Bet you didn’t know these facts about Michael Jackson’s “THRILLER” music video…
1) The Making of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, which includes the video in full, was the best-selling musical on VHS ever, worldwide. It was sold at a lower price point than most VHS tapes at the time, which helped boost sales.
2) Director John Landis Had Previous Experience With Werewolves. Jackson hired Landis on the strength of his work on An American Werewolf In London, which came out in 1981.
3) Thriller was originally titled Starlight
4) Jackson’s Dad Scared Him With Monster Masks As A Kid
5) Thriller Was The Seventh Single From Thriller
6) Michael’s Red Jacket Sold For $1.8 Million
7) An executive at Sony freaked out and rejected a $900,000 budget Jackson proposed for the video, and talked him down to $500,000. (An expensive video at the time would top out around $100,000.) To balance the budget, a behind the scenes documentary was sold to MTV for $250,000 and Showtime for $300,000.
8) The Zombie Costumes Were Made From Clothes Picked Up At A Salvation Army
9) Thriller Was Screened In Theaters So It Would Be Eligible For An Oscar
10) Michael Jackson was the best-selling pop star in the world, but was living with his parents in Encino, California. This is part of the reason why Landis and the producers rejected Jackson’s offer to pay for the entire video out of his own pocket.
11) Thriller’s phenomenal success led to a breaking down of traditional racial barriers on FM radio at the time.
12) It’s The First Music Video Ever Inducted Into The National Film Registry
13) Jackson Made Out With His Co-Star Ola Ray
14) Ola Ray Was A Playboy Model
15) Michael ordered the film to be destroyed when he found out that he was in trouble with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, but the editor and director hid the film canisters until the singer changed his mind.
SOURCE: Malaysian Gigest
