A Rare Version of Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker Film Found

A rare version of Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker film, containing the Smooth Criminal dance segment, was introduced last week at Studio City, California.

Immy Redman, the woman who has worked for several years with Colin Chilvers (the director of the Smooth Criminal segment) on this film, has more than 30 minutes of the segment on three film reels and says:

“I have the only cinematic version of this film prepared for showing in U.S. movie theaters. Michael had an idea in his head, and Moonwalker is the result of that idea. Half of this film is live action (dancing, acting, singing, and performing), and the other half is all animation (clay animation).”

Although the film was shown in European theaters in 1988, American theaters never saw it. Instead, the home video versions sold well and were a big success.

Chilvers provided this theatrical version of the film to sales stations as a promotion for his work, and Redman contacted a projectionist at a cinema. After reviewing the film, he determined it was a good product.

In January of this year, the news broke that the Arclight Cinema in Hollywood was looking for a theatrical version of this film to screen it on the silver screen. The Michael Jackson Foundation had said it had the raw footage, but it had not yet decided to release it.

Redman has had this version of the film for years, and now that news about Michael is hot, she has stepped into the spotlight. She has expressed hope that they will reach an agreement to purchase this version of the film—something she says is a sign of the breadth of Michael Jackson’s genius, which she claims she herself has witnessed.

Source: eMJey.com / salem-news.com / TMZ