He had every ride in the Midway specially modified to protect children who had physical impairments. His attention to detail was extraordinary. Michael had a hand in everything that was done at the ranch. Michael wanted the children to have the time of their life and to forget their troubles, at least for the time they were at the ranch. "Neverland Valley was Michael’s homage to the children of the world, especially those that were ill, underprivileged or neglected. Michael Jackson, in 60 Minutes TV Interview with Ed Bradley, 2003 " "So my heart go out to those children I feel their pain." They enjoy it in a pure, loving, fun way. They come up sick children, and enjoy it. And we have bus loads of kids, who don't get to see those things. We have elephants, and giraffes, and crocodiles, and every kind of tigers and lions. Everything that I love is behind those gates. And so, I create my world behind my gates. There's crowds, and bumper to bumper cars. You know? And I never got a chance to do those things. "I wanted to have a place that I could create everything that I never had as a child. The lakes, the bridges all set amongst the sweetest flower gardens from which classical music rose out into the summer air.”Īdrian Grant, first journalist to visit Neverland, 1990 Michael was not capable of hearing great music not dancing, so we go our own private dance of gratitude from the greatest dancer on the planet – a moment I will never forget."īrad Sundberg, music ingeneer “The scenery was quite breath-taking…never before had I seen land and property so beautiful. We cranked it nearly as loud as it would go. When we finished the gate installation Michael came out to hear it. The gate – in it’s own way – was a visual, mechanical and music work of art. The little building on the left was built primarily to hold all of the electronics, amplifiers, control system, etc. Michael wanted it to be loud enough to “shake a bus”, in his words. Ironically, this was the largest music system at the ranch. The entire area was filled with concert-grade EAW speakers, and (to the best of my memory) some 20,000 watts of power. The “Neverland” sign was filled with fiber optics, which had to come to life when a car approached. "The “Ornate Gate” was an incredibly complex project. He would listen to my ideas, and often agree, except when I suggested some of his own songs. We even had different line ups of music and effects for day and night time.Įach song was chosen by Michael personally. We did the same thing at Neverland, using music and sound effects to create ambience for the guests. If you walk through the various sections of a Disney park, you’ll hear the music and sounds change to reflect the mood of that particular location. "As Michael built Neverland Valley Ranch, the attention he paid to quality and detail was amazing. Michael Jackson in “Take Two: The Footage You Were Never Meant To See”, 2002 So, when you come behind my gates, you’ll see an amusement park, you’ll see animals, you’ll see everything that I’ve never got to do, there’s candy everywhere… It’s fun.” We worked, we worked, we worked, there was no Christmas, there’d be no birthdays… So, I’m compensating, nature made, made sure that I compensate for the loss. When kids were playing and in bed asleep, I was doing clubs. People say, ‘Why is he always with children?’ Well, you know, I was raised in a world with adults. Just to, you know, have some fun with the kids… And I couldn’t… And some of those times I so passionately wanted to just go over there and just play a little bit, and not go to the recording studio and sing. And I could hear the kids, you know, the roar of the crowd and playing and catching ball and having fun and playing tennis. When I was really little, you know, 11 or 12, I was in the contract with Motown and I would have to go to the recording studio, I had to go… and make these albums… Because the summer tour was right around the corner, and right across the street from the recording studio was a ballpark.
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