***Caution: Mild language in one video.***
Happy New Year! I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!
Happy New Year! I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!
Didja miss me????
Okay, I’m rested, hope you all had a great couple of holidays (share
your story with me in the comments, if you wish), and let’s kick off the end of
the Christmas season with… [drumroll] …a Halloween special featuring virtually
nothing but Michael Jackson music!
Okay.
Michael Jackson is no stranger to posthumous success. His estate’s
currently making hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Also, he’s released
his second – yes, second – album
since his death in 2009, Scream.
Which is pretty much just a mix of classic Michael Jackson songs.
Michael Jackson is also no stranger to movies. He’s got the film Moonwalker, the kids’ film Captain EO, and the short film Ghost, not to mention his classic music
video, Thriller.
I guess that’s to be expected of a man
whose entertaining career spanned
for literally half a century in his lifetime.
Well, in 2017, the world was graced with an hour-long special
featuring his hits, Michael Jackson’s Halloween.
The special is rated PG, but that may
be for the kiddie horror elements, the main villainess being a tad short of
half-dressed, and the fact that they don’t edit some of Michael Jackson’s
lyrics.
The special is short and sweet,
and the plot is kinda predictable,
so spoilers will be provided.
The main characters are Vincent, a wannabe-DJ who is a grocery store
heir to an abnormally-passionate-about grocery-stores dad, and Victoria, a
wannabe-dancer who works as a doormat an intern for a very demanding
boss at MegaCorp. Meanwhile, a monkey lackey named Bubbles (who sounds like a
slightly Brad-Garrett-y talking version of Mr. Bobo)…
…is driving Michael Jackson to his home, and orders
bananas from the local grocery store.
Also, Victoria is commanded to watch her boss’s Dog, Ichabod (whom she
nicknames Icky for his natural “going” behavior – I have 4 dogs, I’m used to
that). The two kids run into each other, which causes Victoria to lose Icky,
but leads them to the exact place of residence – 777 Jackson Street.
(Nice one, guys.)
From there, they go down an elevator which is an interesting
combination of what I can only guess is Dr. Who, The Great Glass Wonkavator,
and that portal scene from Barbie in the
Nutcracker.
This leads to a pumpkin patch of enormous proportions, where a bunch
of groundskeepers, led by a fleshed-out Jack Skellington named Hay Man (voiced
by Jim Parsons), are dancing to Dangerous
/ Jam. They freak out and flee temporarily upon spotting the kids. They
explain that they’re having fun, when the boss and villainess, Conformity (Lucy
Liu) arrives. She turns one of the groundskeeper into a zombie. Yeah, if you’re
a Michael Jackson fan in any capacity, you can see where this is heading. By
the way, her theme is Dirty Diana.
WHAT!
They follow the music (and Michael Jackson insignia) to a room full of
spiders who entrap them. Victoria challenges the leader to a dance-off, which
leads to their escape, and a battle between Conformity and her Crows and the
spider army.
The two kids eventually get caught by Conformity, and are mistaken as
rebel leaders against her machine. A scientist cat plans on stealing music and
destroying it all forever, until the kids talk some sense into him. He, in
turn, grants them his old musical inventions to battle against her. One more
Michael Jackson pose brings the kids and Icky back to the elevator, where
Bubbles is waiting for them. They return to the foyer, but instead of running
for the hills, they instead decide to battle Conformity in a showdown.
The kids collected musical amulets from their newfound friends, and
they install them into the machine that was meant to destroy music, reverse its
effects, and with Vincent’s mixing, combine the three friends into surprisingly
black Michael Jackson – well, I guess not surprising, since Thriller’s being played here -- who
reverses Conformity’s spell. Conformity returns, however, stronger, and in a
live gargoyle formation. She re-enslaves her zombie subjects, and just as it
seems Michael is captured, he puts a hand on her, and reverses her magic again,
this time turning her into a good girl. They then dance together to Thriller, along with the two kids, and
the unzombified inhabitants. And let me tell you, CGI Michael Jackson does NOT
have nearly as impressive moves as the real McCoy.
Of course, all of this ends up with this being “possibly a dream,”
Michael and the Monkey going to their next mission, Michael Jackson’s face
appearing in the moon and winking at us, and Victoria and Vincent being a
couple and a DJ/Dance duo that everyone (including the dad and the boss) all
enjoy. Don’t ask where Victoria’s parents are, clearly nobody knows!
There is a TON of Michael Jackson-esque music and dancing, which I
found great, because my Daddy made me into a mini-fan myself – and trust me,
he’s a HUGE fan… he bought TWO Thriller vinyl albums because he wore one out.
Now, this special does fall privy, as I said before, to “rude humour” that is
oft found in children’s / family media these days, not to mention that the plot
is semi-pointless and really hastily thrown together, but I still enjoyed it.
It doesn’t top The Great Pumpkin, in
my opinion, but it’s a nice thing for the Michael Jackson geek in me to get a few
bars and dance movements out. Honestly, it reminds me of one of those old PC
games I used to play as a kid, where there’s really no way you could lose, the
characters look a little stiff, but you enjoy it, anyway, in all its
cheesiness.
This was fun to write. I think I’ll try a new series out, actually. I
mentioned The Great Pumpkin, so… how
about the Peanuts holiday specials?
What a way to ring in the New Year! Hoping the best for you in 2018!
Bye!
Plugging Time!
What’s your favorite Michael Jackson song? Mine would have to be Beat It. Check out why below!
--- Sorry, guys, very serious moment coming up ---
This past Christmas, a friend of mine died and went to be with the Lord. I remember meeting him in theater, as well seeing him in a part of college ministry. He was a good friend, and I'm going to miss him, although I am happy that he's gained eternal life. I'll see you in Heaven, Hunter! ,^_^,
- In memoriam, Hunter Gillette -
1994-2017
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