Michael Jackson grew up as one of nine kids, so he never had to look far for company. But when it came to spending a day off, there was one sibling he wanted by his side.
His little sister Janet.
Janet is the youngest of the nine Jackson children, about eight years younger than Michael. Today the world knows her as a superstar. Back then, she was the kid sister who liked all the same things he did.
Michael wrote about their bond in his 1988 autobiography, “Moonwalk.” He said the two of them “did everything together” and “shared the same interests, the same sense of humor.”
“It was great being with Janet because we didn’t have to worry that one of us wouldn’t like something,” he wrote. “We liked the same things. We’d sometimes read to each other. She was like my twin.”
These old family home movies show Michael and Janet together, and they make it easy to see why he felt that way.
Michael and Janet in the Jacksons’ home movies
When the two of them had a morning with nothing on the calendar, they didn’t just wing it. They sat down and planned the whole day on paper.
Here’s how Michael described it in his own words:
“When we were younger, we’d get up on ‘free’ mornings and write out a whole schedule for the day. Usually it would read something like this: GET UP, FEED THE ANIMALS, HAVE BREAKFAST, WATCH SOME CARTOONS, GO TO THE MOVIES, GO TO A RESTAURANT, GO TO ANOTHER MOVIE, GO HOME AND GO SWIMMING. That was our idea of a great day. In the evening, we’d look back at the list and think about all the fun we’d had.”
Two movies in one day! And the very first chore after getting up was feeding the animals.
Michael’s love of animals is part of this story, and the fan who posted this clip says it shows him with a llama named Louie.
Michael and his llama, Louie
There’s something sweet about the list. These were two kids from a famous singing family, and their dream day came down to cartoons and a swim. It’s the same kind of day a lot of us spent as children.
Not everyone in the family was on board, though. Michael was happy to point out that his other sister, LaToya, wasn’t cut out for Janet’s kind of fun.
“LaToya and I are very different, on the other hand,” he wrote. “She won’t even feed the animals; the smell alone drives her away. And forget going to the movies.”
So it was Michael and Janet, list in hand, every free morning they could get.
The animals lived at the family’s house in Encino. This footage from a 1970s party at the Encino house gives you a peek at the place where those great days began.
A 1970s family party at the Jacksons’ Encino home
Michael and Janet both grew up to be two of the biggest names in music. But reading that list now, it’s easy to picture them as a couple of kids at the kitchen table, pencil in hand, planning a day with two movies and a swim.