Thriller. The Ultimate version.

July 20, 2007 6:11 AM

In the year 1982, Michael Jackson releases Thriller, which according to the Guinness Book of World Records[wikipedia], is the greatest selling album of all time. The 14 minute music video [youtube] was the longest/most expensive at the time, and was directed by filmmaker John Landis.[imdb] Details of the video here[wikipedia] Now onto the show. [all youtube links] Thriller with Legos. At a wedding. The tv show Good Morning America on the wedding version. At walmart. At another wedding. In Final Fantasy. More animatics. Professional dancers. More dancers. And More. Yup, more here. Even more dancers. Sigh. Even more dancers. And it's not just for 2 year olds. College students too. Penn State's Blue Band. The Bollywood Version. They even do it in Prison.
posted by filmgeek (30 comments total)

I just saw the homepage and the prison version (which prompted this post) was quickly posted by someone else. Too much silly work went into this for me not to post it. Hey, I had to waste a 1/2 hour putting those links into this, so it wouldn't be a one link YouTube post.
posted by filmgeek at 6:13 AM on July 20, 2007

Very popular to stage as well as to post about this kind of thing over the years.
posted by psmealey at 6:13 AM on July 20, 2007

As enjoyable as some of these were, I have to wonder how many of them thought this was going to be original or unique while they were putting it all together?
posted by psmealey at 6:17 AM on July 20, 2007

Personally, I'd rather see a wedding party re-enactment of the DiVinyl's "I Touch Myself" video.
posted by psmealey at 6:18 AM on July 20, 2007

ok. done now
posted by psmealey at 6:18 AM on July 20, 2007

the longest/most expensive at the time

Later out done by the Janet/Michael duet Scream ($7 mill). Full list. (video on YouTube)
posted by ao4047 at 6:29 AM on July 20, 2007

If you get the right bunch of baby boomers together at a wedding you can also get a pretty good version of Meatloaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Light".
posted by Ber at 6:44 AM on July 20, 2007

If you get the right bunch of baby boomers together at a wedding you can also get a pretty good version of Meatloaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Light"

Which would be way scarier than all the zombies from all versions of Thriller combined.

By the way, you know how they say "Thriller" in Japan?

Su-REE-rah!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:50 AM on July 20, 2007

Thriller in a webcomic I can't stop reading despite it seemingly having jumped the shark.
posted by gurple at 7:17 AM on July 20, 2007

Piratebowling, Taliaferro, and I are actually all individually sharpening our skills so we can perform Paradise By the Dashboard Light at an upcoming MetaFilter Karaoke Rapture event.
posted by hermitosis at 7:35 AM on July 20, 2007

We were barely seventeen! We were barely dressed! la la la la la ba dum dum!
posted by taliaferro at 7:40 AM on July 20, 2007

Thomas the Tank Engine set to Thriller. My son, who's four, now knows the lyrics to *all* of the songs on the Thriller album.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:03 AM on July 20, 2007

Anyone else find the end of the prison version a little disturbing?
posted by skammer at 8:09 AM on July 20, 2007

Metafilter: Karaoke Rapture event.
posted by Bearman at 8:11 AM on July 20, 2007

Thriller isn't "done" until it's been performed without warning during a zombie walk by a highly trained flashmob.

There's life in the old corpse yet :-)
posted by -harlequin- at 8:31 AM on July 20, 2007

Cool post.

Another one (as well as the tide of inevitable news articles) will probably come along around the album release date's 25th anniversary, which is 1 December 2007.
posted by blucevalo at 9:07 AM on July 20, 2007

isn't this essentially a double?
posted by andywolf at 9:31 AM on July 20, 2007

double
posted by andywolf at 9:33 AM on July 20, 2007

Awesome post.

There are a bunch of Gen X'ers walking around with the entire dance routine burned non-consciously into their brains -- many don't even know this. It just takes the right combination of environmental factors to unleash this at the right moment. It's like a bunch of Thriller Zombie Sleeper Cells.

This... this is what I like in a Metafilter post... descriptive front page that tells a story, with a hearty serving of related links embedded.

Not some single link post that doesn't explain what's inside.
posted by Extopalopaketle at 9:34 AM on July 20, 2007

John Landis: taking a break from beheading children to make zombie music videos.
posted by basicchannel at 9:43 AM on July 20, 2007

I'm annoyed by the link to the prison one. Someone has put a spoiler to the new Harry Potter book in the comments. Ye be warned.

Nice post!
posted by djgh at 10:07 AM on July 20, 2007

The prison one is awesome. Dude looks like a lady.
posted by Liosliath at 10:42 AM on July 20, 2007

Well, my favorite is the Penn State Blue band...but that's cause I'm a Penn Stater (Didn't know know that's why Metafilter is blue?) j/k
posted by filmgeek at 11:13 AM on July 20, 2007

I once had a relationship that was based almost entirely on the consequences of a drunken rendition of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" at a New Year's Eve party.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:32 PM on July 20, 2007

thanks a lot mefi. this post and the previous prison post has got me completely obsessed with Michael Jackson's Thriller.

fuck.
posted by cazoo at 1:20 PM on July 20, 2007

We need to bring back the Hustle! Rally with me, children of the 60s/70s!
posted by astruc at 1:49 PM on July 20, 2007

Hey, the groom in that one is the Rockwood webcomic guy. Quite cool.
posted by WCityMike at 5:42 PM on July 20, 2007

The "more animatics" link is the same link as the "even more dancers" link.
posted by WCityMike at 5:50 PM on July 20, 2007

I once took a dance class with someone who claimed to have brought the Hustle to the States - Jon Devlin.

Seems it may be true.
posted by Liosliath at 7:00 PM on July 20, 2007

Thing is, Thriller would have never have achieved it's popularity without Quincy Jones producing. I didn't care for the album myself since it wasn't a genre I cared for, but I do give Quincy Jones the props he deserves for creating that monster. Dude's a genius, and quite the jazz player in his own right.
posted by Eekacat at 9:01 PM on July 20, 2007