Michael, the movie that has taken the box office by storm this weekend and presents a highly sugar-coated version of Michael Jackson’s life, ends in 1988. This is to avoid discussing the child abuse charges, which it sidesteps as best as it can, of course, but in the process, it leaves out one of the most exciting stages of his life and the key piece of Jackson as pop culture: when he was at the peak of his career and decided to try his luck in cinemas, making films like The Wiz (a sui generis adaptation of The Wizard of Oz), the short film Captain EO (directed by Francis Ford Coppola and shown in Disney parks), and, of course, Moonwalker.
Kidnapping… saving children
Moonwalker, released directly on video in 1988, was actually a compilation of short music videos featuring the singer as the main character, with no connection between them. It was more interesting than it seemed, mind you: there was even a half-animated sequence in clay with his song Speed Demon, and another that won the award for best visual effects at Cannes, Leave Me Alone. In fact, although the producers did not want to release it in theaters, the truth is that it was number 1 on the VHS rental charts in the United States for 22 weeks, and 14 weeks on the sales chart. Obviously, something more had to be done with the prodigy in question.
The singer himself contacted SEGA in the hope that they would make a video game about him. Just like that, without any ego. In 1990, they already had Moonwalker ready, based on the movie, obviously, and particularly on his Smooth Criminal music video. But how do you make a video game based on a music video, in an era when Dance Dance Revolution hadn’t even been invented yet? It was very simple: by following Jackson’s instructions and creating a beat’em’up. Well, actually two: one for arcades and another for Mega Drive and Master System. It was a success, yes, but three years later things started to smell rotten.
In the short in question, Jackson, along with a girl, accidentally discovers the hideout of Mr. Big, an evil mobster who wants to make the entire Earth addicted to drugs, starting with children! Of course, the singer’s job is to stop him. And that is also what we see in the video game, with a small problem: it seemed that Jackson, instead of saving them, was kidnapping them in a move that in 1990 was harmless and in 1993, after the first sexual harassment allegation, began to be seen as something shady. Certainly, it did not help his defense.
In fact, in its console version (not in the arcade), the core of the gameplay was to find children and rescue them, many of them being hidden behind objects in the scene. Additionally, rescuing them increased Jackson’s health, and after finding them all, Bubbles would appear and take Michael to fight against Mr. Big. All of this, of course, to the pixelated rhythm of his songs. Was it a fun game? Certainly. Did no one notice anything strange at the time? Of course. Was it their intention? Absolutely not. Has it aged poorly and does it not seem likely to be released in Michael 2? Yes.
The good part is that this relationship between Jackson and SEGA led to his collaboration on the soundtrack of Sonic 3 (although he ended up leaving the project), he appeared in Space Channel 5, and even after his death, a MMORPG exclusively based on him titled Planet Michael was considered. Fortunately, this money grab did not come to light and his memory was ultimately respected. With or without video games about kidnapping children.
