website Edward Scissorhands The Addams Family, The Nightmare Before Christmas City of Ember Black Beauty Snow White Vice: So you wrote the Michael Jackson movie that never happened? Caroline Thompson: The Addams Family Batman Oh yeah, he killed himself, right? Batman MidKnight Right. Well, he urged us over the fence, so we were all gathered round staring at the lion asleep, and Michael hollered out and clapped his hands and the lion woke up and sprang at Amy, and she squealed and back-pedaled and fell over the fence and landed flat on her ass, and Michael laughed his head off. I mean, gales of laughter. And he said, “He always goes after the smallest person in the group.” He laughed and laughed and laughed. It was a strange experience. We went to the movie theatre on his ranch, where on either side of the seats towards the back there were glass rooms that had hospital beds in them. I couldn’t tell if that was where Michael liked to sit or if that was for guests. And then, when we finished the script, I got a phone call from Michael. At the time, I thought it was my then-boyfriend Danny Elfman playing a joke on me, so when I heard the voice go: “Hi Caroline, it’s Michael Jackson,” I answered, “Hi Michael!” in this Michael Jackson voice. Then I thought, Oh fuck, and I quickly worked out that it fucking was him, and he realized that I automatically made fun of him, and I don’t have any memory of what he said; I was just blushing and sweating the entire conversation. Was that the last time you spoke to him? Did you like him? Did you talk about films with him? I would imagine that he would have been an Edward Scissorhands fan. Edward Scissorhands Edward Scissorhands So what happened to the project? What had he worked with Kubrick on? Full Metal Jacket So Edward Scissorhands was your first film; did you have the whole story planned out when you wrote it? Carrie I’m sure. What can you tell me about your first novel, First Born? Edward Scissorhands First Born Nice! Fair enough, I guess. By abortion do you mean he grew up to be a proper child, or was he something monstrous? There’s a really cheap horror film I saw once called Sewage Baby. Yeah, it’s about this abortion creature who goes through the sewers, then makes its way up into town and starts killing people. I think. Is it a similar view of how you presented it in Edward Scissorhands? Edward Scissorhands First Born Jane Eyre And Hollywood picked up the rights to the book, right? The Exorcist, The French Connection] The Exorcist Yeah!