Michael Jackson fans dress up and bust a move at ‘Michael’ screenings
Moonwalks, gloves and fedoras take over “Michael” screenings, fans can’t help but get up and groove in the theaters.
- A slide from Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch is now at the Scandia Family Fun Center in Victorville, California.
- The recent release of the biopic “Michael” has sparked renewed interest in the late singer’s memorabilia.
- The slide was purchased in 2008 after Jackson left the ranch and was installed at the fun center in 2018.
- The film “Michael” set a record for the biggest opening weekend for a musical biopic.
Nearly eight years ago, Scandia Family Fun Center in Victorville installed Michael Jackson’s slide, which once stood inside the late pop singer’s Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara County.
After this month’s release of the Michael Jackson biopic “Michael,” there’s been a renewed interest in the “King of Pop,” his music, life, family and memorabilia.
On Tuesday, several families at Scandia waited in line to ride “Michael Jackson’s Slide,” a faded yellow structure that the location installed in 2018. The structure towers 39 feet and is near the batting cages.
Aerial photographs of Jackson’s Neverland Ranch show that the slide was installed near a carousel at the 2,700-acre ranch located in Los Olivos.
Neverland, Peter Pan’s fictional island, was reimagined and constructed by Jackson as a Disney-like amusement park and his estate, where he resided from 1988 to 2005.
Over the years, Jackson acquired nearly 20 rides, with most of them sitting untouched for years before he died in 2009, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Is the slide a “Thriller”
In 2018, General Manager Hal Bradley told the Daily Press the three-lane super slide, which extends 162 feet in length, might have been called the “Thriller” slide.
“The owner, he was looking for a slide and just happened to come across the one from the estate of Michael Jackson,“ Bradley said. “It was at his Neverland Ranch, and that’s what he went for.”
From Neverland to Victorville
David Helm Sr., former owner of Helm and Sons Amusements, confirmed the sale, telling the Daily Press one phone call sealed the deal.
Helm said he purchased the slide and other rides in 2008 — several years after Jackson left the ranch for good — but his working relationship with the “King of Pop” predated the purchase.
“I was affiliated with Michael for 14 years,” he said. “He hired me to put some rides in (at Neverland). Not all of them, but I installed them and maintained them when they needed more specific attention.
“Before Michael passed … he hired myself and my men to take some of the rides out because he was making a change of residence. One of the things he wanted to do was put the rides in storage. He was going to reinstall them (at his new home). About 12 months later he died. So it wasn’t to be. It was very sad.”
In addition to Helm and Sons, the Fairfield-based Butler Amusements was among the companies that purchased rides at auction in 2008 before trucking them across California and other states for use at carnivals and fairs.
‘Michael’ breaks record
The Michael Jackson biopic “Michael” achieved a record-breaking opening weekend at the domestic box office, earning $97 million domestically in its opening weekend, according to estimates from Comscore released on Sunday, April 26.
The film, which stars Jackson’s real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson as the iconic singer, scored the biggest opening weekend for a musical biopic in history.
The record was previously held by “Straight Outta Compton,” the 2015 film about N.W.A that debuted with $60 million domestically. “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which starred Rami Malek as Queen singer Freddie Mercury, also opened to $51 million in 2018 and went on to collect more than $900 million worldwide.
Among 2026 releases, “Michael” grabbed the second-biggest opening of 2026 at the domestic box office, coming in behind “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” but ahead of “Project Hail Mary.” Worldwide, the movie launched with an impressive $217.4 million.
The Scandia Family Fun Center is located at 12627 Mariposa Road in Victorville.
USA TODAY contributed to this story.
Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @DP_ReneDeLaCruz
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