and Ola Ray. The "Work It" video is filled with some interesting CGI work, memorable dance moves, and some wild cameos that include Timbaland and Eve. To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. Thriller was an event even when it was being shot in October 1983. 5 Virtual Insanity Jamiroquai. Joseph denied this. Could you want anything more in a video? This ground-breaking video is the toast of MTV and will forever be remembered for what is the greatest music video of all time!! The Gorillaz are known for their animations, but it all started with their first single from their debut, "Clint Eastwood." [30] "Thriller" has become closely associated with Halloween;[31][14] in 2016, US president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama danced to the song with schoolchildren at a White House Halloween event. The critic Kobena Mercer found similarities to the werewolf in The Company of Wolves (1984). watch on Amazon. It's like he's disconnected from everything and everyone, and that's exciting. [7], Michael Jackson's album Thriller was released in November 1982 on Epic Records and spent months at the top of the Billboard 200. The first thing he said to me when he came out of school was 'Are zombies real, mum?'. In the 1950s, Michael Jackson and a young woman (Ola Ray) run out of gas while driving in a wooded area. It continuously shifts through a series of triangles shifting between images of Meg and Jack White playing instruments. The promotional video for "Bohemian Rhapsody" starts off with the striking, yet simple shot of the four band members sitting in darkness and singing the a capella part of the song. ", The sound of the growling animal during the transformation is the same sound from. My DS1 does sound more like the OPs, and unlike some children, he is more likely to admit to feeling upset or Many elements of Michael Jackson's Thriller have had a lasting impact on popular culture, such as the zombie dance and Jackson's red jacket, designed by Landis's wife Deborah Nadoolman. It's all just brilliant to watch. As of 2020, more than 59 million people had watched the sea of orange-clad people amble and groove like zombie-monsters. After falling asleep and dreaming that a saint statue turned into the man, she wakes up, goes to the prison, and tells them that the man is innocent. In 2009, it became the first music video inducted into the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". Mumsnet carries some affiliate marketing links, so if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale (more details here). "It was really groundbreaking to have such a long video, and it helped to shape the future of music videos, which previously had been more performance-based," she says. "Out of all my videos, it was the least expensive and took the least amount of time. "Everybody Hurts" is a heavy song, and the corresponding video highlights the emotional lyrics. This idea was replaced with a two-legged monster, as this made it easier for him to dance. ", Jonze doubts Thriller has had a direct influence on the new school of music video directors, but he is nonetheless convinced it will survive as a portrait of an artist on the mountaintop. But then there's also some random dance scenes with her on a boat. "Everyone experiences these physical transformations in their bodies and new, unfamiliar sexual thoughts in their minds. Before We Die. Part of a longer movie, the "Runaway" music video features Kanye West playing a white piano as a ballet troupe dressed all in black dance near him. [1] It is an anthology series: each episode has a self-contained story and its own cast. "Thriller," of course, came from the Michael Jackson album also called Thriller. In 2006, the Guinness World Records listed it as the "most successful music video of all time. Fifteen years ago, it was deemed suitable only for late-night viewing, and even boycotted by a then fledgling MTV network in the US. Michael Jackson, at the time being a devout Jehovah's Witness, feared that the video would go against his fans' religious beliefs and feared backlash. 8 Say You . Cyrus' provocative videos were a shock to people who had watched her on "Hannah Montana.". "Due to my strong personal convictions," the disclaimer credited to Michael Jackson reads, "I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult." The video one video of the year at the VMAs. In the present, Jackson and his girlfriend are watching the werecat film in a theater. [8] As films required theatrical screenings to be eligible for Academy Awards, Landis had the video played before screenings of Fantasia (1940) at a Los Angeles cinema, though it was not nominated. The Rig is a horror thriller series arriving on Amazon Prime Video in early 2023. | Directed by Spike Jonze ("Her"), the "Buddy Holly" video places the band in Arnold's Drive-In from the show "Happy Days." Thriller sealed MTV's reputation as a new cultural force; dissolved racial barriers in the station's treatment of music (though MTV has always denied they existed); revolutionised music video production; spawned the "making of" genre of documentary ("The Making of Filler," as Landis said at the time); helped create a market for VHS rentals and sales, because fans were desperate to see it when they wanted, rather than at the will of TV stations; and, in 2009, became the first music video to be inducted into the Library of Congress's National Film Registry. From his Pope outfit to the reenactment of Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" painting, Lamar doesn't shy away from religious visuals. | Directed by F. Gary Gray, who also directed "Straight Out of Compton" and "The Fate of the Furious," the "Waterfalls" video is emotional. It's amazing. The 15-year-old promo, directed by John Landis, is now regarded as a landmark release - the first to transform pop videos into mini-films. The remastered 3D version first premiered at the 74th Venice Film Festival on September 4th, 2017 alongside the 'Making Of' documentary. She and other dancers groove and show off their moves throughout the video. Most of the video is a close-up shot of Sinad's face as she sings the song. [12] The documentary, Making Michael Jackson's Thriller, was directed by Jerry Kramer. They eventually head down a river to a rave in the forest. When the series was re-broadcast as part of The CBS Late Movie however, the original title sequences and music were restored. [8], In 2009, Landis sued Jackson in a dispute over royalties for the video, saying Jackson had failed to pay him 50% of the proceeds. The zombie's costumes were purchased from The Salvation Army. Landis told The Guardian that they initially planned to make Jackson turn into a four-legged creature. Branca wouldn't do it, and he instead locked up the footage and gave Jackson the idea to let "Thriller" out, but just with a denouncing disclaimer tacked on to the start. [35] It was remastered in IMAX 3D for a limited engagement in 2018, preceding screenings of The House With a Clock in Its Walls in North America for its first week. The students progressively begin to head bang to the music as a riot erupts and the kids destroy the instruments. Less than two years later, sister network VH1 would also name "Thriller" the top video ever made. Epic Records head of promotions Frank DiLeo suggested a third music video, for the album's title track, which wasn't even slated to be a single. [15], Landis said directing Jackson was "like dealing with a gifted 10-year-old". 1 Thriller Michael Jackson 2 Bohemian Rhapsody Queen 3 Take On Me A-ha 4 My Heart Will Go On Celine Dion 5 Virtual Insanity Jamiroquai 6 Vogue Madonnna 7 Fastlove George Michael 8 Say You'll Be There Spice Girls 9 Earth Song Michael Jackson 10 Sledgehammer Peter Gabriel, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Nearly 100,000 viewers voted in the VH1 all-time greatest 100 poll, which also saw Jackson at No. "I love the ideaof making Thriller a musical," said James L. Nederlander. The horror mini-movie also directly led to Thriller flying off store shelves again. He worked very hard. Quotes [8] In a statement published in Awake!, a magazine published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Jackson said: "I just intended to do a good, fun short film, not to purposely bring to the screen something to scare people or to do anything bad. Unbreakable. "Romain Gavras he did M.I.A. "I recall everybody at college talking about it; about how it was like a mini-movie and how much it had cost. Cannot remember the excate time but dout it was 1 am as we would of not been allowed to stay up. One of the Zombie ladies from "Thriller" short film by Michael Jackson is Claire Sisk Reeves. She leaps and hang over the cars with a rope and flip her ex off is iconic. The metamorphosis of the polite "boy next door" into a werecat has been interpreted as a depiction of male sexuality, depicted as naturally bestial, predatory, and aggressive. Jackson was all in, especially after Landis said he could probably get An American Werewolf in London makeup master Rick Baker involved. [5] The opening scene parodies 1950s B-movies, with Jackson and Ray dressed as 1950s teenagers. Some of the biggest Broadway productions of recent years are musicals based on preexisting, well-known media. Kendrick Lamar's "Humble" is an incredible video. And yet, it was something of an afterthought: the seventh single from a 10-track album that didn't have the most auspicious of starts when it was released a full year before the Thriller video (long enough for Jackson's nose to look different in the film than it does on the LP cover). He soon finds himself working as part of a trio of vets alongside Siegfried and his younger brother, Tristan. Andr 3000 plays all eight characters featured in the band. At the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards in 1984, "Thriller" surprisingly lost Video of the Year to the Cars' "You Might Think.". "[8] Jackson's manager Frank DiLeo suggested making a music video for it, and recalled telling Jackson: "It's simpleall you've got to do is dance, sing, and make it scary. Each girl shows off her personality as they move throughout the hotel, making a mess and causing general chaos. The presenter, 38, is paralysed from the chest down following . Jackson's sixth album, Thriller, was released in November 1982 and spent months at the top of the Billboard 200, backed by successful videos for the singles "Billie Jean" and "Beat It". Miss Scarlet and The Duke, starring Kate Phillips and Stuart Martin, is a high-octane, smart and sassy mystery series filled set in 1882 . [8], In early August, after seeing his horror film An American Werewolf in London (1981), Jackson contacted the director John Landis. The Pale Blue Eye (2022) Image via Netflix. Watch the red dress video here the white dress video here. Directed by Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl, the video follows a man, whose face is never shown, as he rescues a baby, a dog, and grabs a photo from a burning building. Jackson said his first concern was to create a zombie dance that did not seem comical. Landis' production partner George Folsey and Jackson's lawyer John Branca hatched a plan: raise money by pre-selling the rights to a behind-the-scenes documentary shot during "Thriller" production. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider There's also a memorable scene of her covered in diamonds. In January 2009, nearly three decades after production on the video wrapped, Landis sued Jackson and his production company for having failed to fork over what was due over the years. Jackson's character takes his date (Ola Ray) to a horror movie and then makes her life into one when he transforms into a monstrous creature and leads a horde of other scary creatures both ghoulish and undead. Jackson was 25 years old at the time of filming. Disney star Alyson Stoner broke out in the video as the lead child dancer. [11] Landis and Jackson conceived a short film shot on 35mm film with the production values of a feature film, with a budget of $900,000, much larger than any previous music video. Garcia taped and uploaded videos of the sessions to YouTube, and in 2007, the one of the "CPDRC Dancing Inmates" doing the "Thriller" dance hit big and went viral. There's the car running out of gas and it's like a movie, then it just keeps going, as if they're saying: 'That'd be cool, let's do that.' Even now, Kirsty Wark can perform the Thriller dance on Newsnight as a Halloween joke, and everyone gets it. [8] It was backed by successful music videos for the singles "Billie Jean" and "Beat It", which are credited for raising creative standards for music videos and demonstrating their promotional power. In December 2009, the Library of Congress selected the video for the National Film Registry. With James Purefoy, Charlie Creed-Miles, Sasha Behar, Dervla Kirwan. Director: Scott Cooper | Runtime: 128 minutes. One of the lengthiest music videos made at the time, running for 14 minutes and 7 seconds. He reaches out to her but can't pull her back up and she falls. Injustice: Created by Anthony Horowitz. In August 1983, film director John Landis received a phone call from Michael Jackson. He's taking things to a whole new place. "Music videos in the early 80s started as a little cottage industry in Britain, really," says Brian Grant, the British director who made the Private Dancer video for Tina Turner and Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance With Somebody. [9][8] These title sequences were used in Britain when the series was repeated on regional ITV stations in the 1980s, and are also included as extras on the Complete Series box set. In 2017, it was remastered from the original 35mm negative and converted into 3D under John Landis' supervision. And Chris Milk the [interactive] stuff he's doing, like The Wilderness Downtown with Arcade Fire and The Johnny Cash Project could never have been done in the 90s. [8] After originally being screened late at night in the U.S. under the ABC Wide World of Entertainment billing from 1973, some episodes were retitled for U.S. syndication in 1978, and all had additional opening sequences shot with new titles and credits but without the original cast and, for this reason, often only featuring menacing figures seen from the neck down. The band is performing at a high school pep rally where cheerleaders have the circle-A anarchy symbol on their chests. I was yet another taper of the original Channel 4 broadcast. The video also features a striking shot of Madonna dancing in front of burning crosses. This article includes content provided by Spotify. When antler boy runs to his side, he realizes that the man has deer hooves for legs. '"[20], The Thriller video sealed MTV's position as a major cultural force, helped disassemble racial barriers for black artists, revolutionized music video production, popularized making-of documentaries, and drove rentals and sales of VHS tapes. [2] It was produced by John Sichel (the first three series), John Cooper (series 4) and Ian Fordyce (the final two series) for Associated Television (ATV) at its Elstree studios north of London. Millions of people who somehow hadn't yet purchased Thriller were inspired to do so, and during the peak of the video's popularity, the album sold more than a million copies a week, according to Vanity Fair. In 2018, the short film was digitally remastered exclusively for IMAX 3D theaters, playing before. "[8] According to Vanity Fair, Jackson preferred "benign Disney-esque fantasies where people were nice and children were safe", which ensured the video would be "creepy-comical, not genuinely terrifying". The audio was also updated to 5.1, 7.1 and Dolby Atmos standards. As such, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" the narrative short horror musical video, not the song or album of the same name is ripe for mainstream theatrical adaptation. Thoroughly upset, Jackson ordered his lawyer, John Branca, to destroy the "Thriller" negatives. Original cast member Al Molinaro made a cameo. It really opened our eyes to music videos as a creative form of film-making, and a potential career." After production on the video wrapped, Jackson was told by leaders of his church (Jackson was a practicing member of the Jehovah's Witness faith) that they thought "Thriller" encouraged demon worship, and if it were released, he'd be excommunicated. At one point, the boy tries to cut his antlers off to be accepted, but she stops him. "I won't say that I have seen him in his birthday suit but close enough.". However, Epic wouldn't pay for it the label spent $250,000 on the video for "Billie Jean" but made Jackson pay the $150,000 budget for "Beat It" himself. The "Ironic" video stars Morissette getting into her car at a gas station and then driving into a wintery landscape. The suit alleged that Landis didn't receive his promised 50-percent cut of the profits and that Jackson and company acted with "fraudulent, malicious, and oppressive conduct" in withholding what The Hollywood Reporter said amounted to about $2.3 million. It was the first music video to be selected. My Chemical Romance is on a float leading the parade of masked figures in what looks to be a wasteland. Before any of the "Thriller" fun monster transformations, choreographed zombie dances, creepy yellow eyes the video begins with a brief bit of text on screen. Ending with Alice as a cake that the Mad Hatter and friends consume and a small burp from Petty is just the cherry on top. Directed by John Landis, known for "Animal House" and "An American Werewolf in London," the mini-movie has the perfect horror aesthetic. The emotional video for "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" starts with Cline Dion's love leaving their mansion on a motorcycle in a rainstorm before dying in a fiery crash when lighting causes a tree to fall. Prior to its production in 1983, music videos weren't taken seriously or considered anything more than a way to cheaply promote a single or an album. Vestron paid an additional $500,000 to market the cassettes. "[11], Thriller was the first time Jackson had interacted with a woman in a video, which Landis described as a "breakthrough". There's even data to suggest that the existence of Making Michael Jackson's Thriller helped fuel the massive rise of VCR sales in late 1983. [8] Vestron Music Video offered to distribute Making Michael Jackson's Thriller on VHS and Betamax; this was a pioneering concept, as most video cassettes at the time were sold to rental stores rather than directly to viewers. And yet despite all these fancy awards, "Thriller" didn't win the one prize that seemed like a lock. Jackson stayed in the projection booth, declining Ray's invitation to join the audience. The girls are together when the guy comes knocking and slam the door in his face. the parting glass funeral,