History Trivia / MichaelJackson

* ''Trivia/{{Dangerous}}''

** Creator/{{Paramount}} wanted Jackson to star as the Doctor in an American-oriented film adaptation of ''Series/DoctorWho'' in 1988, banking off of the recent success of ''Film/{{Moonwalker}}''. However, the project never got past the planning phase. Had the film been made with Jackson in the role, he would've been the first non-white Doctor, a position that would ultimately be fulfilled by, depending on your metrics, either Creator/ColinSalmon[[note]]who played a virtual representation of the Doctor's final incarnation in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E8SilenceInTheLibrary "Silence of the Library"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E11TurnLeft "Forest of the Dead"]], but was only confirmed to be the Doctor via WordOfGod[[/note]], Creator/JoMartin[[note]]who played the Fugitive Doctor during Creator/ChrisChibnall's tenure as showrunner (2019-2022)[[/note]], or Creator/NcutiGatwa[[note]]who plays the first non-white main incarnation, the Fifteenth Doctor[[/note]]. He also would've been the first non-British actor in the part, a distinction that remains unfulfilled to this day.

* DawsonCasting: In his short film "Bad", he played a high school student despite being 29 years old at the time. That said, [[http://images4.fanpop.com/image/user_images/2650000/IloveMichael28-2650180_650_500.jpg he looked rather convincing]].

** Creator/{{Paramount}} wanted Jackson to star as the Doctor in an American-oriented film adaptation of ''Series/DoctorWho'' in 1988, banking off of the recent success of ''Film/{{Moonwalker}}''. However, the project never got past the pre-planning phase. Had the film been made with Jackson in the role, he would've been the first non-white Doctor, a position that would ultimately be fulfilled by, depending on your metrics, either Creator/ColinSalmon[[note]]who played a virtual representation of the Doctor's final incarnation in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E8SilenceInTheLibrary "Silence of the Library"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E11TurnLeft "Forest of the Dead"]], but was only confirmed to be the Doctor via WordOfGod[[/note]], Creator/JoMartin[[note]]who played the Fugitive Doctor during Creator/ChrisChibnall's tenure as showrunner (2019-2022)[[/note]], or Creator/NcutiGatwa[[note]]who plays the first non-white main incarnation, the Fifteenth Doctor[[/note]]. He also would've been the first non-British actor in the part, a distinction that remains unfulfilled to this day.

* ''Trivia/HIStoryPresentPastAndFutureBookI''

** Despite ''Music/{{Thriller}}''[='s=] reputation the highest-selling album of all time and the critical acclaim it receives alongside ''Music/{{Bad}}'' (itself Michael's attempt at outdoing ''Thriller''), [[https://screeningfix.com/michael-jackson-preferred-one-album-to-thriller-its-better/?fbclid=IwAR3Hn8ZCFQ6o0m0lEyLXPiTu_VYb5KxOaRvKnpDep75ad2y4pTle7wvzRwk Michael's favorite solo album of his]] ironically happened to be ''Music/{{Invincible}}'', his lowest-selling album since ''Music/OffTheWall''.

** Various comments Michael made about "Heal the World" from ''Music/{{Dangerous}}'' and "Earth Song" from ''Music/HistoryPastPresentAndFutureBookI'' suggest he intended them as magnum opuses that would become international anthems. To the general public, they mean little compared to most other songs on those albums, or even the similarly-themed "Man in the Mirror" (one of the major hits from the album it's on, ''Music/{{Bad}}'') and "Music/WeAreTheWorld" (a proper charity song that Michael was one of the main collaborators of, which was successful not only in terms of commercial revenue and humanitarian funding, but also critically).

** Various comments Michael made about "Heal the World" from ''Music/{{Dangerous}}'' and "Earth Song" from ''Music/HistoryPastPresentAndFutureBookI'' suggest he intended them as magnum opuses that would become international anthems. To the general public, they mean little compared to most other songs on those albums, and even the similarly-themed "Man in the Mirror" (one of the major hits from the album it's on, ''Music/{{Bad}}'') and "Music/WeAreTheWorld" (a proper charity song that Michael was one of the main collaborators of, which was successful not only in terms of commercial revenue and humanitarian funding, but also critically).

** Various comments Michael made about "Heal the World" from ''Music/{{Dangerous}}'' and "Earth Song" from ''Music/HistoryPastPresentAndFutureBookI'' suggest he intended them as magnum opuses that would become international anthems. To the general public, they mean little compared to most other songs on those albums, and even the similarly-themed "Man in the Mirror" (a solo song of his that's one of the major hits from the album it was on, ''Music/{{Bad}}'') and "Music/WeAreTheWorld" (a proper charity song that he was one of the main collaborators of, which was successful not only in terms of commercial revenue and humanitarian funding, but also critically).

* CutSong: Each of Jackson's albums had many due to his tendency to record anything he either wrote or was offered. Quite a few have seen release over the years. Jackson had a tendency of replacing tracks at the last minute: "Human Nature" replaced "Carousel" on ''Thriller'', "Another Part Of Me" replaced "Streetwalker" on ''Bad'', and "You Are My Life" replaced "Shout" on ''Invincible''. Eventually, these cut songs ended up on special editions or being exclusive to single releases. Even some songs were recorded for a certain album but Jackson would end up releasing them later. An example of this is "Earth Song", for instance, first recorded during the ''Dangerous'' album sessions, which finally saw the light on ''Music/HistoryPastPresentAndFutureBookI'' instead.
* DawsonCasting: In his short film "Bad", he played a high school student despite being 29 years old at the time. However, [[http://images4.fanpop.com/image/user_images/2650000/IloveMichael28-2650180_650_500.jpg he looked rather convincing.]]

* MagnumOpusDissonance: Despite ''Thriller'' being the highest selling album of all time, [[https://screeningfix.com/michael-jackson-preferred-one-album-to-thriller-its-better/?fbclid=IwAR3Hn8ZCFQ6o0m0lEyLXPiTu_VYb5KxOaRvKnpDep75ad2y4pTle7wvzRwk Michael's favorite album ironically happens to be his lowest sold album]] ''Music/{{Invincible}}''

** Jackson's PR team would often ''confirm'' the more ludicrous (and false) rumors about him, such as the hyperbarbaric oxygen chamber and buying the Elephant Man's bones. However, according to his brother Jermaine, Michael wasn't aware of this campaign and he didn't approve of it when he found out.

** Michael initially pitched "Bad" as a 30-track triple album. Whilst Quincy Jones turned it down for being overambitious, many of the outtakes have since been released, and they're typically regarded as just as good as what made the album.

** "Bad" at one point pitched "Bad" to the label as a 30 track triple album. Whilst they turned it down for being overambitious, many of the outtakes have since been released, and they are typically regarded as just as good as what made the album.

* MagnumOpusDissonance: Despite ''Thriller'' being the highest selled album of all time, [[https://screeningfix.com/michael-jackson-preferred-one-album-to-thriller-its-better/?fbclid=IwAR3Hn8ZCFQ6o0m0lEyLXPiTu_VYb5KxOaRvKnpDep75ad2y4pTle7wvzRwk Michael's favorite album ironically happens to be his lowest sold album]] ''Music/{{Invincible}}''

* TroubledProduction: As detailed [[{{TroubledProduction/Music}} here]], both ''Music/{{Invincible}}'' (where Jackson feuded with a label angry at him spending two years and millions of dollars in his album, and then [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror the 9/11 attacks]] made promoting the album even more difficult) and the video for "Black or White" (a troublesome reunion with "Thriller" director John Landis, as both clashed during it's production).

* DeadArtistsAreBetter: This is most definitely the case. Michael spent the later years of his life [[MistakenForPedophile being mocked for alleged child molestation]], and for his physical appearance (due to his vitiligo, something that was almost unheard of at the time, and suffering from stress and anxiety, which caused him to lose some weight). The news of his death brought an outpouring of grief and caused record sales to skyrocket. In fact, Jackson's death caused major websites to crash due to extraordinary internet traffic, and MJ's memorial service remains one of the most watched events in online streaming history.

** "Bad" was originally going to be a duet with Music/{{Prince}}, who turned it down due to being uncomfortable with the AccidentalInnuendo in the opening line ([[HoYay "Your butt is mine..."]]).

* NamesTheSame: "One More Chance" was the third song of that title Michael was involved with, having previously done a Jackson 5 song from 1970 as well as a Jacksons one from 1984 (although he had minimal involvement with the latter).
** "PYT (Pretty Young Thing)" was oddly enough, the second song of that title Michael recorded. The original, which he wrote with Greg Phillinganes, inspired Quincy Jones and James Ingram to write a completely different song of the same title, which ended up making the album instead.
** In another odd case, he shared his name with Michael "Mick" Jackson, author of "Blame It On The Boogie" which The Jacksons famously covered. The single's label saying "M. Jackson" led a number of journalists to erroneously claim he wrote the song.

** "Black and White" featured a well-remembered extended intro featuring Creator/MacaulayCulkin, Tess Harper, and George Wendt. The infamous four final minutes of the video feature Michael dancing on a dark street while fearlessly vandalizing property.
*** Later airings of the full music video edited the cars and windows to be daubed with racist slogans. After all, the destruction of property isn't necessarily as objectionable as the digitally-inserted slogans themselves, with their references to "niggers", "wetbacks" and the KKK. Also, much of that sequence contained his now trademark crotch-fixated dancing.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BbZzpZ9G1Q Serious Effect]], a New Jack Swing track Michael had recorded with Music/LLCoolJ for the album ''Music/{{Dangerous}}'' in 1991. Due to said album running nearly '''80 minutes''' with 14 full tracks, Mike ended up shelving the song for special edition releases in 1993 and 2001, only for the song to get shelved indefinitely (the first time due to Jackson's child molestation allegations, the second due to both [[ExecutiveMeddling growing tensions between Jackson and Sony]], and [[ExecutiveVeto Def Jam vetoing the release of the song]]).

* CutSong: Each of Jackson's albums had many due to his tendency to record anything he either wrote or was offered. Quite a few have seen release over the years. Jackson had a tendency of replacing tracks at the last minute: "Human Nature" replaced "Carousel" on ''Thriller'', "Another Part Of Me" replaced "Streetwalker" on ''Bad'', and "You Are My Life" replaced "Shout" on ''Invincible''. Eventually, these cut songs ended up on special editions or being exclusive to single releases. Even some songs were recorded for a certain album but Jackson would end up releasing them later. An example of this is "Earth Song", for instance, first recorded during the ''Dangerous'' album sessions, which finally saw the light on ''HIStory'' instead.

* CutSong: Each of Jackson's albums had many due to his tendency to record anything he either wrote or was offered. Quite a few have seen release over the years. Jackson had a tendency of replacing tracks at the last minute: "Human Nature" replaced "Carousel" on Thriller, "Another Part Of Me" replaced "Streetwalker" on Bad, and "You Are My Life" replaced "Shout" on Invincible. Eventually, these cut songs ended up on special editions or being exclusive to single releases.

* ActingForTwo: In ''Film/MichaelJacksonsGhosts'', Michael played both the [[AuthorAvatar very familiar]] protagonist and the main antagonist The Mayor... in a FatSuit.

* TroubledProduction: As detailed [[{{TroubledProduction/Music}} here]], both ''Music/{{Invincible}}'' (where Jackson feuded with a label angry at him spending two years and millions of dollars in his album, and then 9\11 made promoting the album even more difficult) and the video for "Black or White" (a troublesome reunion with "Thriller" director John Landis, as both clashed during it's production).

* ReclusiveArtist: Notoriously so from the 1980s onward, becoming a part of his public image.