Michael Jackson’s sounds engineer reveals the genius origins of ‘Annie’ from ‘Smooth Criminal’ |
With the latest Michael Jackson biopic taking the box office by storm, the late singer and his work are back in the pop culture zeitgeist. Now, even more lore has been added to the conversation, courtesy of Jackson’s longtime personal sound engineer, Matt Forger.
In an interview with Anthony Marinelli, Forger revealed the inspiration behind the character Annie in “Smooth Criminal,” saying that while on tour with the Jackson 5, each of the brothers took a CPR class, where they practiced on a Resusci Anne doll. Part of the protocol was asking, “Annie, are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?” to check a patient’s condition.
“That catchphrase sort of stayed in his memory,” Forger said, noting it as one of many examples of Jackson’s innate gift for songwriting. Like many of the greats, Jackson was able to expertly pinpoint hooks with the most emotional punch and build out full-blown stories from there.
In the song lyrics, we get a story of a woman attacked in her apartment by a “smooth criminal,” who breaks in through the window and then violently strikes the victim. By the second verse, Annie is being resuscitated, seemingly to no avail.
The doll has a fascinating, dark history
Anne’s story began in France in the late 1880s, when the body of an unidentified teenage girl was found in the River Seine. Unlike the case in “Smooth Criminal,” there was no evidence of violence at the scene. Presumably, the girl had taken her own life. Death masks were still a common ritual, and one was created for her to immortalize the eerily calm expression she left behind, as some legends say. It became so popular that it was mass-produced.
Fast forward to the late 1950s, when Norwegian toy maker and publisher Åsmund S. Laerdal was commissioned to create a realistic, life-sized manikin for training people in the new mouth-to-mouth resuscitation method. He recalled seeing one of these masks in his in-laws’ home and felt it was the perfect expression for the dummy.
Today, Resusci Anne is also known as “the most kissed girl in the world” since millions of trainees have performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on her over the decades.
You would think this connection is well known among those who have learned CPR. But judging from the comments on Forger’s interview, it’s still a largely buried fact:
“Wow, too many times I have said, ‘Annie are you ok” and proceeded to give compressions and then 3 breaths. I never made the connection.”
“I studied CPR last year and the mannequin was called Annie but I thought it was because of the song, didn’t realise the mannequin Annie came first.”
“I took CPR but never put that together about this song.”
Whether you’re into obscure history, pop music, or fun explainers, this story has just what you’re looking for. It also goes to show just how deeply interconnected our world is. Thanks to a bit of human creativity, a tragic mystery from 19th-century France turned into a life-saving training tool, followed by one of pop’s most iconic songs. There really is an endless supply of inspiration.
A single door can open up a world of endless possibilities. For homeowners, the front door of their house is a gateway to financial stability, job security, and better health. Yet for many, that door remains closed. Due to the rising costs of housing, 1 in 3 people around the world wake up without the security of safe, affordable housing.
Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has made it their mission to unlock and open the door to opportunity for families everywhere, and their efforts have paid off in a big way. Through their work over the past 50 years, more than 65 million people have gained access to new or improved housing, and the movement continues to gain momentum. Since 2011 alone, Habitat for Humanity has expanded access to affordable housing by a hundredfold.
A world where everyone has access to a decent home is becoming a reality, but there’s still much to do. As they celebrate 50 years of building, Habitat for Humanity is inviting people of all backgrounds and talents to be part of what comes next through Let’s Open the Door, a global campaign that builds on this momentum and encourages people everywhere to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for those who need it most. Here’s how the foundation to a better world starts with housing, and how everyone can pitch in to make it happen.
Globally, almost 3 billion people, including 1 in 6 U.S. families, struggle with high costs and other challenges related to housing. A crisis in itself, this also creates larger problems that affect families and communities in unexpected ways. People who lack affordable, stable housing are also more likely to experience financial hardship in other areas of their lives, since a larger share of their income often goes toward rent, utilities, and frequent moves. They are also more likely to experience health problems due to chronic stress or environmental factors, such as mold. Housing insecurity also goes hand-in-hand with unstable employment, since people may need to move further from their jobs or switch jobs altogether to offset the cost of housing.
Affordable homeownership creates a stable foundation for families to thrive, reducing stress and increasing the likelihood for good health and stable employment. Habitat for Humanity builds and repairs homes with individual families, but it also strengthens entire communities as well. The MicroBuild® Initiative, for example, strengthens communities by increasing access to loans for low-income families seeking to build or repair their homes. Habitat ReStore locations provide affordable appliances and building materials to local communities, in addition to creating job and volunteer opportunities that support neighborhood growth.
Everyone can play a part in the fight for housing equity and the pursuit of a better world. Over the past 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has become a leader in global housing thanks to an engaged network of volunteers—but you don’t need to be skilled with a hammer to make a meaningful impact. Building an equitable future means calling on a wide range of people and talents.Here’s how you can get involved in the global housing movement:
Speaking up on social media about the growing housing crisis
Volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build in your local community
Travel and build with Habitat in the U.S. or in one of 60 countries where we work around the globe
Join the Let’s Open the Door movement and, when you donate, you can create your own personalized door
Shop or donate at your local Habitat ReStore
Every action, big and small, drives a global movement toward a better future. A safe home unlocks opportunity for families and communities alike, but it’s volunteers and other supporters, working together with a shared vision, who can open the door for everyone.
Visit habitat.org/open-door to learn more and get involved today.
Actor Matthew Lillard can trigger Millennial nostalgia like few others. He was perfectly cast in the popular Scooby-Doo films of the early aughts as Norville “Shaggy” Rogers and appeared as Stu Macher in the original Scream (1996). He also had memorable roles in She’s All That (1999), Thirteen Ghosts (2001), and Without a Paddle (2004).
Lillard’s career began to cool down in the late ‘00s. Although he never went away, he transitioned from a comedic performer to starring in dramatic roles, most notably in 2017’s Twin Peaks: The Return. However, now, after the lead role in the massive 2023 horror hit, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Lillard is in the midst of a comeback, starring in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (2025), The Life of Chuck (2024), and the Marvel series Daredevil: Born Again.
Lillard talked about his recent success with a refreshing sense of gratitude and humility on a recent episode of the Phase Hero podcast, hosted by Brandon Davis.
“Scooby-Doo one and two are more popular now than they ever were when they came out,” Lillard said. “So I do think there’s a weird nostalgia thing happening in our industry and in the zeitgeist, because I think that people are longing for ye olde times.”
“I think that’s one of the reasons I’m having this moment, to be honest, is because I was identified in that moment, so people are hiring me again,” he added. “That’s why I’m working. I don’t think anyone really likes me. They just missed the old times. ‘Who should we get? Who’s old and relatively warm and fuzzy feeling? Let’s get Matthew Lillard. Talented? No. But do we like him? Yes.’”
Matthew Lillard says Quentin Tarantino dissing him "sucked" and felt like he got "punched in the mouth" “It felt like I had died and was in heaven watching everyone send out their RIP tweets, sort of living through nice things people say after........