The MoFo Top 100 Musicals Countdown

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Pinocchio is my single favorite Disney animated film. It just hits me on that old-fashioned fairy tale level. Didn't vote for it. See previous posts for why if you're interested.

I know of Once but I've not seen it. Looks interesting. Maybe some day. Maybe.


#1. On the Town #93 (list proper)
#6. Easter Parade #78 (list proper)
#8. Meet Me in St. Louis #33 (list proper)
#9 Yankee Doodle Dandy #32 (list proper)
#10. Gigi #85 (list proper)
#12. Calamity Jane #84 (list proper)
#14. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers #71 (list proper)
#18. The Muppet Movie #45 (list proper)
#25. Neptune's Daughter (one-pointer)
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I haven't seen nor heard of Once.
I feel like this is sort of generational. Once had quite the little popularity surge when it came out. It was one of those "little movies that could". It came back on the radar very briefly in 2010 due to a tragic incident (someone died of suicide at a concert being performed by the lead actor from the film).

But I've heard very little about it in over a decade. It's not surprising to me that a lot of people aren't familiar with it.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I like Pinocchio, but it's far from my favorite Disney movie. My favorite character from the movie is Jiminy Cricket.


Once is another movie that I only thought was okay the first time I watched it, but I've watched it a few more times to try to figure out why so many people seem to love it. I like it a little bit more each time I watch it, but it's still not one of my favorite movies.
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26. Pinocchio (1940) - I never really got around to seeing any of the classic Disney animated musicals, as a kid or later on in life. When the video era started I was nearly 10, and gravitated more towards other stuff. I saw The Fox and the Hound at the movies at about 8 - a different kind of era I guess, but it touched me. Never seen it since. I mean to check out these WWII-era Disney musicals one day hopefully.

25. Once (2007) - I expected this to make something of a splash. Like Sing Street and that other one, I've seen Once once, and thought it was alright, but not good enough to make it onto my ballot. I did give it a
on Letterboxd, but this was back in my pre-review days Letterboxd-wise, so no review was added. If I searched my posts for the word "once" on this site, I'd probably come up with 900 results and spend the rest of the day searching for what turns out to be a pretty middling review. I'll probably watch it again one day.

Seen 48/76
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List facts...

John Carney nabbed his third spot in the countdown, with Once at #25. He had previously placed Begin Again (#89) and Sing Street (#40). As far as regular directors go (not counting Disney ones), he's in second place below Vincente Minnelli (who has placed 4).

Speaking of Disney, Disney Animation Studios has placed a whopping eight (8) entries with Moana (#68), The Jungle Book (#63), Frozen (#62), The Little Mermaid (#49), Alice in Wonderland (#48), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (#38), Fantasia (#35), and Pinocchio (#26).

Of Disney's directors, we have had six (6) that have worked either as supervising directors or sequence directors in multiple films. They are:
  • Ben Sharpsteen (4) - Co-director (Fantasia, Alice in Wonderland), Sequence Director (Snow White), Supervising Director (Pinocchio)
  • Wilfred Jackson (4) - Co-director (Fantasia, Alice in Wonderland), Sequence Director (Snow White, Pinocchio)
  • Hamilton Luske (3) - Co-director (Fantasia, Alice in Wonderland), Supervising Director (Pinocchio)
  • David Hand (2) - Co-director (Fantasia), Supervising Director (Snow White)
  • Norman Ferguson (2) - Co-director (Fantasia), Sequence Director (Pinocchio)
  • T. Hee (2) - Co-director (Fantasia), Sequence Director (Pinocchio)
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Just a snippet of Once's musical flavor and the naturality of the actors.



Not my favorite musical number, but it's funny and shows the spontaneity of their relationship+music; plus it's one of the few I could find on YouTube. Hansard and Irglova started dating during filming and were together for two years.



Another quick check in. Let's see...Well, I had Meet Me in St. Louis at #21. Watched it pretty recently and kept saying to myself "Hey, I know this song!" I think Judy made the most appearances on my ballot because she's the best! Had Moulin Rouge at #8. I loved the updated songs and the entire style of the movie was fantastic. A movie I dreaded having to watch and went in expecting to hate ended up at #12 (ye Gods!) and that was The Music Man. Better have good songs in a musical and The Music Man had plenty of them. Every song and dance sequence was A+ stuff. Of course I had South Park on my ballot at #9. It's the funniest ****ing musical ever and the songs are surprisingly good if you can get past all the ****ing f bombs. I saw it opening weekend and the theater was in stitches from beginning to end.


So far:
8. Moulin Rouge #30
9. South Park #27
11. Pink Floyd The Wall #41
12. The Music Man #29
14. Top Hat #58
15. 42nd Street #76
16. The Band Wagon #80
21. Meet Me in St. Louis #33
24. Hair #47
25. The Forbidden Zone (one pointer)

And that's it.





24
12lists144points
Fiddler on the Roof
Director

Norman Jewison, 1971

Starring

Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, Molly Picon







23
11lists170points
A Hard Day's Night
Director

Richard Lester, 1964

Starring

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr





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I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
I watched Fiddler on the Roof after the deadline but I think it would have had a chance at making my list. I thought it was really well done and had a good mix of period drama, humour, more serious issues, a bit of romance and a lot of singing and dancing, all performed excellently by the cast.



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Seen 48/78

1. Top 3
2. Top 5
3. Begin Again (2013)
4. tick, tick...BOOM! (2021)
5. Alice in Wonderland (1951)
6. Top 15
7. Sing Street (2016)
8. Les Misérables (2012)
9. Pinocchio (1940)
10. Will make it
11. Will make it
12. Moana (2016)
13. A Star Is Born (2018)
14. West Side Story (2021)
15. Once (2007)
16. Will make it
17. 42nd Street (1933)
18. Missed!
19. Missed!
20. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
21. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
22. Missed!
23. Missed!
24. Will make it
25. The Brave Little Toaster (1987)

20/25. Not bad!



That's really interesting to me since Rocky Horror is literally Frankenstein. In an old English castle. With an actual "Monster" and Mad Scientist.
When I think of the most quintessential Halloween movies for adults, I think of RHPS as like Top 3. I cannot imagine an October without it.
I don't have a good answer for that, other than I never got to see it until it was on TV in the 90s, and it never completely took. It didn't not take. Never went to a midnight showing, which probably alters one's relationship with it. I came to Phantom of the Paradise much later and it was a much less culturally ubiquitous movie (I've also got some really positive associations with the first viewing experience), it's also probably got some underdog, cultural find energy going on in my mind.



Trouble with a capital "T"
Fiddler on the Roof was my #6...It was my choice for the Musical Countdown Groupwatch and I wrote this about it:

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

Second rewatch and I was even more impressed with the sheer epicness of this heartbreakingly sad and yet joyous story of the plight of a tight knit Jewish community living in pre revolutionary Russia in a traditional shtetl setting. I liked the way Tevye (Topol) talks directly to us as he serves as the audience's guide into this unique world of shtetl tradition. I found the world building, the history and the recreation of the old Jewish shtetl community fascinating with it's many rules and customs.

The main song of the movie is 'Tradition' which amply describes this all but lost world that existed before the Holocaust. The story focuses on the marriages of Tevye's three oldest daughters. Tradition has it that the village matchmaker will arrange a marriage match with the father's approval, the daughters have no say in who they will marry. Without going into the story too far, the daughters fall in love and have a different idea about marriage, causing some real problems which are handled in a serious way. Indeed this is a serious film, not a comedy. It ends on a sad but hopeful note.

Those 180 minutes flew by. The shooting location in rural Yugoslavia looks authentic and the director creates some truly beautiful shots. The songs were potent, sometimes quite melancholy especially "Sunrise, Sunset", I enjoyed them all as well as the wedding scene with it's candle light and the wondrous 'bottle dance'. I hope this will make the countdown it so deserves too.



Haven't seen any of these, so here's where I stand...


SEEN: 25/78
MY BALLOT: 9/25

My ballot  





A Hard Day's Night was #53 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1960s.
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