Every kid asks a parent to teach them something. Riding a bike, maybe, or how to whistle.
Paris Jackson had a different request. Her dad was Michael Jackson, and the thing she wanted to learn was the one move people all over the world wanted to copy.
Paris is Michael’s only daughter. She grew up with two brothers. Prince is the oldest of the three kids, and Blanket, who now goes by Bigi, is the youngest. Years later, all three of them sat down to talk about life with their dad for a documentary called “Remembering Michael.”
The film was produced by Kirk Schenck, with Michael’s mother Katherine Jackson as executive producer. Katherine is the children’s grandmother, and the idea was simple: let Michael’s kids tell their own story about him.
When ABC News reported on the interviews on Dec. 16, 2013, Paris was 15. Prince was 16 and Blanket was 11. Prince spoke in the film too, but this story belongs to his sister.
Paris talked about how private their world was growing up. “We didn’t know a lot of kids, like, our age,” she said. And she added, “We never really left the ranch that often.”
Growing up that close to their dad, Paris had one thing she really wanted him to teach her.
A fan channel posted what it says is the final part of Paris’s interview for the film, so you can hear her talk about growing up with her dad in her own words.
Paris talking about her dad in the “Remembering Michael” interview
Here’s the promise Paris remembered. Her dad was going to teach her the moonwalk.
Yes, that moonwalk. The smooth backward glide that made him a legend on the dance floor.
“He promised me he would teach me how to moonwalk,” Paris said.
That’s quite an offer when you stop and consider it. Kids everywhere tried to learn that step by watching him on TV. Paris had the one teacher everybody wanted, right there in her own house.
And then she admitted how it turned out.
“He never got around to it.”
It’s such an ordinary dad thing. Somewhere in a busy life, a promise to a daughter just never quite happened. Plenty of parents have a “we’ll do it someday” or two of their own. Paris just happens to be the girl whose someday was supposed to include the most famous dance step in the world.
Her little brother Blanket had his own dreams in the film. He said he wanted to help people in Africa and protect endangered animals.
Michael first did the moonwalk on TV in 1983, during “Billie Jean” on the “Motown 25” special that NBC broadcast. That performance is a great way to see exactly what Paris was hoping her dad would show her.
Michael’s first moonwalk on TV at “Motown 25”
Watch his feet in that clip and you’ll understand why a little girl would want lessons from the man himself.
Paris never did get that lesson. Years later, though, she still remembered exactly what he’d promised her, and she shared it in her own words for the film.