MTV initially refused to air the video for Billie Jean, as the network's executives felt black music did not fit into rock-centered network. Walter Yetnikoff, the president of Jackson's record company CBS Records, was enraged by their refusal to play the video in spite of Jackson's success as a musical artist. Yetnikoff threatened to go public with MTV's stance on racial discrimination: "I said to MTV, 'I'm pulling everything we have off the air, all our product. I'm not going to give you any more videos. And I'm going to go public and fucking tell them about the fact you don't want to play music by a black guy.'" MTV relented and the Billie Jean music video debuted on March 10, 1983. After the video was aired in heavy rotation, Thriller went on to sell an additional 10 million copies. It was one of the first videos by a black artist to be aired regularly by the channel.

Directed by Steve Barron, produced by Gowers Fields Flattery, the video shows a photographer who follows Jackson. The paparazzo never catches him, and when photographed Jackson fails to materialize on the developed picture. He dances to Billie Jean's hotel room and as he walks along a sidewalk, each tile lights up at his touch. After he performs a quick spin, Jackson jumps and lands, freeze framed, on his toes. Upon arrival at the hotel, Jackson climbs the staircase to Billie Jean's room. Each step lights up as he touches it and a burnt out Hotel sign illuminates as he passes. The paparazzo then arrives at the scene and watches as Jackson vanishes under the covers of Billie Jean's bed. Trailed by the police, the paparazzo is then arrested for spying on Billie Jean. As the paparazzo is led away, he drops a tiger-print cloth – the one that Jackson produces and uses to polish his shoe earlier in the video. On both occasions, the cloth briefly transforms into a tiger cub. Once the street is empty the paving tiles again light up in sequence, reversing Jackson's earlier progress.

Jackson sported a new look for the video; Jackson's clothes, a black leather suit with a pink shirt and a red bow tie, were copied by children around the US. Imitation became so severe that, despite pupil protests, Bound Brook High School didn't allow students to wear a single white glove like Jackson had on during the performance of Billie Jean at Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever.

The short film was inducted into the Music Video Producers Hall of Fame in 1992. In a 2005 poll of 31 pop stars, video directors, agents, and journalists conducted by telecommunications company 3, the music video was ranked fifth in their Top 20 Music Videos Ever. The video was also ranked as the 35th greatest music video in a list compiled by MTV and TV Guide at the millennium. On June 10, 2021, Billie Jean became the first 1980s clip by a solo artist to reach 1 billion views on YouTube.

The music video for Beat It helped establish Jackson as an international pop icon. The video was Jackson's first treatment of black youth and the streets. Both Beat It and Thriller are notable for their mass choreography of synchronized dancers, a Jackson trademark.

The video, which cost Jackson $150,000 to create after CBS refused to finance it, was filmed on Los Angeles' Skid Row—mainly on locations on East 5th Street—around March 9, 1983. To add authenticity to the production but also to foster peace between them, Jackson had the idea to cast members of rival Los Angeles street gangs Crips and Bloods. In addition to around 80 genuine gang members, the video, which is noted for opening up many job opportunities for dancers in the US, also featured 18 professional dancers and four breakdancers. Besides Jackson, Michael Peters, and Vincent Paterson, the cast included Michael DeLorenzo, Stoney Jackson, Tracii Guns, Tony Fields, Peter Tram, Rick Stone and Cheryl Song. The bar location shown in the latter part of the first minute of the video was also featured 13 years earlier in the gatefold and on the back cover of the Doors 1970 album, Morrison Hotel. Coincidentally, the name of that skid row bar, the Hard Rock Café, was also the inspiration for the London original of the famous chain of restaurants begun in 1971.

The video was written and directed by Bob Giraldi, produced by Ralph Cohen, Antony Payne and Mary M. Ensign through the production company GASP. The second video released for the Thriller album, it was choreographed by Peters who also performed, alongside Vincent Paterson, as one of the two lead dancers. Despite some sources claiming otherwise, Jackson was involved in creating some parts of the choreography. Jackson asked Giraldi, at the time already an established commercial director but who had never directed a music video, to come up with a concept for the Beat It video because he really liked a commercial Giraldi had directed for WLS-TV in Chicago about a married couple of two elderly blind people who instead of running from a run-down neighborhood all the other white people had fled from, chose to stay and throw a block party for all the young children in the area. Contrary to popular belief, the concept of the video was not based on the Broadway musical West Side Story; in reality, Giraldi drew inspiration from his growing up in Paterson, New Jersey.

The video had its world premiere on MTV during prime time on March 31, 1983;  neither Beat It nor Billie Jean were, as is often claimed, the first music video by an African-American artist to be played on MTV. Soon after its premiere the video was also running on other video programs including BET's Video Soul, SuperStation WTBS's Night Tracks, and NBC's Friday Night Videos. In fact, Beat It was the first video shown on the latter's first ever telecast on July 29, 1983.

The video opens with the news of a fight circulating at a diner. This scene repeats itself at a pool hall, where gang members arrive and the song begins to play. The camera cuts to Jackson lying on a bed as he contemplates the senseless violence. Jackson dons a red leather J. Parks brand jacket and dances his way towards the fight through the diner and pool hall. A knife fight is taking place between the two gang leaders in a warehouse. They dance battle for an interlude of music until Jackson arrives; he breaks up the fight and launches into a dance routine. The video ends with the gang members joining him in the dance, agreeing that violence is not the solution to their problems.

The video received recognition through numerous awards. The American Music Awards named the short film their Favorite Pop/Rock Video and their Favorite Soul Video. The Black Gold Awards honored Jackson with the Best Video Performance award. The Billboard Video Awards recognized the video with 7 awards; Best Overall Video Clip, Best Performance by a Male Artist, Best Use of Video to Enhance a Song, Best Use of Video to Enhance an Artist's Image, Best Choreography, Best Overall Video and Best Dance/Disco 12". The short film was ranked by Rolling Stone as the No. 1 video, in both their critic's and reader's polls. The video was later inducted into the Music Video Producer's Hall of Fame.

The music video of the song appears on the video albums: Video Greatest Hits – HIStory, HIStory on Film, Volume II, Number Ones, on the bonus DVD of Thriller 25 and Michael Jackson's Vision.

The music video for Thriller references numerous horror films, and stars Jackson performing a dance routine with a horde of the undead. It was directed by horror director John Landis and written by Landis and Jackson. Jackson contacted Landis after seeing his film An American Werewolf In London. The pair conceived a 13-minute short film with a budget much larger than previous music videos. Jackson's record company refused to finance it, believing Thriller had peaked, so a making-of documentary, Making Michael Jackson's Thriller, was produced to receive financing from television networks.

Michael Jackson's Thriller premiered on MTV on December 2, 1983. It was launched to great anticipation and played regularly on MTV. It doubled sales of Thriller, and the documentary sold over a million copies, becoming the bestselling videotape at the time. It is credited for transforming music videos into a serious art form, breaking down racial barriers in popular entertainment, and popularizing the making-of documentary format.

Many elements have had a lasting impact on popular culture, such as the zombie dance and Jackson's red jacket, designed by Landis's wife Deborah Nadoolman. Fans worldwide re-enact its zombie dance and it remains popular on YouTube. The Library of Congress described it as the most famous music video of all time. In 2009, it became the first music video inducted into the National Film Registry as culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.