My Top 10 Michael Jackson Short Films

So, I’ve been on the Michael Jackson train lately thanks to the Michael (2026) biopic. I’m basically making up for dismissing him for the past 17 years. The dude was quite a visionary when it came to his music videos or as he preferred to call them, “short films.” Besides the fact that he gave 110% in everything he did, the dude was also a major film buff. Rather than simple music videos that show the artists lip synching to their songs, Jackson created short films that had meaning, depth, and character growth that best suited his songs. Of course, not all of his films were as elaborate, but he still found ways to make those less-impressive films just as entertaining because, well, he’s Michael Jackson. As a treat for you guys, I’ve put together my top 10 Michael Jackson short films because why not?!? With all that said, let’s get on with the music!

Honorable Mention: “Come Together” from HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (1995)

Before diving into my actual list, I want to give a shoutout to Jackson’s “Come Together” short film because he looks dang fine in that film! Just to back up a bit, Jackson bought the ATV Music catalog, which included the Lennon-McCartney catalog, in 1985. It made sense for him to cover a Beatles song eventually, but to do it better than the Beatles themselves, that’s just, wow! In the film, Jackson performs “Come Together” with his band in front of an audience and throughout the film, he’s working the stage like he owns it. He looks so confident in his body and it’s the one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen on film, so props to you, Michael! The “Come Together” short film is featured on Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker (1988) movie, serving as the film’s grand finale.

10. “Earth Song” from HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (1995)

Jackson had no barriers when it came to his music in terms of genres and subject matters. If there was an issue on his mind, he wrote a song about it, one of those was “Earth Song.” I remembered this short film distinctly as a kid for the dead elephants because that stuff hit me hard! In the film, Jackson and the world’s people power together through a spiritual chant – “Earth Song” – that summons a force to restore the world to what it was before deforestation, animal cruelty, pollution, and war. The special effects in this film with the reversal time sequence are really cool, especially when the elephant comes back to life. “Earth Song” is one of Jackson’s most captivating songs and the short film complements it perfectly!

9. “Beat It” from Thriller (1982)

If you’ve seen the Michael biopic, there’s a scene where Jackson invites two rival gangs to participate in his “Beat It” short film; that actually happened in real life. Jackson invited the Crips and Bloods gang members to hang out with each other during the film shoot. This was no easy task because let’s be real, it gets boring on a film set after about an hour. The gang members got on each other’s nerves, a few fights broke out, and the film shoot was almost shut down that first night until the director, Bob Giraldi, convinced the police to let him shoot the dance sequence for the film. The Crips and Bloods gang members were vibing with the music and that’s what Jackson wanted all along: to bring peace between the two gangs even if it was for a short while. The story behind the “Beat It” short film made me appreciate the song even more and respect Jackson for who he was as a person because under all the fame and fortune, he was just a good, wholesome guy. 

8. “Black or White” from Dangerous (1991)

The “Black or White” short film begins similarly to Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” music video, where Macaulay Culkin’s character is yelled at by his father to turn off his garbage music. Culkin, inspired by a fallen poster of Jackson, plays his electric guitar for his father really loud and sends him to the stratosphere. The short film then proceeds with Jackson dancing with dancers of different cultures, such as African and Indian cultures, to “Black or White,” promoting racial harmony. The face morphing effects towards the end of the film are cool, but the real highlight is afterwards when a black panther transforms into Jackson and destroys public property such as a parked car, a trash can, and a building window. Though controversial initially, the black panther serves as a metaphor for unapologetic expression of Black identity, allowing Jackson to unleash his anger at the world for the unresolved injustice and racism in society. Unfortunately, critics were outraged with this ending because Jackson was supposedly family friendly and they viewed his actions, including the closeups of him grabbing his crotch, as inappropriate. Like he hasn’t grabbed his crotch on camera before, come on!

7. “Speed Demon” from Bad (1987)

The best way I can describe the “Speed Demon” short film is it’s an unhinged Looney Tunes film starring Michael Jackson. I love the imaginative music that plays while Jackson is running away from the fans and reporters, adding to the unconventional and cartoony vibe the film was going for. The animation scenes are rough since it was the late ‘80s, but if anyone can pull dancing with an animated rabbit, it’d be Michael Jackson. There’s this particular scene where Jackson interrupts a western movie scene and the director is like, “I ask for a bad guy and they give me Michael Jackson!”, which I thought was pretty funny considering Jackson was promoting the Bad (1987) album. Jackson was a kid at heart and I could tell he enjoyed making the “Speed Demon” short film because he was able to loosen up and have fun. This short film is a featured segment of the Moonwalker film.

6. “Leave Me Alone” from Bad (1987)

Also a featured segment of the Moonwalker film, “Leave Me Alone” was Michael Jackson’s middle finger to the tabloids for their negative portrayal of him. The short film features dogs, lizards, a nose being chased by a surgical scalpel, Jackson dancing with the “Elephant Man” bones, photos of Elizabeth Taylor, and bizarre newspaper articles about Jackson. All of this is taking place in an amusement park, which is revealed to be Jackson himself. One of my favorite parts of the film is when Jackson grabs Bubbles, his pet chimpanzee, and puts him in the airplane with him at the amusement park because that was him saying, “I love my chimp and there ain’t nothing you can do to change my mind, so beat it!” The short film reminds me of the Dangerous (1991) album cover because both tap into the expressive, yet sometimes misunderstood artistry that was Michael Jackson. The best scene in the film is when Jackson breaks free from the circus that the tabloids portrayed him as and the reward is very satisfying!

5. “You Rock My World” from Invincible (2001)

This short film is notable for featuring Chris Tucker, Jackson’s real-life comedian friend in his later years; Marlon Brando, Billy Drago, and Michael Madsen. As a kid, I thought the gangster vibe of the short film was so cool because I was like, “dang, this Michael Jackson guy is awesome; he can fight villains and sweep the girl off her feet!” The film pays homage to the short films for “Bad,” “Smooth Criminal,” and “The Way You Make Me Feel.” Tucker, being the comedic genius that he is, makes references to Jackson’s songs throughout the film and he does it with a straight face, which makes them even more hilarious! Another notable moment in the film that stands out to me is when Jackson and Tucker are eating at a Chinese restaurant together and Tucker says, “This is why I don’t like eating with Black people because when the bill comes, they start tripping!” I thought it was an important scene because it establishes that despite Jackson appearing white due to his vitiligo, he’s still a Black artist and always was one.

4. “Remember the Time” from Dangerous (1991)

Michael Jackson was such a powerful dude that he stole Iman from Eddie Murphy because he had the ability to win over any girl of his choosing. The Egyptian vibe is really dope and I wasn’t aware of this before, but Murphy and Iman’s characters are purposely portrayed as royalty to contrast from Hollywood’s stereotypical portrayals of African Americans as servants. When I saw the “Remember the Time” short film for the first time as a kid, I thought it was so cool when Jackson appeared through shimmers of gold because he just looked like a boss. Then, there’s the hot kiss scene between him and Iman, which in my opinion is one of the best parts of the film. Cleverly, after finishing the song, Jackson touches his lips as if in disbelief over what just happened and narrowly escapes the guards searching for him. The hip-hop-inspired choreography is such a vibe, especially during the breakdown when Jackson is ad-libbing.

3. “Thriller” from Thriller (1982)

As a kid, I was terrified of the “Thriller” short film because of the monster makeup and costumes. Now, as an adult, I love the “Thriller” short film for those exact same reasons! Rick Baker was in charge of makeup for the film and let me tell you, for 1983, that dude was ahead of his time because I haven’t seen zombie makeup as scary as that since then. Jackson got John Landis to direct the “Thriller” short film after seeing An American Werewolf in London (1981), which he directed. This was when audiences truly got to see how much of a film buff Jackson was, allowing him to pay homage to classic horror and zombie films such as I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) and Night of the Living Dead (1968). Funding the short film was a pain in the butt because Jackson’s record label wasn’t interested in making another video for the Thriller (1982) album. So George Folsey, Landis’ partner for the project, suggested making a documentary for the short film for them to play on cable television to cover the costs; Showtime and MTV each paid $250,000 for the documentary rights.

2. “Bad” from Bad (1987)

The 18-minute-long short film directed by Martin Scorsese was inspired by the real-life tragic story of a Black teenager named Edmund Perry, a student at a predominately white prep school, who was killed by an undercover cop during an alleged robbery upon returning home to his rough New York neighborhood. There’s a really good YouTube video that explains the history of the “Bad” short film that I highly recommend, and the YouTuber explains that Jackson was accused of being a sellout and not wanting to be Black anymore because of his success in the pop industry and his skin getting lighter, respectively. Another important thing to note is from 1985 to 1986, Jackson kept away from the spotlight and because of his reclusiveness, the tabloids started coming up with crazy stories about him, which led to the derogatory term, “Wacko Jacko.” In the “Bad” short film, Jackson plays a Black teenager named Darryl, a student at a white-dominated prep school, who returns home to his rough New York neighborhood for school break. He reunites with his old friends, one of them being a relatively unknown Wesley Snipes, but finds he doesn’t fit in with them anymore, leading Snipes’ character to question how “bad” Darryl really is. I think because of his need to prove himself to the Black community that he’s not abandoning his race, Jackson really connected with both Perry and Darryl, which helped him deliver an outstanding performance in the “Bad” short film.

1. “Ghosts” from Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix (1997)

The more I watch the “Ghosts” short film, the more I realize how personal of a film it was for Jackson because of how he was perceived in the media. The kids loved him, but parents and the tabloids thought he was weird because of his eccentricities and elementary thoughts. Known as the successor to the “Thriller” short film, the “Ghosts” short film tells the story of the Maestro (played Jackson) who is being forced out of town by the local mayor of Normal Valley (also played by Jackson) because of his entertaining children with ghost stories and magic tricks, deeming him a freak. The zombie makeup isn’t as ghoulish as the zombie makeup for the “Thriller” short film, but I love the story behind this short film because of how relatable it is. Being 39 minutes long, the short film features three songs: “2 Bad” from HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (1995), and “Is It Scary” and “Ghosts” from Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix (1997). With Jackson no longer alive, the part where the Maestro crumbles to dust hits devastatingly hard because just like in real life, he didn’t want to leave; he was forced to leave by uncontrollable factors. 

There you have it, people! Those are my top 10 Michael Jackson short films. This post was really fun to write, but also really tiring to put together. While it was tough to pick my favorites out of 30 short films, the watching experience took me back to when I first discovered Michael Jackson and I fell in love with some of these short films all over again. I also want to give some love to Captain EO (1986), a 3D science fiction short film that was featured in Disney theme parks from 1986-1998 and 2010-2015. It’s comical, suspenseful, and musical because, well, it’s Michael Jackson! I could’ve seen Captain EO in 2013 when it was still playing in Disneyland, but I passed on the opportunity and I regret it so badly now. If you don’t have time to watch all of Jackson’s short films, at the very least, check out the “Ghosts” short film; it’s that good!

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Lana