I’ll be there: what the film tells us… and what it reinvents
THIRD ALBUMRECENT
Why do the Jackson 5 sing I’ll Be There at an amusement park?
Is this scene historically accurate?
In the biopic
At the beginning of the Michael biopic, the Jackson 5 perform I’ll Be There at an amusement park in front of a local crowd. The scene accompanies the group’s rise and illustrates Michael Jackson’s early years as a performer.
At first glance, the sequence seems entirely plausible. Before being discovered by Motown, the Jackson 5 did perform hundreds of shows at schools, shopping centers, clubs, and local events.
However, one historical detail quickly stands out…
Verdict
🟡 Partially accurate.
The Jackson 5 did begin their career performing at this type of event.
They did perform the song I’ll Be There.
However, the choice of song creates a chronological problem.
Why is this scene anachronistic?
The issue is the song.
I’ll Be There was recorded in the summer of 1970 and released on August 28, 1970. By that point, the Jackson 5 were no longer a young local group.
They had already become Motown’s newest stars.
Before its release, they had already scored three major hits:
I Want You Back
ABC
The Love You Save
I’ll Be There would go on to become their fourth consecutive number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, a record for a new Motown group at the time.
By then, the Jackson 5 were performing in major venues, appearing regularly on American television, and were known across the country.
Yet the scene in the film gives the impression that they are still at the beginning of their journey.
The real timeline
In other words, by the time the Jackson 5 were actually performing I’ll Be There, they were no longer a group playing at local events.
The film blends several different periods
Books
JACKSON, Michael. Moonwalk. New York: Doubleday, 1988.
→ Primary source for placing I’ll Be There within the Motown era and the Jackson 5’s rise to fame.THE JACKSONS; BRONSON, Fred. The Jacksons: Legacy: From the Family Archives. London: Thames & Hudson, 2017.
→ A book devoted to the history of the Jackson family, featuring extensive family archives and material on the Motown years.LECOCQ, Richard; ALLARD, François. Michael Jackson : La Totale. Les 263 chansons et 41 clips expliqués. Paris: E/P/A, 2020.
→ Provides information on the history of I’ll Be There, its recording, its songwriters, and its place in the Jackson 5’s career.TARABORRELLI, J. Randy. Michael Jackson: The Magic, the Madness, the Whole Story, 1958–2009. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 2009.
→ Biography providing context for the song within the Jackson 5’s rise to fame and young Michael’s career.
Articles
THOMPSON, Simon. “‘Michael’ Director Antoine Fuqua on Jaafar Jackson’s Brilliance, Los Angeles, and Bringing ‘Thriller’ Back to Life.” The Credits / Motion Picture Association, April 21, 2026.
→ Interview with Antoine Fuqua about his approach to authenticity and the way Michael’s songs are used in the film, sometimes as genuine narrative devices.
Read the Antoine Fuqua interviewSony Music. “Michael: Songs From the Motion Picture to Be Released via Sony Music April 24,” 2026.
→ Official source for the biopic’s soundtrack, confirming that I’ll Be There is among the songs featured on the film’s official album.
View the official soundtrack announcement
Videos
Classic Motown. “Jackson 5 – I'll Be There (Lyric Video),” 2021.
→ Official Motown version of I’ll Be There, recorded by the Jackson 5 and released in 1970.
Watch “I’ll Be There” on YouTubeThe Ed Sullivan Show. “The Jackson 5 – I Want You Back,” performance from December 14, 1969.
→ The Jackson 5’s first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. This archival performance helps place the group in the period before the release of I’ll Be There in 1970.
Watch the Jackson 5 performance on The Ed Sullivan Show
Other sources
FUQUA, Antoine (dir.). Michael. Lionsgate, 2026.
→ Primary source for the scene analyzed and for the way I’ll Be There is positioned within the biopic’s chronology.
Why was this song chosen?
This scene actually seems to merge two distinct periods in the group’s history.
On the one hand:
their many performances before Motown;
the talent contests held in and around Gary.
On the other:
a song that already belongs to the height of their early Motown success.
The film uses the same device elsewhere. Several critics have pointed out songs placed outside their actual chronological context, including Big Boy and Never Can Say Goodbye, which are used at points in the story when they had not yet been released.
The I’ll Be There scene appears to follow the same narrative approach, even though journalists have not specifically commented on this particular sequence.
What the Jackson 5 actually sang before Motown
No interview with Antoine Fuqua or screenwriter John Logan specifically explains this choice.
However, Fuqua has said that each musical number needed to move the story forward and convey an emotion, rather than simply stringing together Michael Jackson’s greatest hits.
From that perspective, I’ll Be There offers several advantages.
It is instantly recognizable.
It showcases young Michael’s extraordinary voice.
And it evokes the emergence of a performer capable of conveying emotion far beyond his years.
What this scene reveals about Michael Jackson
Before signing with Motown, the Jackson 5 mainly performed songs by artists who inspired Michael and his brothers:
James Brown
Smokey Robinson
The Temptations
Jackie Wilson
Sam & Dave
These covers were much more representative of the group’s actual performances in the clubs and talent contests around Gary.
The choice of I’ll Be There therefore seems to be a compromise between historical accuracy and cinematic effectiveness.
My analysis
Even if the chronology is approximate, this sequence conveys something important.
The film no longer shows simply a child who can sing.
It shows an artist capable of moving his audience.
That was precisely what set Michael Jackson apart from a very young age.
Berry Gordy would later explain that I’ll Be There revealed an extraordinary vocal maturity in a boy who was only eleven years old.
The song also marks a turning point: Michael is no longer simply the young lead singer of the Jackson 5, but becomes the group’s true focal point.
Fiction or reality?
In my view, the screenwriters were probably not trying to recreate one specific concert.
Instead, they chose to condense several years of the group’s career into a single scene.
The amusement park represents their formative years.
I’ll Be There, meanwhile, represents the emergence of Michael’s extraordinary talent.
Historically, these two elements never coincided.
Narratively, however, they allow the film to convey in just a few minutes the Jackson 5’s journey from a family group in Gary to a national phenomenon.
Sources
✅ The Jackson 5 did perform at local events before Motown.
❌ They did not perform I’ll Be There at those events, as the song was not recorded until 1970, when they were already national stars.
The biopic therefore blends several periods of their history in order to simplify the narrative.
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