By 2009, Michael Jackson had performed “Thriller” countlss times and could easily have treated it as another old hit. The song had already become part of pop culture, its zombie dance was recognized around the world and the original short film had influenced generations of performers.
But while preparing for This Is It, Michael was not interested in simply repeating what he had done in 1983.
He wanted to build “Thriller” again.
Michael Jackson’s Original “Thriller” Short Film
The original 1983 film shows why recreating it was such a challenge. Directed by John Landis, “Thriller” was much more than a performance video. Michael moved between acting, horror and one of the most recognizable dance sequences ever filmed as an army of zombies suddenly joined him in perfect synchronization.
The choreography became so famous that audiences could recognize it from only a few movements.
More than two decades later, Michael faced a difficult question: how do you surprise an audience with something they already know by heart?
His answer was not to abandon the original. It was to expand it.
For the planned This Is It concerts, Michael and creative director Kenny Ortega were developing a larger theatrical version of “Thriller” with new staging, dancers, visual effects and a massive production designed for London’s O2 Arena.
Michael Jackson Rehearses “Thriller” for This Is It
The rehearsal footage reveals a Michael Jackson audiences rarely saw.
There are no finished costumes, screaming fans or polished camera angles. Michael is working. He watches the dancers, moves through familiar choreography and pays attention to the timing of everything happening around him.
That makes the footage valuable for a completely different reason than the original film.
In 1983, viewers saw the finished masterpiece.
In 2009, they can see part of the process behind the performer.
Michael was nearly 50 and “Thriller” had been famous for 26 years, but he was still treating the production as something that could be improved. He knew where the pauses belonged, how the dancers should move and how the audience needed to experience each moment.
That attention to detail helps explain why so many Michael Jackson performances became bigger than the songs themselves. He did not only think about how music should sound. He thought about what the audience should see when a beat arrived, where their eyes should move and how an entire arena should react.
This Is It never reached the stage as Michael intended. He died on June 25, 2009, only weeks before the first London concert was scheduled to begin.
That makes the rehearsal footage especially powerful today.
Watch “Thriller” in 1983 and you see Michael Jackson creating one of pop music’s most famous visual moments. Then watch him 26 years later and you see something completely different: the same artist still standing in a rehearsal room, directing, adjusting and trying to make an already legendary performance feel new again.