Good Morning America aired some very special, previously unseen home video footage of Michael Jackson in happier times with his young children, Prince Michael Joseph and Paris Michael Katherine in the years between 1999-2003 … at a time when he was still happily married to his second wife Debbie Rowe, was still living at the Neverland Ranch, before the birth of his third child (Prince Michael Joseph, II aka Blanket) and before he was brought up on a second round of charges of child molestation. The home video is painfully sweet and gives us a different look at the man that we believed we knew. Here are a few screencaps from the GMA footage that has been made available:

Those of you who remember this period in MJ‘s life know that he was absolutely private and generally out of public eye for some time. It was ages before we saw him out and about with his children. It was not until he agreed to do the interview with Martin Bashir, Living with Michael Jackson, (after the birth of his third child) that he really opened himself up to the media (and, as you may recall, it was one of the young boys who was featured in that interview that leveled the second round of child molestation charges against him). The home video comes from an earlier, more innocent time. It really is something to see — after the jump, check it out in full …

This is absolutely a side of MJ that not many have seen. It’s easy to see how much he loved his children. I’m not sure if more of this home video will be made available to the public but just seeing this glimpse gives me new insight on the late Michael Jackson. His family looked so happy back then … it’s really comforting to know that MJ really did experience true happiness in his lifetime.

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