Moonwalker (1989 VHS)

Moonwalker is a experimental anthology musical film starring Michael Jackson. It was released in October 29, 1988 and got a VHS release in 1989.

Plot
The film's segments are meant to represent the different stages in Jackson's career and were based on his own view of how his fans idolized him rather than listening to the messages he wanted to say with his music.

"Man in the Mirror"
The first segment of Moonwalker is a live performance of "Man in the Mirror" during his Bad World Tour in Europe. Clips from Wembley Stadium among others can be seen. It also features a montage of clips of children in Africa, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Jesus Christ, kids in graduation, and other historical figures.

"Retrospective"
The second segment is a 10-minute biographical film about Jackson, covering the early years from The Jackson 5 until the Bad World Tour.

"Badder"
The third segment is a parody of the music video for Bad's title song, featuring children filling the roles of various people from the original clip. The video stars Brandon Quintin Adams (who also appears in the Smooth Criminal segment later in the film) as the young Michael Jackson, who would later star in The People Under the Stairs, The Mighty Ducks and The Sandlot. It also featured three of Michael's nephews Jermaine La Jaune Jackson, Jr. along with TJ and Taryll Jackson and a young Nikki Cox, who later starred in Unhappily Ever After and Las Vegas. The singing group The Boys appeared as background dancers. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog co-writer and co-creator/co-executive producer of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Maurissa Tancharoen, dancers of Kidsongs - What I Want to Be! (1986) and seasons 5-6 (1988-1990) of Kids Incorporated Amaris "Ingrid" Dupree / Kimberly Duncan (born 1977) / Cory Tyler, 1989-1990 Kidsongs kid Terrance Williams (born 1979), The Boys (who appeared in Kidsongs - A Day with the Animals (1986) / The Wonderful World of Sports (1987)), former dancer Angella Kaye (born March 1975) who cameo appeared in movies, videos, and shows, as well as Bilal Abdulsamad, are also featured in this segment.

"Speed Demon"
The fourth segment begins with the "Badder" short film transitioning into the second short film, "Speed Demon", produced by Claymation innovator Will Vinton. A portion of the clip is set to Jackson's song "Speed Demon".

After filming "Badder", Little Michael and his bodyguards (also young kids) are leaving the set and walk through a cloud of smoke and come out as their regular age. A boy and his grandmother spot Michael and prompts the other tourist fans to get off the bus and chase him for an autograph. In an attempt to avoid the overzealous fans (including camera-happy Japanese tourists accompanied by stereotyped "Oriental" music, the press, and even The Noid) plus some gunslingers (after stumbling upon the filming of a Western helmed by a director resembling Steven Spielberg), Jackson soon disguises himself as a rabbit named Spike, using a costume from one of the film sets (imbued with animatronic properties using Claymation, giving a similar combined-media effect as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but with more obvious bluescreening), but ends up taunting the fans into chasing him once they realize it is him. Michael steals a motorcycle in order to flee, with the fans and paparazzi (now also appearing in Claymation form) giving chase in various other, more cartoonish vehicles. During the chase, he morphs into other celebrities, namely Sylvester Stallone, Tina Turner and Pee-wee Herman, with the bike also briefly morphing (into a jackhammer, stop sign, waterski, and jet pack) in repeatedly unsuccessful attempts to throw the fans off. After a long chase, the fans/press are finally thwarted by crashing into a giant (Claymation) cop and are arrested. Freed of their attention, Michael rides on into the desert, and as the sun rises, he pulls over in a canyon to remove the "Spike" costume. The costume then comes to life and challenges him to an extended dance-off. In the end, a passing traffic cop interrupts Michael to point out he is in a "No Dancing Zone", and when Michael turns to show him that he was competing with the rabbit, he sees that the rabbit has disappeared. The cop then sarcastically asks for Michael's autograph (as opposed to "signature") on the ticket. Just as Michael is preparing to leave, the rabbit's head materializes on a nearby rocky crag, which then nods to him and smiles.

"Leave Me Alone"
The fifth segment of the film is a surreal animated music video for the song "Leave Me Alone", focusing on Supermarket tabloid interest in Jackson's personal life, because he had felt that people wouldn't leave him alone. It compares Jackson's life to an amusement park, and how his fans just see him as such. It is meant to point out, in a mocking tone, the way the tabloids unnecessarily sensationalized his life with claims that he had a shrine to Elizabeth Taylor and bought the Elephant Man's bones. In the video, Jackson's life is portrayed as a circus due to the press's manipulation and the everyday tug-of-war he endured as an artist. His beloved then-pet chimp Bubbles makes a cameo appearance as Jackson is seen picking him up and riding with him in his roller coaster car. His pet snake, Muscles, is also present. The press is portrayed with dog heads to insinuate that they are like animals. The segment ends with Jackson destroying the park, and looking off into space.

"Smooth Criminal"
The segment begins with three homeless children (Sean, Katie, and Zeke) sneaking through a big city to see their friend Michael moving out of his apartment. As Michael stands in front of the door, he notices a falling star before he is attacked by mobsters with machine guns. The film then backtracks to show Michael and the children playing in a meadow in happier times. Their dog Skipper runs away, and as Michael and Katie look for him they uncover the lair of Mr. Big, whose real name Frankie Lideo is an allusion to Frank DiLeo (Michael Jackson's then-manager), is a drug-dealing mobster with an army of henchmen. He wants to get the entire population of Earth addicted to drugs, starting with children. He likes to eat monkey nuts and leaves nutshells wherever he goes. He is obsessed with spiders, as displayed by their abundance at the entrance to his lair. He also has them engulfing a model globe when making a speech about his burgeoning drug empire. They signify the spread of his proposed control of the world via drug dealing. Further, all his henchmen sport a spider crest on their uniforms. Mr. Big discovers Michael and Katie are spying on his operation.

The story returns to the shooting in front of Michael's apartment. Unknown to the gangsters, Michael wished on the falling star and escaped the gunfire, leaving only his jacket. Upon realizing he has escaped again, Mr. Big orders his henchmen to track down Michael with dogs. He is eventually cornered in an alley, where he wishes on another falling star and turns into a Lancia Stratos Zero sportscar that mows down several of Mr. Big's henchmen. Michael is pursued through the city streets until he loses the henchmen. Meanwhile, the children scout out Club 30s, where Michael had told them to meet him, and find only an abandoned and haunted nightclub. As Michael arrives, Katie sees a silhouette of him turning back from a car into himself. The door of the club opens with a gust of wind, and Michael walks in to find it filled with zoot suiters and swing dancers. The children gather outside a window of the club and watch Michael dance to "Smooth Criminal."

The song used in the film is much longer than the album release, with several lyrics that clarify the story. There is also an interlude where Jackson joins the other dancers in modern interpretive dance, remembering the love that can come from people. Mr. Big lays siege to the club and kidnaps Katie. Michael follows them back to Big's lair and ends up surrounded by his henchmen. Mr. Big appears and taunts Michael by threatening to inject Katie with highly addictive narcotics. While Katie manages to wriggle free, Mr. Big decides he's had enough and orders his men to kill Katie before finishing off Michael, but not before a falling star flies by. Michael transforms into a giant robot and kills all of Mr. Big's soldiers, then turns into a spaceship. Mr. Big gets into a large hillside-mounted energy cannon, firing on the spaceship into a nearby ravine. The children are his next target, but the spaceship returns from the ravine just in time to fire a beam in the cannon with Mr. Big inside. The children watch the ship fly into the night sky with a shower of light.

"Come Together"
In the conclusion to "Smooth Criminal", Sean, Katie and Zeke return to the city, believing that Michael is gone forever. As the boys talk about Michael, Katie walks away crying and clutching a paper star. As she sits in a corner wishing for him to come back, the paper star flies out of her hand and Michael walks out of the night fog. He takes them to Club 30's, where they find that the club has turned into the backstage area of a concert. Michael's stage crew return the children's missing dog and then escort Michael onto the stage where he performs a cover of The Beatles song "Come Together" with the children watching and cheering him on from backstage. Jackson's version of the song was not officially released until 1992 as a B-side on the single "Remember the Time", and later in 1995 when it appeared on the album HIStory.

"Closing credits"
During the closing credits, two more segments are shown. The first has Ladysmith Black Mambazo performing "The Moon is Walking" in Club 30's amidst behind-the-scenes clips. The second is the four-minute version of the "Smooth Criminal" music video.