Allan Scanlan, affectionately known by Michael Jackson and the Michael Jackson fan community as “Big Al” worked at Michael’s home, Neverland Valley Ranch for 15 years. I had the pleasure of meeting the amusement ride specialist last year and have spoken to him a few times in regards to Michael’s humanitarianisms. The chat you’re about to hear was actually recorded last year but I wanted to include it in the podcast because Allan had some great information about the groups of sick & underprivileged people that came to Neverland on a regular basis.
Ladies & Gentlemen, please enjoy this very informative chat with Allan “Big Al” Scanlan…
If you'd like to leave me a voicemail with any feedback or suggestions, do it HERE
Buy the book “Humanitarian – The Real Michael Jackson” HERE
Connect with Big Al via Facebook HERE
Support The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation HERE
Connect with the HumanitarianMJ Facebook HERE
Connect with the HumanitarianMJ Instagram HERE
Connect with the HumanitarianMJ Twitter HERE
Connect with the HumanitarianMJ TikTok HERE
Connect with Paul Dwyer’s Instagram HERE
Connect with Paul Dwyer’s Twitter HERE
Allan Scanlan, affectionately known by Michael Jackson and the Michael Jackson fan community as “Big Al” worked at Michael’s home, Neverland Valley Ranch for 15 years. I had the pleasure of meeting the amusement ride specialist last year and have spoken to him a few times in regards to Michael’s humanitarianisms. The chat you’re about to hear was actually recorded last year but I wanted to include it in the podcast because Allan had some great information about the groups of sick & underprivileged people that came to Neverland on a regular basis.
Ladies & Gentlemen, please enjoy this very informative chat with Allan “Big Al” Scanlan…
If you'd like to leave me a voicemail with any feedback or suggestions, do it HERE
Buy the book “Humanitarian – The Real Michael Jackson” HERE
Connect with Big Al via Facebook HERE
Support The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation HERE
Connect with the HumanitarianMJ Facebook HERE
Connect with the HumanitarianMJ Instagram HERE
Connect with the HumanitarianMJ Twitter HERE
Connect with the HumanitarianMJ TikTok HERE
Connect with Paul Dwyer’s Instagram HERE
Connect with Paul Dwyer’s Twitter HERE
"Neverlands purpose"
with Allan "Big Al" Scanlan
Allan Scanlan, affectionately known by Michael Jackson and the Michael Jackson fan community as “Big Al” worked at Michael’s home, Neverland Valley Ranch for 15 years. I had the pleasure of meeting the amusement ride specialist last year and have spoken to him a few times in regards to Michael’s humanitarianisms. The chat you’re about to hear was actually recorded last year but I wanted to include it in the podcast because Allan had some great information about the groups of sick & underprivileged people that came to Neverland on a regular basis.
Ladies & Gentlemen, please enjoy this very informative chat with Allan “Big Al” Scanlan…
Paul:
So, we've been chatting for a little while, for a little while, and I wanted to chat to you mainly about the humanitarian side of Michael. It's something that I've written a book about, and I know you've got the book, and I know that it's something that you've wanted to talk about as well. Of course, when people talk about Michael Jackson, there's a million different things they can talk about.
Al:
Right.
Paul:
One thing that is not often spoken about is the humanitarian side and all the good things that happened at Neverland that I thought, well, who's going to have a better story than the guy that helped run Neverland? Big Owl, you were there for what, 15 years?
Al:
Yeah, 15 years.
Paul:
So, you must have seen a lot of good charitable work. Tell us a bit about that.
Al:
Yeah, when I look back on it, I know all the fans out there think how exciting it was to work for Mr. Jackson. And it was never I think part of the reason I survived as long as I did out there is I was never a starstruck person. And I mean, it was it was I know when I made my deal, up until the time I made my deal, I wasn't really that excited. I mean, it was a beautiful place and I'd been out there several times over the previous two years as a consultant when they were putting the amusement park together. And I just thought it was very first class and I thought it would be cool to work for Mr. Jackson. But when I look back on it now, the added bonus was not only just working for him, but the stuff he did out there at the time. People and people still don't know, actually, the magnitude of what all went on there as far as the humanitarian work. They just don't know. And to be one of the key figures in those events, because everything that I took care of was all the fun stuff. So that's where we spent most of the time. Most of the event was revolved around either the trains or the amusement park. I mean, we went to the zoo and went to the movie theater, but the people that worked in the amusement park, they were involved in the whole day from start to finish. When I look back on it, that was really rewarding because I got to see how it impacted people's lives, especially the kids from Children's Hospital, because we would get letters from the parents and from the siblings and from the nurses and doctors describing just how unbelievable it was. The biggest thing that ever happened to not just the kid that was ill was fighting a terminal disease, but the siblings and the parents, because a lot of these kids didn't survive much longer. And that memory of that day was something that they'll remember for the rest of their lives. And it's a very positive thing. Even though they lost a young child at a young age, they got to come out there and spend the day. And it was a huge impact on their lives and I'm sure it had a very permanent effect on them and on you. Oh, yeah. When I would start reading, the ranch manager would share these letters. I actually made copies of all of them and kept them in a three-ring binder and it just bring tears your eyes. Actually, I had a family, a kid, actually, from Australia. It was a cancer wing from Australia. And the kid had lost his leg to cancer. I don't remember how old he was, but he was, I don't know, 1210, 1213. I don't know. And whenever somebody shows a strong interest in the steam train, I offer them a ride, a cab, what we call a cab ride, where you ride up front, not necessarily in the engine, but there's a bench seat right behind it. That's in front of what we call the tender where the water and the propane and the sound system and you're almost sitting in the engine. I don't like them to sit too close because it's a live steam train. There's a lot of hot stuff up there and everything. So, I'll usually let them blow the whistle and pull on the throttle to get it started and then I have him sit down. Anyway, this kid was asking questions about it. I took him up to the front. I had him help him out because, like I said, he was missing a leg from about the middle of the thigh down and he was on crutches. It was a huge deal for him. And then I do these certificates that were numbered and had neverland railroad. Honorary engineer and the person's name. Anyway, his family stayed in touch with me for years and years and years. Even he passed away a couple of years later. But they stayed in touch with me personally for years and years and years and that kind of stuff. It makes you feel like what you were doing was if they could have fed me every meal, I probably would have worked out there for free. Because to get to feelings like that, what a big impact to be I don't want to say represent Michael, but to be you're kind of a representative for him when people come out there and spend the day out there. And so, to get to be him by proxy, sort of just to help these events go the way he wants them to go was very rewarding.
Paul:
Did it take long? So, you started working there in 1990. Did it take long for you to realize that that was the purpose of Neverland? That's what was happening there and the underprivileged children and families that were coming out?
Al:
Yeah, I would say within a few months, I understood because he wasn't there very much. He was actually I think it was the Dangerous tour or getting ready for the Dangerous tour. I'm not good with dates and all that, but he wasn't there that much. But yet we had events all the time. And at the time I went in there, like I said, I'd been going in there as a consultant for a couple of years, inspecting the rides, but you just didn't I mean, the media didn't know all this stuff and there's a reason for that, which I found out through the years of working for him. That's not why he was doing it. He wasn't doing it for public, you know, public relations. He was doing it out of the kindness of his heart. And he and it to my dying day, I will I will absolutely stand up for that fact. That's an absolute fact that he did that because he wanted to. He wanted to help people forget about their problems and have a day that they'll never forget.
Paul:
And so, you said Michael wasn't there a lot at a guess, were these families and charity groups at Neverland more often than Michael?
Al:
Oh, yeah.
Paul:
Really?
Al:
Oh, definitely, yeah. On the central coast the weather is pretty nice all year round, but in the wintertime, we do get some rain and sometimes heavy and sometimes for several days. So, we wouldn't schedule as many events in the wintertime because Mr. Jackson didn't want these kids to look forward. They'd find out about this trip a few months ahead of time and to look forward to this and then have it canceled. But in the summertime, we would do at least two a week, sometimes three a week. Wow. We're talking anywhere from 100 to 200 guests each time. The ranch was definitely enjoyed many times over more by guests than it was by Michael. I mean, I have no doubt that he enjoyed it when he was there to get away from the tour and the music and in the studio and all the work and especially after he had kids. But it was enjoyed by other people more than it was.
Paul:
And I can only imagine, I presume there was small groups of families and friends coming through, but I can only imagine there'd be large groups as well. From what I've read in my research for my book, sometimes there was more than 100 people with the groups, their families, their friends, their helpers, their carers.
Al:
Yeah, usually we kind of classified it in events or in private guests or Mr. Jackson being home and the private guests, it was usually a family or maybe a couple of families. It wasn't anywhere from two to ten or 15 people. That was what usually was private guests, the events. It was usually somewhere between 102 hundred. We did that big charity event; I call it the Golden Ticket event. I don't know what it was officially called, but we had probably 2000 people there for that event. It was actually a little overwhelming for us because there was a lot of employees there, 100 employees. And when you think somebody's house 100 employees, it should be no problem. But when you're talking 2700 acres and a zoo and an amusement park and a movie theater, and most everybody goes home at 330, most of the employees go home at 330 in the afternoon. Large events like that were pretty labor intensive. Matter of fact, I had a pretty long list of volunteer friends, some firefighters from Santa Maria and some people from Knots Berry Farm, and some friends from La. And they would come up on these big events and help.
Paul:
It must be hard. I wanted to ask you, and I know it's probably going to be a hard question to answer if there was so many families and groups going through neverland all the time. If there's any that stand out in your mind when I ask you about the groups and the kids and the families. And I'm going to say families because there's a misconception that it was all kids. Going to neverland. And you can confirm or deny that it wasn't just kids, it was families, their parents, their cousins, their carers. A lot of these kids, the orphans had carers, and the groups, people that ran these groups, all those people as well.
Al:
I got to tell you, this doesn't exactly go along with that question, but it'll lead into maybe another answer to when you talk about it's, all kids. We did an event for a bunch of people at Sony that were behind the scenes. People, the people that helped market stuff, the people that answered the phones and just reception. I mean, it was just a bunch of the workers at Sony Records or Sony something at Sony. I think it was after the History album, I'm not sure. But anyway, it was all adults, and they kept apologizing because they were having so much fun and they were laughing all the time, and they kept apologizing for acting like little kids and being so goofy. And I explained to them, I said, well, that really kind of points out the fact that we're doing a good job here, because that's what's supposed to happen. You're supposed to forget about the outside world and be a kid again. Because when you're old like me, you look back on your life. That was the best times. You might not have known it at the time, but anyway, probably one of the groups that really sticks out in my mind when I look back at all of them. Actually, I was just commenting on Facebook today about cystic fibrosis, and there was I think it was in your book about the one kid. But anyway, cystic fibrosis was a big part of my life. But anyway, we had some groups up there, CF kids from the Hospital. So that was important to me because it was kind of something I was interested in. But the group that probably stuck out the most to me was a burn foundation. I think it was called the Alicia Anne Rouge Burn Foundation. And they only brought about, I don't know, 30 kids and probably about maybe ten medical staff or adult chaperones. And I was talking to one of the nurses and they were telling me that how amazing this place was and how the staff adapted so quickly. I guess I should have explained before that these kids I've seen burn victims, but I have never seen burn victims that have scars like some of these. I mean, it was like something out of an alien movie. And this nurse explained to me that these kids would get invited to go to Disney and Knotts Berry Farm and Universal and all that, and they couldn't even make it through the whole day because everybody was staring at them because of their looks. And I'm sure that everybody, including me, at Neverland, was pretty shocked by it, but we understood what our deal, I mean, what we were supposed to be doing there and having a small group and like in our zoo, we bring out the chimps and we bring out the orangutans, and these kids get to interact with them. And anyway, the nurse was just explaining to me what a big deal it is, and I think that's probably one of the events that really sticks out in my mind for what a huge impact it had on me personally, just to know how tough it is for them and what a big day it was for them.
Paul:
Yeah, 100%. Did you ever take off the workers hat and go and have fun and spend some time on their own?
Al:
No, I didn't. Earlier I was talking about I had volunteers that would come up and help me. Well, once a year we would do a party for all these volunteers because some of these guys would drive up from La on their own dime, I mean, put gas in their own vehicle, stay in a hotel, and I greatly appreciated it. So once a year we would do an event for them and then also once a year we did an event for all of the MJJ Productions staff and all the Neverland staff. But the thing is, when you work in the amusement park and its event, you have to work. So, me, along with my entire family and all my friends, were running rides all day on family day. But again, it was kind of like having one of the events for the kids from the inner city or the hospital. I got to see all these people that really greatly helped me out and all my coworkers and their families have fun. So, for me, I've been around amusement rides, right, since I've been working on amusement rides since 17 years old, so I don't need to go ride any rides. I had fun just making sure everybody else was having fun.
Paul:
So, you mentioned employee family day. What's that about?
Al:
Well, it was like one of our events for the inner-city kids or the kids in the hospital, but it was just for the employees and they got to bring their families. And again, a lot of the employees, like the chefs and the zoo people, they all had to work. We kind of had a schedule. And the way it worked is the zoo was basically done by 02:00 so they could take the rest of the day off. But the event was to thank all the employees and let them bring their families out to enjoy Neverland. So, it was a pretty important day for everybody that worked there and usually the MJJ production staff in La. Which wasn't a big staff, but they would come up also. And then I think we invited some of the guys from Rocket Cargo, which is a company that transported his equipment on the tours all over. They're based out of La. And a couple of people that were directly involved in all the tours and stuff. It's kind of a Michael Jackson employee family to hit Neverland.
Paul:
That must be great for the employee morale.
Al:
Oh, yeah. Did you ever have to work in a place like this and go home and tell your family about it and not ever get to show you work for Michael Jackson and we can't even come out there? It was a pretty good day.
Paul:
That's cool. Did you ever have to work off site? I know Brad Sundberg got shipped over here and over there and was working off site a lot. Did you only stay at Neverland or did you work off site as well?
Al:
No, there was a couple of things I went on and did a little bit of stuff like when I went to the 30th anniversary. But basically, my job was Neverland take care of the music rides. So that's pretty much all I did. I mean, I snuck Michael off over to Lompolk a couple of times with 4 July to see fireworks. Lompolk, it's a town I guess the correct Punch Nation is Lompok, but anyway, it's a town about 30 miles going straight towards the ocean from Neverland and they do a big fireworks show there. And Michael really liked fireworks and he wanted us to get fireworks to shoot off at the ranch. But when you're in the middle of 2700 acres of nothing but sycamore trees and oak trees and in the summertime everything's dry and brown and serious fire hazard, we would have all went to jail for that. Not to mention the fact that it was fairly dangerous even though we had our own fire department. The fire captain in Lombok was friends with the fire captains at Neverland Fire Department and they arranged for us to sneak him in the back door. And there was only two people that knew we were coming, the fire captain and the sheriff that was guarding the back gate. And of course, once we got there, the rest of the fire guys figured out who it was. That was quite an experience. I did that a couple of times. That was an experience. Wow.
Paul:
Tell us what memories you've got of Michael's kids at Neverland.
Al:
It's funny because some people think that what's it like for a little kid to be at Neverland. Get to go do whatever they want, whenever they want. Well, I got to tell you, they enjoyed their time at the movie theater and they enjoyed their time at the amusement park. But it wasn't a free for all. They weren't allowed. I mean, they had a schedule. They would get up and they would do some family time in the morning. Then they would do studies and then lunch. And then maybe more studies after lunch. I mean, it was kind of like a school day for him. And then, okay, we can go down the amusement park for a half hour or we can go tonight after dinner. We can watch a movie or something. But they did have a blast there. And I remember one time you think with Michael Jackson's money, those kids should have all the coolest toys. And it's true that little kids can have fun with a cardboard box 100%. And I remember one time we had the storage room over across from the amusement park for the go carts. There was an area that was supposed to be like a shop. And of course, they got full of storage and whatnot. Anyway, somebody had been there moving things around, cleaning things out. And there was a bunch of empty cardboard boxes. And sure enough, Prince and Paris were both over there building like little they found a little trot, like a piano little thing with four wheels on it for moving furniture. They found one of those and they put a cardboard box on there, pushing each other around so kids can just entertain themselves with whatever's available. Actually, it was quite a bit later, I think I was probably telling the story to somebody when it dawned on me what a big deal it was. We had a school across the street. They had about 3000 acres. It was a huge ranch too. It was a private high school; I think it had 60 students. And this thing was like it cost as much to go to that school as it did to go to a university. And when we'd get the guest list, you'd read down the guest list and you'd see names of a list of names that you knew from Hollywood or whatever. But anyway, Michael wanted them to come over because they were neighbors. So, Michael wanted them to come over to the ranch once in a while and us to do a short he understands there in school and they have a strict guideline on what they can do. But he wants us to do something for him a couple of times a month or whatever. So, we worked out a deal with the headmaster that they'd come over just for a couple of hours in the evening, and they'd split it up into two groups. One time, Michael well, actually a few times Michael was there with them. And this particular one, the story I want to tell is we started out in the Air Cade, and then we took the steam train down the amusement park. We're in the arcade for about a half hour. Then we went down the amusement park for about a half hour, and then we were going to go on the movie theater and watch Ghost, because at that time and still today, ghost wasn't widely released. So, it was one place that you could see it. And of course, seeing it on that big screen in Michael's theater with that big sound system, it was quite an experience. So, we get them all in the theater, and then after that, I'm going to take them all the steam train back down to the house. And then they walked from there all the way back across the street, which is about a mile walk, but they walked back to school. So before go start, I always would get up and I would say, I would talk a little bit about the first time you see Michael in this. You're not going to recognize him. I said, he plays five parts. And I tell him Michael and Stephen King wrote the story, and Stan Winston, who's one of the biggest special effects guy, or gore special effects horror special effects guys in Hollywood. So, I tell him a little bit about it, and then I would tell him, when the video is over, stay and watch all the way through the credits because it shows Michael getting made up into all the different characters. So, then I give the projectionist the thumbs up, and he starts the video. And I'm out front in the snack bar stealing a Dr. Pepper and a candy bar, I think. And Michael comes out. He didn't say anything about me taking a soda and a candy bar. So he goes, Big Al, when the credits start. And I'm already thinking, hey, I already gave them instructions, but I let him finish. He goes, when the credits start, there's a girl in there who it's her birthday, and I want you to bring her in the dance studio. I said okay. Now, I don't know who it is, but I know where the headmaster is sitting. He's sitting right by the door towards the back. So, I'm just going to go get him and ask him who it is. I'm sure you've seen pictures of the dance. I wish I had one I could put up here, but I'm sure I do. But anyway, it's about got to be 40 foot long. Well, all the way at the far end, there was an old-fashioned rocking chair and it was kind of dimly lit. There was a lit light in the middle where he had the rivet heads for when he did the lean and he practiced right in there. So, it was kind of lit up there but down the back it was kind of in the shadows. So, I go to the headmaster and I ask him whose birthday it is and he points out the girl to me. So, I go and tap her on the shoulder and I said, you need to come with me if somebody wants to talk to him. And she's looking at me like, who the heck are you? Who the heck wants to talk to me? I think she was a little nervous at first about it. But anyway, I convinced her and we go out in the front lobby and she's looking around. I go that's over here. So, I go over to the doorway to the dance studio and I open it and I said, he's sitting down there in that chair and she's still a little nervous looking at me because it doesn't even look like anybody's sitting in it. I know he's down there and I have no idea what he's going to do. So, she starts walking down there and I thought, I really should just go away and mind my own business but I got to know what's going to happen here. And Michael, being the perfect performer is knows exactly what's going on around him all the time. As soon as she walked up, he kind of rolled out of the chair and took her hand and sang Happy Birthday, Jordan. I almost lost it. For one thing, it was a cool act of kindness for him to do. And the other thing was for me to be stand there and listen to Michael Jackson singing acapella about 40ft in front of me. I was pretty excited about that. But she was all excited and hysterical and everything. And like I said, months later when I was thinking about that and telling somebody about it I said to me, that kind of tells me a little bit about how he thinks about things that he does. A lot of entertainers that would have thought that was a cool thing to do. He would have went in there in front of all those kids and done it in theater. Yeah, he wanted that to be a special moment for her. He did that absolutely for her. He doesn't know it. Well, I guess he probably died. I'm sure he saw me stand there. He did it for me, too, but I got the benefit of being a bystander. But he really did that for her. And to me, that says a lot about how he thinks about that. It's not all about, obviously with all the stuff we did at Neverland it's not all about the publicity. This is another thing that kind of tells me how he I mean, he genuinely cares about people around him. Now, he'd been he had not been at the ranch in, I don't know, six months now. The last time he was at the ranch. This will kind of give away a little bit about where the story is going. But I had slipped going down this dirt embankment up by the steam train, and I don't know what I did to my knee, but I had to have arthroscopic surgery, and I was on crutches, and he was there and saw me on crutches to ask me what happened, blah, blah, blah. So now, six months later, we're having some friends of Michael's on property. And late at night, I don't know, probably about 09:00, I get a call. I got some of the kids in the amusement park riding rides, and I get a phone call from security, do you have the guests with you? And I said yes. And they said, can you take them to a phone, have a phone call? Well, I knew that had to be Michael because he checks on people after they've been there for a while. And he was in New York actually working in the studio. So, I take him over to theater because it's kind of a cold night. So, I take him over to the movie theater, and I have him transferred to there. And the security said, when you're done, transfer it to the house because the other guests want to talk to them, okay? So, I told the kids, I said, no, don't hang up. I need to transfer the call. So, I go outside and I'm on the golf cart, and, I mean, they talked for like an hour. And now it's 10:00 there. So, it's got to be midnight or 01:00 in the morning in New York, which doesn't mean anything because Michael, I'm sure, probably just taking a break from working in the studio. But all of a sudden, they come running out of the movie theater. And I said, Is he still on the phone? No, he said, but he'd call back. I said, okay. So, I told security. I said, he's going to call back. So, the kids go away, and about an hour later, I'm done shutting the steam train down, and I'm at the I'm at the depot. I didn't park it in the barn because the guests were going to stay overnight. So, I knew it had to be there in the morning. So, security calls and they go, Are you by a phone? I go, tell them, what the extension I was at? The phone rang, and I picked up, said hello, and it was Michael. He asked me, how are you doing? Blah, blah, blah. He goes, just kind of casual talk. I'm in New York, working on this, doing this, doing that. I'm thinking, this is weird. Again, I'm glad he's talking to me about this, but I really didn't understand where this was going. He goes, hey, how's your knee? And I'm like I'm looking down at my knee, I'm like, My knee? And he goes, he remembered more about my knee than I did, because I'm like, I had no idea what he's talking about. And he goes, well, last time I saw you were on crutches. How's your knee? I get surgery and I go I thought for a minute I go, that's just too cool. Not only did he remember, but he asked me about it anyway. So, then he goes, so you wanted to talk to me? I'm going again. I was confused. I'm like, I go, oh. I said no. I said, Actually, I was supposed to transfer the call to the house because the other guests wanted to talk to you. Okay. And then we just started talking more about him working in the studio and this and that, about whatever, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay. I don't know. We talked for like, 30 minutes or so, and I'm like, okay, I'm going to be back home before too long. I'll see you, okay? I thought man. Of course. When I hung up, I thought, well, that was cool. He thought I wanted to talk to him about somebody was returning my call. I said, I'm thinking if I was Michael Jackson, I wouldn't be returning that guy's call. I'm busy working in the studio in New York.
Paul:
So, you really had a sense that he cared and valued you?
Al:
Oh, yeah.
Paul:
And did the other staff members, do you think, that, you know, of felt valued and felt cared about?
Al:
I never heard anybody share any stories, but I have no doubt that he did. You would see him like a guy would be working. Michael was very adamant about he wanted the one of the grounds to look very nice, a lot of flowers, and we had an incredible ground staff. Actually, it was three different I think it was irrigation, trees, flowers, and yards. There's four departments that made up the grounds, and they all did just unbelievable when you think about the massive I mean, they didn't have to take care of the whole ranch, but the house property behind me between that and the amusement park is 40 or 50 acres of yards and flower beds and what. So, it was a lot of work, and they did an incredible job. They came in at 730 in the morning and went home at seven in the morning and went home at 330 in the afternoon. And they really didn't interact with the guests or Mr. Jackson, but when he was around, if he was around and wasn't necessarily with any guests, but if he was there a day before, a day after, or just walking. Around and saw somebody working, he would go and talk to him, and he would thank him. And he would tell him what a great job they're doing. It's funny, because one of our firefighters, we got a new piece of firefighting apparatus, what they call a quick attack truck. It's kind of a small it's like a two-ton pickup with a big utility bed, and it's got a water tank and a fire hose. Anyway, we got one of those. And this particular firefighter was saying, you know, I don't think Michael even knows we got a new fire truck. Now, where we're standing, we're standing down by the security office, down by the house, and he's in front of me, facing the security office. And I'm right by the door of the security office facing out. And the truck is parked over about 100ft from us. And I can see Michael walking over to it, and he actually opens the door and gets in. And I tell he's like, fiddling with the buttons and stuff. And I go, man, are you going to be sorry when you turn around? Yeah. He was very appreciative of the people. And when we put the jumbotron at Neverland, I got to know a lot of the people that weren't part of the tour. And the same guys came back. I mean, they loved working for him, and the same guys came back all the time. And they would tell me that he was really good about making sure that every single person knew how important they were and what a big part of making that tour happen and how thankful he was. So that was nice to hear. I mean, he was good about that.
Paul:
Yeah, I've heard that's a reoccurring theme with most of the people I've spoken to. Do you still know where any of the rides are? I know some are back in Neverland, but the ones that aren't, do you know where any of them are?
Al:
I started working on a list during COVID and I tracked down I'd say I tracked down at least six or eight of them that I know where they're at. Actually, two carnivals that work mostly in California bought quite a few of the pieces. The big swing ride, which originally came from Carnival time shows, which was owned by Larry Davis and his son in law, formed a carnival and he actually brought the ride up, set it up, and he'd come up once. A year and just go over some maintenance stuff with me. He told me because his father-in-law bought that ride brand new from Germany. And it was a beautiful, beautiful piece of equipment and very well built. And he said, if you ever sell this thing, you got to make sure that I'm the one that gets it back. He goes, this is like one of my children here. And I understood that. I absolutely understood it. And it ended up back with him. And then his son ended up taking over the show. So, it actually plays a big music festival that I do every year in May, electric Daisy Carnival. They've changed the lights over to Led because everybody's going to led, but actually, I posted a video of it last year at EDC and letting everybody know that Michael's rides up and running.
Paul:
Yes.
Al:
Then one of the sea dragons was actually what they call a park model. It wasn't portable, so it actually went to a small park. And I actually found a video that a couple of I don't know, I think they were Michael fans. They tracked it down, they wrote it, and they did a video. But I'd have to look back in my notes, but I think I found most of the bumper cars is set up as a permanent structure at the California state fairgrounds, which is called cal expo, and it's still there. I'm trying to find out if the state wants to sell it and see if I could get it back at neverland, but working with the state might take a while to get that figured out. Anyway, I found most of them. The carousel is still in storage and.
Paul:
Still owned by the estate.
Al:
Yeah, the carousel and both trains never got sold because the ranch closed up and things started leaving before a couple of years before Michael passed away. He was adamant about both trains. The steam train was named after his mom, and there's a beautiful plaque in the train depot. I wish I had a picture of it, but I respected as no picture thing. But it was a beautiful plaque, had a picture of her in her younger days. It was kind of a black and white picture. And it had a nice thing that he wrote underneath it about the loving care that went into restoring this train. And he compared that to the loving care that his mom gave all these kids and blah, blah, blah. Anyway, so the train was named to Katherine, so it went to storage, and the small train went to storage, and the carousel went to storage, and the carousel had a lot of custom artwork and a lot of custom poetry painted on it. He wanted it kept in storage. So, all three of those pieces are still owned by the estate.
Paul:
Well, maybe someday you'll get to ride that train again.
Al:
Well, I can tell you the small train story. And this was kind of like listening to him saying happy birthday and made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I'm at the ranch recently doing an inspection. I'm checking the railroad track because it hasn't been attended to forever. Since Michael passed away. Pretty much, yeah. And I'm walking now. It's 2 miles of track, so it takes well over an hour to walk the whole track. So, I'm all the way at the back. It's late enough in the evening. I don't think there was too many employees still on property. And I get back there, and the train is hooked up, and the lights are on, the rope lighting is on, and it's hooked up to a battery charger. And they told me that earlier in the day, the electricians were down there working on the lights. Anyway, so I go down there. I'm walking around the train, and I'm looking doing an inspection of the train and all the cars. I'm down there for, like, I don't know, 15 minutes. And all of a sudden, the music on the small train starts playing. And that kind of shocked me for a minute because I'm looking around like that. I've been down here for 15 or 20 minutes, and nobody's down here. How did that thing if it was on repeat, it would have started. It probably would have been playing when I walked up there. And anyway, then I realized, not only is it playing, it's playing the same CD that Brad Sunburn made that was custom made with stuff that Michael wanted on it. And that CD was in there 13 years ago when that train got hauled out of there. Wow. And then I'm looking around like Michael's down here watching me. It was a hair-raising moment for me, I got to say that.
Paul:
Yeah, I've got hairs on the back of my neck to tear you.
Al:
It's actually very important that I share these stories. I think everybody that worked there that has any similar stories, it's important to Michael's legacy because there's so many people out there that don't have an opinion one way or another or have a negative opinion, but they're not judgmental enough. Where maybe they might actually sit down and listen to some of these stories and realize, hey, maybe they give this guy a break.
Paul:
You're a genuine guy, and you come across as a genuine guy. And we, as the MJ FAM, as we call it, appreciate it.
Al:
That's part of the reason I feel the love, I feel the appreciation. And then again, like I said, they've all kind of helped me understand how important it is. So, I'm up for it. I'm ready
Paul:
I know it's difficult because Michael was a private person, and there's a lot about privacy, but at the same time, when the vultures are coming out and spreading so much crap and hate, it's good to have some truth and some people to stand up and say, well, no, here's the truth, and it's good to hear. So, I appreciate it. We appreciate it. So, thank you.