Synopsis

A crowd of actors, musicians, television personalities, and other celebrities gathers on a soundstage, apparently waiting for Michael Jackson to begin filming "Liberian Girl." As the crew prepares, the guests chat, joke, pose, and search for their absent star. The camera keeps moving through the busy set until the playful twist is revealed: Jackson has been present all along, secretly filming everyone from a camera crane. He finally appears, laughs, and calls for the shoot to wrap.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed over two days in April 1989 at the A&M Chaplin Stage in Los Angeles.

• It was promoted as the eighth of nine short films made for Jackson's *Bad* album.

• The concept turns the usual celebrity cameo format inside out. Rather than appearing in a conventional performance or story, the famous guests play versions of themselves waiting for Jackson.

• The cast includes Paula Abdul, Dan Aykroyd, Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Steven Spielberg, Debbie Gibson, Weird Al Yankovic, David Copperfield, Quincy Jones, Carl Weathers, and many others.

• Jackson's pet chimpanzee, Bubbles, also appears among the assembled guests.

• The mysterious mummy seen on the set was credited only with a question mark.

• The opening chant is performed by South African singer Letta Mbulu in Swahili. The language is associated with East Africa, while Liberia is in West Africa.

• The closing gag depends on the video-within-a-video setup: the celebrities believe they are waiting to be filmed, while the audience eventually learns that Jackson has been recording them the entire time.

• The short film was later included on *HIStory on Film, Volume II* and the video collection *Michael Jackson's Vision*.