MJJNews

November 25, 1992

Michael Jackson grants the wish of young David Sonnet, whom he meets via the Make A Wish Foundation, the boy being invited to go along with other children from the foundation to Neverland Ranch.

Sonnet suffered a brain aneurysm at the age of 8, leaving him only able to function through a communication device,

David had received a “Beat It” jacket from a local charity in a West Palm Beach, Florida, which he wore for his special encounter. Michael notices it and says “I see you have my jacket on.”

Among the activities David did together with his mother at Neverland, he held Bubbles, rode the Octopus as well as the merry-go-round.

Because Sonnet was unable to talk or walk, the two shared an “I Love You” in sign language. A visibly emotional Michael receives a stuffed lion and a picture of himself from David and tells the boy he would keep his photo in his room. Before this encounter, David Sonnet had written to Michael on various occasions as a show of support, and the entertainer would write back and include photos and other personal mementos.

Michael also sent David one of his hats in the mail, while Sonnet sent a thank you card, including a wedding card when he married Lisa Marie Presley. Both times Michael responded with a signed letter and salutation.

According to Debbie Sonnet, David’s mother, Michael Jackson’s music did help him recover from a coma also saying his recovery room was decorated with numerous Michael Jackson photos and his music was played at all times.

Sonnet passed away on July 26, 2004.

austinbpk:

Reunited and it feels so good. So happy to see my uncles elephants once again Susie and Babba .. #neverlandforever love you applehead.

“At [the Neverland Ranch,] all the rides were wheelchair modified. [Michael] had extra cages built so that arms couldn’t flop out, or hair couldn’t flop out and get caught — he was concerned about the safety. And, the guys who ran the rides, they went to Kansas city every six months to take courses on how to extricate physically challenged children. All those bases were covered. And, in the movie theater, [Michael] had hospital beds built into the walls so that critically ill children could lay in bed and watch movies… He thought of everything… People [who reach Michael’s level of fame and wealth] — the tendency is for them to isolate themselves from the unpleasant parts of life — people who are poor, people who are downtrodden — they isolate themselves from it so they don’t have to see it — Michael saw it EVERY day… The first concert [I went to with Michael in the 80’s] he arrived about an hour before the show was due to start… [and disappeared] right away behind a screen [at the back of the stage.]… He went in there to see Make a Wish Foundation children — these are children that are dying, they’re on respirators and they have their parents with them… He would go straight from there, he would say a prayer and then directly on stage. I asked him afterwards, “Michael, how can you do that? How can you spend the time with these children that are dying and then go on stage and give that kind of performance?” And he said, “How can I not?” He said, “If these children want to see me, I know I’m not important, but Michael Jackson the superstar is and, if I can make a child live an extra week or a month, wouldn’t that be worth it?” And he was always that way. If he got a call to say a child was dying, he would get on a plane and go. And he would always leave something with them. He’d tell them “I’m going to be back in a few weeks to see you.” A lot of times he extended little kids’ lives that way, because it gave them something to look forward to down the line. You have to admire something like that, my Lord!”

— David Nordahl

Michael Jackson’s tiger Thriller has died of lung cancer at the age of 13 years old on June 11.

Thriller and her brother Sabu were born on November 20, 1998 and lived at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Valley Ranch until 2006. They then moved to the Shambala Preserve near Los Angeles.

RIP Thriller.

Michael Jackson’s tigers Thriller and Sabu, drawn by Dk-Raven.

RIP Thriller.

thedailywhat:

Never-Again-Land of the Day: In 2005, Michael Jackson declared he would never return to his beloved Neverland because he felt violated by the police searches that had taken place there after he was accused of child abuse. In 2008, the theme park and its attractions were dismantled and sold. But not before intrepid photographer Scott Haefner and his friend Jonathan Haebe hatched a plan to sneak inside and capture the abandoned grounds on camera “before it was too late.”

“I loved wandering around and photographing the rides at night,” Haefner says of the visit. “After visiting Neverland, I have a strong sense that Michael was innocent of the charges that were filed against him. I don’t have anything tangible to base my feelings on. I think he was just deeply misunderstood, unfortunately.”

See the entire gallery here.

[environmentalgraffiti]

Michael Jackson’s longtime photographer Jonathan Exley died yesterday, on Michael’s birthday.

R.I.P. Jonathan Exley.

Michael asked Landmark if they could design a theme park, a real one, not only for him but a park where anybody could go, just like Disneyland. And this theme park would have been named Peter Pan’s Neverland.

This first concept is amazing. Fully inspired from Peter Pan’s story, the park would have started with a grand London entrance.A replica of Kensington Gardens, where anyone can see the famous Peter Pan statue, as well as Big Ben and the House of Parliaments in the background, not to mention horse guards at the entrance, all of which would have set a stunning replica of the Victorian city.

From that point guests were supposed to go to Neverland Island, and Landmark designers had designed two different ways to go there, both of which were attractions. The first one, which would definitely have been an E-Ticket attraction, was to fly to Neverland.

Guests would have sat on a platform which would have turned down on a 50 degrees angle and the movie would have been projected on a huge Omnimax dome located under the platform, giving to the guests the illusion of flying over London and Neverland.

The other way to reach Neverland would have been by boat. During this short boat ride the boat would have go through mysterious caves before arriving to Neverland Island with its lush vegetation and waterfalls.