Where are Michael Jackson’s giant statues 30 years later?

In June 1995, a giant Michael Jackson statue provided surrealistic views in the heart of London when it was floating on a barge along the Thames River.

This 32 -feet (10m) pop colossus was just one of the 10th that appeared around the world to promote the superstar album history: past, present and future, book.

The fiberglass titans then followed Jackson in their global tour.

Thirty years later – and 16 years after his death – the King of Pop continues to attract disputes, but some of the statues still stand challenging in unexpected angles of the world.

Jackson’s double album was a combination of his biggest hits along with 15 new songs, including Earth Song, which will spend six weeks on top of the United Kingdom ranking.

In America, sculptor Diana Walchak consults the pop star to create a clay sculpture that was digitally scanned for the cover of the album.

Hertfordshire -based artist Stephen Pyle, who built world -class world productions kits, was asked by an employee of Sony, called Robbie Williams (not this) to make 10 huge statues based on this album.

He hired the sculptor Derek Howard to make the statue in polystyrene sections that G -n Pyle uses to make fiberglass shapes and castings.

Everything was gathered at Chris and Liz Clark’s workshop at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, where they were painted to look like a stone.

The team worked without access to the prototype of the Walczak, which led to the fact that they looked a little different.

G -n Pyle says: “Making 10 statues in four months was quite a challenge, but thanks to Derek, Chris, Liz and the rest of my workshop team at that time, we became a rather effective factory for Michael Jackson’s monoliths!”

The fates of some of the statues are uncertain and may have been locked in storage or destruction. But others remained in some incredible places.

For many years, a king of a pop monument has been rising above McDonald’s parking in the village of Best in the Netherlands.

Restaurant owner Peter van Gelder has bought the Sony statue in the 1996 charity gala for Ronald McDonald’s Children’s Fund.

“The restaurant just opened up and there was still no big yellow m,” he says. “It was my intention to delay it as an eye -catching eye.”

Jackson fans began to flock to the spot, took pictures and played their music. The crowds became so frequent that Peter had to be enclosed by the statue to stop people from getting on it.

Every year on Jackson’s birthday and on the day he died, she becomes a sanctuary, with fans gathering to play music, hang photos and leave flowers.

Things changed in 2019 after HBO left the documentary of Neverland new allegations of sexual abuse of children against Jackson.

“There was no such strong reaction in the Netherlands and my intention was just to leave the statue there,” Peter explained.

But he said the pressure from the US fast food headquarters led to its removal and storage in a “secret place”.

McDonald’s tells the BBC: “In 2019, after the documentary, it was decided to remove the statue.

“We felt and we think it was important for all guests to feel comfortable when visiting one of our restaurants.”

Peter hopes to donate the statue to a fan club, but because of its size, a building permit is required. “Many have approached me, but no one has been able to obtain permission yet,” he says.

“The years have passed from his death and I noticed that interest in the statue is decreasing … So the statue of Michael Jackson is under a target in a small shed.”

The yard of an abandoned club in a small town 18 miles (30 km) west of Vienna is not the place you would expect to find a towering epiga of the King of Pop.

Owner Franz Joseph Zika won the statue in 1998 at a radio charity auction to help the Red Cross and spent 150,000 Austrian shillings (£ 9,300).

He remembers, “The big problem was when I got home and I had to tell my uncle who was the boss of the family, and he said,” You are crazy! “

Baby’o visitors to Judenau-Baumgarten may have been surprised that they found Michael Jackson in the smoking area, but Franz saw him as a great way to promote his club.

“There were also many bars next to the statue, so there was a party around Jackson,” he says.

Last year, the club was forced to close after a new residential building was built nearby.

Now Franz wants to find someone to open a small cafe or pizzeria in the place, but first you need to get rid of pop monolith.

He said, “I’ve been trying to sell it for two years. I’ll be glad if I get 25,000 euros (£ 21,000) for that.

“I had interest from Sweden and some in Hungary, but the problem is that people don’t have enough money.”

What if he can’t find a buyer? “We don’t know. Maybe I’ll send it to Mars. Elon will do this to me!” He laughs.

For more than 50 years in Lausanne, Switzerland has been held an annual event on the fair playground called Luna Park.

It is among these flashing lights and brightly colored rides that another Jackson statue can be found.

He received a slight renovation, with the gold paint added to his artificial military uniform.

The organizers tell the BBC that they bought it in 2008 from a man who bought it since Sony years earlier.

The statue has not been shown for several years, but they do not say why – but they emphasize that it is not sold.

When Jackson brought his history of history to South Africa, he had one of the 10 statues with him.

Santarama Miniland, which opened in Johannesburg in the 1970s, to show Miniature Country in Miniature, has already been abandoned.

The attractions have been removed and the miniature train no longer works, but the repainted MJ Monolith is still standing, visible in Google Earth satellite images.

Blogger Heather Mason from 2summers.net visited the park in 2013.

She remembers: “It was quite strange to see a giant blue statue of Michael Jackson in the middle of a minny, where the common topic is to make things less than life, not more than life.

“But I certainly appreciated it! The MJ statue was the best photo in the park.”

A fresh layer of paint and a new pair of sunglasses did not make this figure of fiberglass too unrecognizable.

In June 2019, Europark Idroscalo Milano introduced the “restored” statue after a flashmom with Jackson’s theme.

The Dector said to the collected crowd, “This statue is dedicated to all of you who have continued to love it over the years.”

The dramatic revelation came only months after the documentary “Leaving Neverland”.

A park spokesman tells the BBC that the statue was purchased at the end of the tour, but remained abandoned for many years before it was in the park.

They said that the titan had covered his face for a while after allegations of violence against children, because the owners of the park at that time “did not want to show that MJ welcomed children to the park, so he was transformed almost into a robot.”

Despite the work to recover and repainted the statue, the owners of the park have already released the updated statue of sale.