From a young age, Jackson and his siblings were allegedly physically and emotionally abused by their father through incessant rehearsals, whippings and derogatory name-calling.

[3] In one altercation—later recalled by Marlon Jackson—Joseph held Michael Jackson upside down by one leg and "pummelled him over and over again with his hand, hitting him on his back and buttocks".

[14] For its inclusion in Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, despite being billed as the theme from the film, "Childhood" played a pivotal role in the scene where Elvis ran away after his half-brother Jesse and their foster parents, Glen and Annie Greenwood each denied his help which in-turn caused the latter to accidentally break a promise she made between her and Elvis the previous day about letting him get involve in helping Willy and his siblings especially Willy's sister Luna who falls ill from swimming through the oil spill that trapped the whales at the main Camp Nor'Wester site where the Greenwoods were camping.

[20] The song appeared alongside an instrumental version in Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home and its soundtrack which was released by Epic Soundtrax, 550 Music and Jackson's label MJJ.

[15][16] Jackson had previously provided the main theme song for the first Free Willy film, his hit single "Will You Be There", originally from Dangerous.

[16] Jon Pareles described it as a "defense show...Over tinkling keyboards and strings that could be sweeping across a cinemascope panorama, he croons [the lyrics]".

[17] James Hunter believed, "uncut Hollywood fluff like "Childhood"...has zero point of view on itself; its blend of rampaging ego and static orchestral pop is a Streisand-size mistake".

[1] Chris Willman of the Los Angeles Times described it as "dynamically enunciated reading and maudlin string arrangement directly invoke Streisand".

[23] Patrick Macdonald of The Seattle Times described "Childhood" as "a sad, self-pitying song, but quite moving and beautiful".

Other children appear in the forest undergrowth before floating up towards the airships, but Jackson remains seated on the tree stump.

In addition to an appearance from Jenna Malone and Erika Christensen, there is a Free Willy 2 tie-in featuring Jason James Richter and Francis Capra reprising their roles as Jesse and Elvis respectively.

[26] The song was covered by Italian singer Cristina D'Avena for her 2009 Magia Di Natale album as a tribute to Jackson.