Can I come home now, Daddy? Bubbles in his Neverland glory days. Photograph: Jacqueline Sallow/Corbis
And so to a new occasional feature, upon which we'll confer the name Lost in Showbiz: Behind the Music. Or rather, Lost in Showbiz: After the Music, because it focuses on the once-adored stars who have slipped from public view either as a result of personal problems, or just the fickle machinations of fate. What happens to them when the world moves on?
Our first subject will be Bubbles, the chimp who for so long seemed a useful lightning rod for Michael Jackson's radical nurturing tendencies, but who was exiled from the Neverland Ranch just prior to Daddy's child molestation trial after developing some kind of anger-management problem. (Why am I imagining him biting a social worker in frustration after they completely failed to guess his "I have grave concerns over the content of the Jesus Juice cans" mime?)
Anyway, you'd assume he would now be propping up some bar on the wrong side of town, telling anyone who'd listen embittered stories about how he used to be Bubbles. The chimp sign language for that is just repeatedly smacking oneself on the head, so you can imagine the extra poignance that would add.
Happily, though, this week's Reveal magazine carries an interview with Bubbles' new custodian - Bob Dunn, who owns an animal ranch in the Sylmar suburb of Los Angeles.
"He's in his 20s now," Bob explains. "We don't know his exact age because we don't know his early background."
Right. Sometimes it's best not to ask too many questions. But for a chimp who once had his own PA and bodyguard, Bubbles has faced the challenges of downsizing with bravery. "From his pen," Bob continues, "Bubbles can see giraffes, monkeys and chimps which we've trained as extras for Hollywood films."
Truly, it was the pictures that got small.
