MJ, Bob Fosse and a snake in the grass
Posted on 10-29-09 · Entertain Me, Sassy Lawyer Tags: Bob Fosse, Michael Jackson, The Little PriceI first saw the film version of The Little Prince when I was a child. I first read the book about a month after that. I wouldn’t get to see the film again until more than thirty years later although I would re-read the book countless times during that period. Last Sunday, we bought a DVD copy of The Little Prince and, on Tuesday evening, I watched it with my younger daughter, Alex, and my husband, Speedy.
From a creative perspective, it wasn’t an impressive film. From a technical perspective, it was even worse. Of course, I didn’t realize that some thirty years ago. It was only two nights ago when all of that became evident to me. But then again, how can a story like the The Little Prince with all its symbolisms be successfully transformed into a visual medium especially in 1974 with the not too advanced technology in filmmaking?
I could have dismissed the film and changed the disc to something else somewhere during the scene where The Pilot was singing “I Need Air” while flying an obviously fake plane against an even more obviously fake sky. But I didn’t. And I’m glad I didn’t because what a revelation it turned out to be.
Strange or not, I could sing along with some of the songs (by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, the same team that created the songs for Camelot, My Fair Lady and Gigi). Strange or not, there were scenes I vividly remembered. Perhaps, as a result of having read the book so many times. I remembered that Gene Wilder played The Fox but I had no idea until last Tuesday that Broadway and film legend Bob Fosse (Cabaret, All That Jazz) played The Snake. And I didn’t remember his dance routine either which, according to the credits, he choreographed himself. But when I saw it two nights ago, my jaw dropped.
His Snake attire — from the black rimmed hat to the black suit with skinny pants, white socks and black shoes – was the signature Michael Jackson attire since his “transformation” that began with the Billie Jean and Beat It days. And the dance routine was Michael Jackson all the way. Except that The Little Prince movie came out in 1974, long before Michael Jackson made the attire and dance routine famous. So, let’s not get confused with who was the original and who was the imitator. The copycat. Or, if you prefer to be politically correct, who did the borrowing.
I can understand that a dance routine or technique can be so good as to inspire others to copy and even refine it. But to copy the costume as well? Of course, I don’t remember having read nor heard anything about Michael Jackson claiming that the costume and dance moves were his original concepts. But I never read nor heard that he made any attribution to Bob Fosse and A Snake in the Grass either. And he could have. Or someone in his camp could have. Like Beyonce acknowledged that her “Single Ladies” video was inspired by Gwen Verdon dancing a Bob Fosse routine (“Mexican Breakfast” performed on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1969?).
In the case of A Snake in the Grass, the “inspiration”, if you want to call it that, has remained unacknowledged except for some comments on the Internet from people who discovered the “similarities” lately. There are a few YouTube clips of Fosse’s A Snake in the Grass routine with descriptions like “Was Michael Jackson influenced by Bob Fosse’s ‘Snake in the grass’ character from the 1974 movie The Little Prince?” and the more direct “This is the man Michael Jackson appears to have stolen his moves from. The earliest was uploaded in 2006 by Max Lichtor, the Assistant Gallery Administrator at Pyramid-Gallery.com. It was subsequently referenced in entries of two Filipino bloggers, Cecille Zamora Van Straten and Spanky Enriquez earlier this year. The rest are mere comments in articles about Michael Jackson.
In short, I don’t think there has been any major and widespread media commentary about the uncanny similarities between Fosse’s A Snake in the Grass costume and routine, and Michael Jackson’s. Perhaps, because the film wasn’t a blockbuster, few people have seen it. It was no biggie the way Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo was so that when Brian de Palma did Obsession and Body Double decades later, everyone knew what he was trying to replicate it even if he hadn’t been such a self-proclaimed Hitchcock fan. In the case of The Little Prince which seem to have made little cinematic dent, well, it’s possible that very few really noticed.
But it is also possible that those who have noticed the “similarities” are Michael Jackson fans and they decided that mentioning it would detract to Jackson’s stature. I mean, just imagine… A legendary pop icon known for his signature costume and moves… A performer adored the world over… Imagine calling him a copycat. But he is, really, like it or not.
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I used to watch the Little Prince cartoon on Access in Canada. I never knew there was a movie about it, I’ll have to check it out.
hmm.. I didn’t know there was a movie on little prince.. somebody should make a new one.. I don’t even really remember what happened in the book- except for the rose and the elephant/hat…
Yes, Michael Jackson is a copycat certifiable.
Back in 1983, the veteran musician Paul Anka co-wrote a song “I Never Heard” with Michael Jackson but was never released. Jackson kept a copy of the tape and re-recorded the song in 2009 and renamed it “This Is It” as his new song before his death.
Confronted by Anka’s legal team, Jackson estate decided to give Paul Anka his 50% royalties.
Oh my goodness…
The song was taken by his estate/lawyers from a vault of unreleased songs and not re-recorded this year. Being a co-writer does not mean he’s a copycat then. But the lawyers should have known better and paid out Anka first thing
The Bob Fosse look and moves… he did copy from IMO.
We watched this as a treat from our 4th yr English teacher in high school. Taking up “The Little Prince” in class was one of the few moments where in everybody paid attention to the discussion because we actually wanted to. May I ask where were you able to buy a copy of the dvd?
Astroplus at the Mall of Asia.
Thank you.
OMG!!! Unbelievable….and all of us thought he’s original. What a revelation!
Your post made me re-visit MJ in You Tube.My fave “Rock With You.”
OK…I forgive him.I’m planning to see “This Is It” on Sat. in Hollywood.
Yeah…they really have something in common.
)
I think it’s pretty obvious that Michael Jackson cribbed from a lot of sources. He never publicly stated in an interview that the concept for the “Bad” video was meant to evoke “West Side Story,” but it’s obvious and well-known… the choreographers knew what he was going for, the director, and everyone else involved. MJ always claimed Bob Fosse as a source of inspiration, and talked about how much he loved big production numbers.
His strength as an entertainer was taking all these different genres and mashing them together in a new way. That’s the innovation. He took elements from the Broadway stage and put them on film. He took concepts from feature films and translated them into arena performance. We take it for granted now in entertainment that performers sing and do full out dance routines at the same time, but that wasn’t being done when he asked why not and decided to try it.
Eh, maybe I have on fan glassses but I don’t think he was ever shy about the fact that he borrowed heavily from stage and films for his ideas, and his goal was to translate them a different way. It’s kind of like dimissing hip-hop producers who sample as copycats because they use elements of others’ music… the skill and talent there is seeing what you can transform those elements into.
When I first came across the Snake in the Grass/Billie Jean mashup back in May and shared it with others, no one’s response was ‘OMG copycat!’ in a detracting sense. It was more ‘ooohh, that’s where he got that from!’ I think most people “get it.” But then again, I could be wrong.
I too recently viewed the “Snake in the Grass” with my kids and recognised the uncanniness of MJ’s routine with that of Bob Fosse’s. Trin sums it up nicely and minimizes the entire issue of copying. However, I really hope that the pelvic thrusts in the face of the Little Prince during Bob’s routine had nothing to do with MJ’s extra curicular (alleged) activities.
So when a ballet dancer performs a classical piece in traditional garb, they are a copycat? I’m afraid your logic fails in performance art. You try and recreate Bob Fosse’s moves. Exactly. I’m sure Michael Jackson was a fan of Bob Fosse, and he and many other performers were and are always very open about how they are influenced by others work and imagery.And honestly, I love Bob Fosse, but Michael did it better.
Ah, hello, ballets are packaged with the same music and story, but choreography changes with the choreographer. I’m afraid your analogy doesn’t work.
the hat , the short pants and the white socks doesn’t own to Bob fosse! Fred astair and many else had this panoply long time before!!!!!
Jackson did a melting pot of several influences : fosse, astair, mime marceau, james brown, pop street dancer…….. a lot of people know that. He never claimed being the first to do those moves, he just popularised it and make it accessible to the masse.