Michael Jackson's Ghosts is a 1996 short film starring singer Michael Jackson, written by horror novelist Stephen King and Mick Garris, and directed by Stan Winston. It was filmed and first screened in 1996 and released along with select prints of the film Thinner. It was released as promo a year later internationally on LaserDisc, VHS and Video CD. Jackson plays five roles. The film tells the story of an eccentric man with supernatural powers being forced out of a small town by its mayor. The film includes a series of dance routines performed by Jackson and his "family" of ghouls. The songs are taken from Jackson's albums ' and '.
Plot
The Mayor of Normal Valley leads a mob to the mansion of the Maestro, who has been entertaining local children with magic tricks and ghost stories. The children assure the parents the Maestro has done nothing wrong, but the Mayor intends to banish him as a "freak". The Maestro challenges the Mayor to a "scaring contest": the first to become scared must leave. He performs magic tricks and dance routines with a ghostly horde, and finally possesses the Mayor, forcing him to dance. After the performance ends, the Maestro agrees to leave and crumbles to dust, but returns as an enormous demon. Terrified, the Mayor leaps through the window. The families agree that they had fun and allow the Maestro to stay.
Production
The project began production in 1993 under the title Is it Scary? with director Mick Garris. It was planned for release in conjunction with the family comedy Addams Family Values. A work print version was created that had featured Christina Ricci, Jimmy Workman, Kaitlyn Hooper, Christopher Hart and, very briefly, Carel Struycken reprising their roles from the film. Ken Jenkins, of future Scrubs fame, portrayed the mayor in the work print version. Garris stated online of the film's genesis and change to Ghosts: After contract disputes negated the connection with the Paramount Addams Family sequel, the project morphed into Ghosts with Stan Winston at the helm as production resumed in early 1996. Filming was completed in the summer of 1996 after six weeks of production. In a 2017 interview, Garris said that after several years of production development for the Ghosts short film "it became the most expensive music video ever made... it ended up coming in at about $15 million dollars, all of it out of Michael's pocket".
According to AV Club writer Nathan Rabin, Ghosts is a "staggeringly blunt" allegory for Jackson's life and pop culture status. Rabin attributed its failure to Jackson's place in the public imagination at the time, in light of Jackson's recent divorce from Lisa Marie Presley and the 1993 child abuse allegations against him.
In December 1997, towards the end of promotion for Michael Jackson's remix album , a Deluxe Collector Box Set of Ghosts was released only in Europe. The box set included a VHS release of Jackson's Ghosts mini-movie on home video and his Blood on the Dance Floor album on CD, as well as a CD maxi single named the Limited Edition Minimax CD. "On the Line" was the first track on this single.
"On the Line"
"On the Line" is a song co-written and produced by Babyface. Michael Jackson performs the track and is also credited in its writing. It was originally recorded by Jackson for the Spike Lee movie Get on the Bus, but it was not featured on the soundtrack. The full-length version of the song was released on November 16, 2004 as an album track of his limited edition box set The Ultimate Collection.
Personnel
Written and composed by Babyface and Michael Jackson
