Alice in Wonderland contains plenty of words, but what it does, arguably better than any other Disney movie to date, is create a world that simultaneously makes no sense, but is so visually, creatively, and thematically indulgent that it excels in taking that world of delusional fantasy from our dreams and trapping it in a bottle.
It's like an addictive fuel for artists,
I, however, do not remember it for it's musical numbers and did not vote for it.
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Alice in Wonderland is a movie that's songs I knew before I saw the movie. The movie is a little too aggressive for me, but I do love the songs.. It is not on my list.
Hair is my #10 and I sang the hell out of those songs. I love the music of that period. I am 62 and my parents were kind of involved in the hippie culture. My dad worked in a coffee house that was quite famous in Philadelphia. My sister and I would run around the coffee house eating brownies and being loud with other kids. It was fun and i am sure my parents were having the time of their lives. I also remember the anti-war movement and the nightly death toll from Vietnam during the news.
Top 5 songs so far from the movies that have been unveiled?
1776 - "But, Mr. Adams"
The Greatest Showman - "A Million Dreams"
Calamity Jane - "Secret Love"
Anastasia - "Once Upon a December"
Oklahoma! - "People Will Say We're in Love"
The Jungle Book - "The Bare Necessities"
Couldn't agree more on that one. It's a masterpiece and the film barely, just barely was cut from my top 25, but was on my short list when I whiddled it down to about 30 musicals. And I just could have easily included it, but instead opted to balance my list out a bit more by including three of my favorite musicals from the 1930s.
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I've only seen Alice in Wonderland once so a rewatch is due. I do remember loving it though.
Hair is a great movie with a whole gob of great songs. Although John Savage is one of my favorite actors, and everybody did a good job, this was Treat Williams' film all the way. It feels like a sort-of personal film for me: my boy Savage being in it; Cheryl Barnes, who sings "Easy to Be Hard," is someone I saw in person in the musical "Dreamgirls." My wife and I saw this ages ago it seems and we both loved Barnes as Effie, the star of the show. She brought the house down with "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," earning an eternal and well-deserved standing ovation. And lastly, Don Dacus, who plays Woof, was also in the rock group Chicago for a few years. He's from a town just a few miles from where I grew up. It's hard for me to disconnect from these bits of personal trivia when I think of this movie. Besides my personal feelings, it's just a hell of an entertaining musical.
So far:
#1. On the Town #93 (list proper)
#6. Easter Parade #78 (list proper)
#10. Gigi #85 (list proper)
#12. Calamity Jane #84 (list proper)
#14. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers #71 (list proper)
#25. Neptune's Daughter (one-pointer)
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48. Alice in Wonderland (1951) - I did not know there was an Alice in Wonderland musical out there - I'm surprised I was never exposed to it in my childhood, although come to think of it, maybe I was several times and have simply forgotten about it. It's ringing tiny bells, but even so, had no idea about it being a musical.
47. Hair (1979) -Hair really impressed me the one and only time I saw it - enough for it to make my ballot (I have to say that despite only watching it from start to finish once, I did watch a few of the songs on YouTube numerous times over the days that followed.) You don't have to agree with what the young people say or do in this, it's their endearing belief in what they're singing about that gives them that special glow young people are blessed with. I think I used to break out into song quite often when I was really young, even if it was either when I was alone, or just to belt out a line or two to try and spread cheer. Solidarity through music is a hallmark throughout the world, no matter which culture you come from. All of that is exemplified here, where rebellion meets all kinds of grubby realities where youthful exuberance meets stone cold materiality. Great songs as well - really great songs. I'm whistling "Hair" as I type. I had Hair at #14 on my ballot.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seen : 34/54 I'd never even heard of : 9/54 Movies that had been on my radar, but I haven't seen yet : 11/42 Films from my list : 6
#47 - My #14 - Hair (1979) #59 - My #5 - Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) #60 - My #23 - Annie (1982) #72 - My #22 - Yellow Submarine (1968) #92 - My #8 - Tommy (1975) One-pointer - My #25 - Shock Treatment (1981)
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I feel like there are two MoFo camps posting here...those that love classical musicals and those that don't but like Disney. Both camps are fine, but geez is there a huge gulf between the two groups or what.
That's not a gulf. That's just me in the middle hating both of you.
This even after our 6th grade music teacher made us listen to the album (don't remember if it was the movie soundtrack or the Broadway album, whichever existed at the time, way back then) over and over.
Because yes, of course there are those terrific songs brought to life by some stunning and iconic choreography by Twyla Tharp, staged largely around Manhattan and Central Park.
Did their parents have a peech inspediment or something?
For the first time I think I've actually seen both entries! Alice I saw as a kid a couple of times (and someone bought a Walt Disney LP with songs from various films when I was small so I do know a few of the songs from it) and I had Hair at #23. The film is OK, but I love so many of the songs that I had to have a place for it here. As a (very) long haired man from my late teens, the title track was almost an anthem for me in my late teens/early 20's, which is the perfect time for these songs (and probably) this film too. Nice to see it just break the top 50.
You know the movies that have what many consider to be socially taboo stuff in them. They probably got some votes but I could see others' not voting for them because of content.
I did not feel comfortable putting The Other Cinderella (1977, Pataki) on my ballot without rewatching it first, to see if I wanted to basically sign off on the, "eh, you just need to ignore the racism and homophobia of the jokes."
Though, maybe closer to what you may have voted for, I'm realizing what I wrote about Top Hat was me confusing the title with Swing Time. And black face scene aside, I didn't care for Swing Time (which left me without any interest for searching out for Top Hat). I guess if Swing Time shows up later, I'll go back and copy & paste what I wrote there.
48. Alice in Wonderland (1951) - I did not know there was an Alice in Wonderland musical out there - I'm surprised I was never exposed to it in my childhood, although come to think of it, maybe I was several times and have simply forgotten about it. It's ringing tiny bells, but even so, had no idea about it being a musical.
It's a musical in the same way a lot of the classic Disney films are also musicals. Though Alice's musical numbers are delightfully unhinged in their topics, IIRC. If Alice had crossed my mind, I probably would have included it on my ballot. I always say The Black Cauldron was my favorite Disney film as a kid growing up, partly because it's known as the unloved one these days, but I somehow forget Alice in Wonderland when I say that, because that's such an obvious answer (and it doesn't immediately jump to mind when thinking classic Disney films).
...Though, maybe closer to what you may have voted for, I'm realizing what I wrote about Top Hat was me confusing the title with Swing Time. And black face scene aside, I didn't care for Swing Time (which left me without any interest for searching out for Top Hat). I guess if Swing Time shows up later, I'll go back and copy & paste what I wrote there.
All movies are in and of their time so are an important window back into how society viewed and reacted to the people and world around them. In that way old movies are a fascinating museum of where we were, which can then help us reflect on where we are going.
I personally don't feel the need to boycott on ethical reasons old movies that have unpalatable scenes, as I think the past should be known and known well, least we forget how different things were not so long ago. Though elements in old movie like black face does take the enjoyment out of the musical number for me and I find myself not enjoying those musical numbers even though they can have great songs. For my own ballot I just voted for the musicals that I enjoy even if they do have a few warts.
"Stingray Sam is not a hero, but he does do the things that folks don't do that need to be done. He's got a bravery inside that won't let him run away. It will not let him run."
Stingray Sam is a weird and wonderful one hour long, episodic, low-budget black and white musical comedy space Western by Cory McAbee that I discovered after watching The American Astronaut - another low-budget black and white musical comedy space Western by Cory McAbee.
It wasn't quite instant love, but I liked Stingray Sam a lot on first watch and ended up watching it three more times and liking it more each time. I love it now, it has quickly become one of my favorite movies, and it landed on my ballot at #4 - though I considered putting it even higher.
Citizen and I both campaigned to get it on the countdown. I'm thrilled to see that we succeeded and I'm absolutely ecstatic that it ranked this high!
Like McAbee's The American Astronaut, Stingray Sam is a bizarre black and white musical space western. Where this film varies from the other though is that it is divided into 6 different "episodes" (each with its own title and set of intro and end credits), each featuring one song. It follows Stingray Sam, a convict turned lounge singer who is arrested by his old friend and fellow convict The Quasar Kid. In order to repay their debts to society, the two must join forces on a mission to rescue a little girl and reunite her with her father.
But whereas I spent much of The American Astronaut being a little bewildered by its strangeness, I settled into this one rather quickly. I do think having just watched The American Astronaut helped immensely in terms of setting expectations, but also Stingray Sam seemed a lot less convoluted and more polished than its predecessor. It also has some genuinely great songs ("Fredward" being my favorite) and I had an undeniably good time with this one. There's also no doubt that I'll vote for it, though I am docking it some points for the amount of its already very brief runtime (it's only about an hour long) that is spent on the credits.
Oh and in retrospect I have decided that I do actually like The American Astronaut, but I definitely prefer this one.
Edit: 7/20/2024
I just rewatched this and I think I love it. This time I wasn't at all bothered by its episodic structure or by the amount of time spent on the credits. It's just delightfully weird and delightfully charming, with equally weird and charming songs. I'm going to upgrade its rating from my initial 3.5 to a 4, but I could see it going even higher if I give it another watch in the future.
Edit: 8/9/2024
I rewatched it again last night. It's just such an easy and fun watch and I really love the music. I'm gonna upgrade its rating again but I think its rating will top out here.
I know I've seen The Muppet Movie, but I don't really remember it.
My Ballot: 2. Charlotte's Web (#79) 4. Stingray Sam (#46) 6. Walk the Line (#95) 12. Corpse Bride (#61) 15. The Jungle Book (#63) 20. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (#66) 21. Alice in Wonderland (#48) 25. Joe's Apartment (One Pointer)
I am one of what I assume are several Miss Vicky recruits to the Stingray Sam cult. I promised I'd give it a shot and I did, watching it maybe the day before the countdown deadline. And it was quite enjoyable. It's rough, of course. Very rough. But the quality of the underlying music stands out all the same. They're just really good, solid, catchy songs, with fun lyrics and weird ideas taken as seriously as they can be taken.
I'd be lying if I said I was captivated by the scenes between the music. I'd really love to see a "proper" version of the ol' SS...er...SS...but it's also hard to tell whether that would effectively ruin it.
Anyway, weird, hidden little gem that's better than it has any right to be. It's only an hour of your time and the music alone is worth it.
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