マイケル・ジャクソンから3年後のネバーランド

1988 年、マイケル・ジャクソンは「シカモア バレー牧場」を購入し、その名前を「ネバーランド」、つまり大人にならない少年ピーター パンの国に変更しました。

マイケルはこの牧場に動物園、遊園地、映画館、その他多くの娯楽施設を建設しました。ネバーランドは、その生涯を通して、貧しい子供たち、患者、癌やエイズに苦しむ少女や少年、障害や障害のある子供たち、さらにはエリザベス・テイラー、マーロン・ブランド、クリス・タッカーなどの多くのスターや有名な友人など、多くの人々を受け入れてきました。長年にわたって、これらの人々はネバーランドの魔法を楽しみ、そこで子供時代を再び取り戻しました。残念なことに、この貴重な財産は、マイケルに対する告発によって彼の名を傷つけた日和見主義者によって二度攻撃されました。

2005年の裁判の後、マイケルはネバーランドを永久に去り、二度と戻ることはなかった。 1 年後、ネバーランドは閉鎖され、動物園と遊園地も営業を停止しました。 2008年、マイケルは銀行抵当にあったネバーランドの一部をトーマス・バラクが経営するコロニー・キャピタルに売却した。コロニー・キャピタルはマイケルの借金を銀行に支払い、銀行が牧場を売却するのを阻止した。

A year later, a few months before the start of the This Is It tour, Michael decided to put the assets of the Neverland property up for auction. The magnificent iron gates of Neverland were removed, and bronze statues were torn from their places; signs were taken down, and everything that once stood out in that magical land was prepared for sale. Just before the auction began, for reasons that were not specified, Michael withdrew from the auction and all the items taken from Neverland were returned to storage. Michael died a few months after that, and the management of his affairs fell to his foundation.

Neverland has always been one of the concerns of fans. They don’t want to see this property sold or its items destroyed in a public auction. The Michael Foundation and Thomas Barak also share the same view.

Barak had said last year: “Our plan is to bring Neverland back to its former era of greatness. This is an amazing place. Not only does Michael’s beautiful and gentle spirit run through it, but the legacy of a thousand-year-old Indian civilization is also imprinted on it. We are restoring this place and returning it to its original form. We are, in fact, the stewards and servants of a very special place.”

Barak also said that he has no commercial plans for the property, and that it is up to the マイケル・ジャクソン Foundation and Michael’s mother, Katherine, to decide the fate of Neverland.

The truth that has not been said about Michael’s deal with the Capital company is that although Michael transferred half of the ownership of Neverland to Colony Capital, it was with an unequal share. That means the マイケル・ジャクソン Foundation has 87.5% of the profits from this property, and Colony Capital’s share from Neverland is only 12.5%. Half ownership means that neither party can sell Neverland without the other party’s consent. Moreover, Neverland is not a property that can simply be sold, because its spiritual value is more than that. Therefore, selling Neverland has never been an option for either of the two parties. Besides, Michael’s children are the main heirs of this property, and they are attached to Neverland; in the hands of the Michael Foundation, Neverland is considered a trust for the children. If you’re still worried, you should know that the マイケル・ジャクソン Foundation has clearly announced that Neverland is not for sale, just as the sale of Michael’s share in the two-billion-dollar Sony/ATV company was never a decision of the Foundation. The Foundation has stated that it is these Michael children who will decide the fate of Neverland. Considering that Michael’s three children grew up at Neverland and consider it their home, it is very unlikely that they would intend to sell it. Katherine, Michael’s mother, also wants Neverland to remain in the hands of the family.

The importance of these matters is that recently opportunists tried to deceive Michael’s fans and scam them by spreading the rumor that Neverland is in danger and it must be saved by donating money.

Fans have always looked at Barak and his company with skepticism, but if we watch the videos that have been uploaded to YouTube for some time now, we will realize that Barak’s performance and the マイケル・ジャクソン Foundation’s actions during these three years have been positive. Last year, Larry Nimmer, along with one of Michael’s fans, after two years of correspondence, managed to obtain permission to enter Neverland. According to this fan, for now the property has been turned into a private place for renovations, but workers and employees are working there. He shared videos of his trip to Neverland, which you can download below.

Entering Neverland after passing the second road and reaching the gate: DownloadLunch at Neverland: Download

These videos were filmed by Larry Nimmer. During Michael’s lifetime, Nimmer was allowed to film at Neverland. These videos were released in a film titled “Neverland Unspoken Story.” [To read about the film click.]

Inside Neverland, special hats with the Neverland logo were given to Nimmer and his companion. These hats were prepared specifically for Neverland staff.

In these videos, we can see the bronze statues that had been dug up for the auction placed back in their proper locations; the Neverland grounds have been landscaped again, and as you can see from the photo above, the famous clock is also back in operation. It seems Barak truly kept his promise and has returned Neverland to its former era of glory.

In these videos, the heavy gates of Neverland are still not installed, but this film is from about a year ago, and it’s unlikely that Neverland hasn’t become even more beautiful by now and regained its royal gates.

One point about the Neverland property is that it is located in an agricultural area, and commercial use of it—such as establishing a museum—requires obtaining legal permits. Neverland, under the Williamson Act contract signed in 2003 by マイケル・ジャクソン, has been protected by the organization that oversees agricultural lands. The term of this ten-year contract ends next year. Perhaps after this date, the Foundation will take steps to commercialize Neverland and carry out some of the promised projects, such as establishing a museum of the King of Pop’s clothes and memorabilia. For this museum, what better place than Neverland?

Source: eMJey.com / Information about the contract taken from マイケル・ジャクソン And Justice for Some blog