Michael Jackson’s Thriller is celebrating 40 years and it still gets a lot of radio airplay when All Hallow’s Eve arrives. While there’s plenty of shows that’s played tribute in small ways (like the zombie dance or that parting gaze), that’s never enough for me. To have Illumination Entertainment offer an animated take featuring the cast of Sing, I’m in love with the song again–or should I say the laugh?
When some ooze threatens the populace of Calatonia and transforms them into zombies rather than mutant ninja turtles, just how much more real can it get. As for other takes, other than DreamWorks “Thriller Night,” I don’t think any other long form take exists. Whether Michael Jackson’s Halloween (produced in 2017), counts, I’d say yes!
What makes this latest work is the layered context that’s going on. After the show, Buster and his team prepare to go to Clay Calloway’s Halloween party, only to realise there’s something amiss. There’s no grander story, and what makes this piece work is the last seconds concerning who gets the last laugh! Or rather, whether what happens is a premonition about what’s to come! That uncertainty made the original (and this short) the classic that it is, and I need to learn how to pull off Vincent Prince’s classic laugh and apply the appropriate echo effect on top too!
Teaser Trailer to Thriller (2017)
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