Bob Fosse's influence on MJ

[Casey]

Check this out.

The influence for Michael Jackson's legendary "Billie Jean" routine seems to have come from choreographer, dancer and actor Bob Fosse's routine to "Snake In The Grass" from the 1974 movie, "The Little Prince".

Here is the video of Bob's performance in that movie, synced to "Billie Jean".

Very interesting!

 

[Duke]

Riveting

 

[Jokerman]

Not only the moves but the whole outfit. Fosse almost moonwalks at one point, but I think MJ might have also got that from the mime Marcel Marceau. I heard The Little Prince was one of MJ's favorite movies. Didn't he name his kids Prince Michael or something?

 

[Casey]

Not only the moves but the whole outfit. Fosse almost moonwalks at one point, but I think MJ might have also got that from the mime Marcel Marceau. I heard The Little Prince was one of MJ's favorite movies. Didn't he name his kids Prince Michael or something?

Nah, the moonwalk was taught to Michael by Jeffrey Daniel from the band Shalamar. He and others had been doing it for a few years, but the most exposure anyone had to the move was on niche black shows like "Soul Train", so when Michael first did on the Motown 25th Anniversary Special, it was the first time the vast majority of people had seen it done.

His two sons are called Prince Michael Jackson, yeah, but this is most likely due to his maternal grandfather being named Prince.

I never heard about this movie before, although I'm more than familiar with the original story by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

 

[Flipmo]

Wow, that's pretty nuts. Especially when you compare the videos with the music; a lot of similarities.

 

[Rukas]

Imagine if this was Ja Rule copying a Tupac video...