In 1988, Michael Jackson put out “Moonwalker,” a movie made of his songs, short films and a few big surprises.
One of those surprises was a kids’ version of his “Bad” video. Every part from the original was played by a child. Three of Michael’s own nephews were in the gang. And the little boy who played Michael himself was a young actor from Topeka, Kansas, named Brandon Quintin Adams.
He was about 8 years old.
Brandon had been in front of cameras since he was a toddler, doing print ads and TV commercials. He’d also landed a part on the NBC sitcom “Empty Nest.” But “Moonwalker” was a much bigger deal, because this time he was playing Michael Jackson himself.
To get a sense of what he had to live up to, here’s the original.
Michael in his “Bad” video
That’s a lot for anybody to copy, and Brandon was still in grade school.
The kids’ version, called “Badder,” was shot on a copy of the subway station set from Michael’s video. The little cast copied Michael’s dance moves step for step. Brandon got a black jacket and wild curly hair to match, and he gave it everything he had.
Then comes the ending. Brandon and his little crew walk into a cloud of smoke, and when they come out the other side, they’re not kids anymore.
The kids’ “Bad,” with Brandon as little Michael
Brandon also turns up in another part of “Moonwalker,” as a boy called Zeke in the “Smooth Criminal” story. Fans who watched the movie over and over on VHS will remember his face.
And plenty of people who never saw “Moonwalker” know that face too, even if they can’t place it.
That’s because Brandon kept working. Over the next few years, he popped up on TV favorites like “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and “A Different World.” Then came the movies, and two of them became the kind of kids’ films families still watch together today.
Here he is, all grown up, chatting with a fan interviewer at a convention in New Jersey in 2023.
Brandon today, talking about his career
So which famous kids’ movies was it?
In 1992 he played Jesse Hall, a player on the hockey team, in Disney’s “The Mighty Ducks,” and he came back for “D2: The Mighty Ducks” in 1994. In between, in 1993, he was Kenny DeNunez, the team’s pitcher, in “The Sandlot,” the summer baseball movie a whole generation can quote by heart. He did all of it before his 15th birthday.