Thirty-eight years ago this month, a Michael Jackson movie opened in theaters. Just not the theaters you might expect.
It was called “Moonwalker,” and it first played on the big screen in Japan, on October 29, 1988. American fans never got that. Warner Bros. had planned a Christmas 1988 release in US theaters, then called it off.
So how did Americans finally see it? On home video, starting January 10, 1989. And it was a monster. “Moonwalker” spent 22 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s video chart. A whole lot of families wore out that tape.
The movie had a proper villain, a nasty crime boss named Frankie “Mr. Big” Lideo. He was played by the tough-guy actor Joe Pesci, the kind of face you don’t forget. One of the three kids in the story was played by Sean Lennon, the son of Beatle John Lennon.
But the villain is where the real secret hides.
The “Smooth Criminal” piece of the movie, in all its glory
Watch this stretch of the film and take in how much work went into it. The dancing, the suits, the famous lean. This is “Moonwalker” at its very best.
Now about that villain’s name. Say it slowly. Frankie Lideo.
It’s a quiet little play on a real person. Michael’s actual manager at the time was a man named Frank DiLeo. So the bad guy of the movie was named, almost exactly, after Michael’s own right-hand man in real life.
And here’s the kicker. DiLeo wasn’t off somewhere feeling insulted about it. He was one of the people who helped make the film. He served as an executive producer on “Moonwalker” itself.
So Michael and his team took the manager’s name, bent it just a little, slapped it on the villain, and the manager happily helped put the whole thing together. It’s the sort of inside joke that’s been sitting in plain sight for decades, and most folks who love the movie have walked right past it.
Watch that segment one more time. When Mr. Big barks an order, you now know whose name he’s really carrying.