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PEOPLE & ARTS Thursday 26 OcTOber 2017
A bright (and animated) Halloween night with Michael Jackson

By FRAZIER MOORE a spiritual journey,” said
AP Television Writer Dippe, “and they gain
NEW YORK (AP) — Here’s the confidence to make
a chance to trick or treat the choice that is in their
with the eyes and ears. hearts. We used the idea
Catch “Michael Jackson’s of Michael’s music helping
Halloween,” a for-all-ages guide people through that
animated special airing decision-making process.”
Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern on Indeed, Jackson’s music
CBS. is woven through the en-
It costumes Halloween as tire hour, a soundscape
a life-affirming way to ex- played against its lush 3-D
plore hopes and dreams. animation.
“This is just for fun,” summed “We wanted a narrative
up John Branca, one of the piece that was guided by
special’s executive pro- the music of Michael Jack-
ducers. son,” Dippe said.
The story unfolds in a fa- That being the case, Bran-
miliar Halloween setting: a ca had a bit of guidance
haunted mansion. A cou- This image released by CBS shows characters from the animated special, “Michael Jackson’s for those planning to enjoy
ple of teens, Vincent and Halloween,” airing Friday on CBS. “Michael Jackson’s Hallow-
Victoria, are by chance Associated Press een” and its sensory treats:
drawn into this mysterious loved Halloween and loved a story that brought all that ther is getting much sup- “We encourage everyone
manor on Halloween night. animation, and, of course, to life.” port from their elders. They to view it on a big-screen
There awaits adventure, his video ‘Thriller’ is the most Vincent wants to be a feel discouraged. But once television if they have one,”
discovery and, of course, popular music video of all deejay. Victoria dreams they arrive at 777 Jackson he said, “with the sound
music. (Happily, this prop- time,” said Branca, who of being a dancer. Nei- St., “the kids are taken on turned up!”q
erty is under the spell of Mi- is also co-executor of the
chael Jackson.) Michael Jackson estate
Vincent and Victoria are and whose close relation-
voiced by Lucas Till and Ki- ship with Jackson reaches
ersey Clemons, with Chris- back to his wedding in the
tine Baranski, Alan Cum- late 1980s, when Jackson
ming, George Eads, Brad served as his best man.
Garrett, Lucy Liu and Jim “We thought: Michael de-
Parsons furnishing the voic- serves to be part of Hallow-
es for a whimsical array of een.”
supporting characters. In the special, he appears
At issue is an evil force that in many alternate forms: as
aims to impose mindless the Man in the Moon, as
conformity on everyone a bat, a dancing jack-o’-
and to banish music from lantern and a mad-scientist
the world. cat.
Spoiler alert: This villainess, “We wanted to imbue the
who in fact is named Con- show with the legacy of
formity, will soundly lose the Michael and the world he
battle thanks to Vincent created, and the songs
and Victoria and the rest that mean so much to so
of the opposition rallied by many people,” said Mark
Jackson. A.Z. Dippe, the show’s di-
“Michael was a big kid who rector. “We wanted to tell

Metallica, Dave Matthews to

headline wildfire relief concert

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The concert will take place
Metallica and Dave Mat- at AT&T Park on Nov. 9.
thews are set to headline a The coalition says all of
wildfire relief concert in San the money raised by ticket
Francisco next month. sales will go to a fund for
Metallica, which calls the “low-income, vulnerable
Bay Area home, has joined populations displaced by
with Matthews and Oak- the destruction.”
land rapper G-Eazy to form Metallica guitarist Kirk Ham-
the “Band Together Bay mett tells the San Francisco
Area” coalition to raise re- Chronicle the “mental and
lief money for victims of the psychological toll” from the
wildfires, which have killed fires has been on his mind
more than 40 people and after one of the blazes
caused at least $1 billion in nearly torched his Sonoma
damage. County home.q