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Every year, there seems to be a surprise hit at the box office--a film that comes out of nowhere and becomes so popular, a sequel is inevitable.
In 1971, that film was "Willard," the story of a boy and his pet rat. Yup.
In 1972, the sequel was released, "Ben:" the story a rat and his pet boy.
The sequel was not very good, but the title song was an award winner!
The filmmakers wanted Donny Osmond to record "Ben," and he probably would have had a hit with it...but he was too busy touring, so they asked Michael Jackson instead.
Good move! The song became Michael's first #1 solo hit, topping the charts in the US and Australia. Not only that, it won the Golden Globe for "Best Song" and was nominated for the "Best Song" Oscar! (It lost to Maureen McGovern's "The Morning After" from "The Poseidon Adventure.")
"Ben" by Michael Jackson: A "Great Song of '72" from a "not-so-great" movie about a rat. (I was going to call it a "cheesy" movie about a rat, but I refused to fall into THAT trap!) :-)
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