RESULTS: Top 20 Musicals of All-Time

[spanky87]

Yeah, I know some of you are probably thinking "it's about damn time!". I didn't realize this would be so time consuming, I couldn't tally all this up in one sitting. I apologize for the delay. Thanks for your patience and for participating in the vote thread.

Let's get to it:

Runners Up 25-21 (I guess we should just make this a top 25 then?)

25. Oklahoma! (1955)
91 Points |9 Votes | Highest Ranking: 3 (1 Time)
Directed by Fred Zinnemann | Starring Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Gloria Grahame, Gene Nelson

In the Oklahoma territory at the turn of the twentieth century, two young cowboys vie with a violent ranch hand and a traveling peddler for the hearts of the women they love.





24. Guys and Dolls (1955)
92 Points |9 Votes | Highest Ranking: 1 (1 Time)
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Starring Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Jean Simmons, Vivian Blaine

In New York, a gambler is challenged to take a cold female missionary to Havana, but they fall for each other, and the bet has a hidden motive to finance a crap game.

[sandman slim]

Wow, I had actually completely forgotten this one. Been a while...

[esteban²]

Yes, results ! Doesn't matter that it took a while. Curious about the top 10 ...

[spanky87]

Runners up (cont'd):

23. La La Land (2016)
93 Points |7 Votes | Highest Ranking: 2 (1 Time)
Directed by Damien Chazelle | Starring Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling

A jazz pianist falls for an aspiring actress in Los Angeles.

LA LA LAND - Official Film Clip [Lovely Night Dance] HD - YouTube

“La La Land” isn’t a masterpiece (and on some level it wants to be). Yet it’s an elating ramble of a movie, ardent and full of feeling, passionate but also exquisitely controlled. It winds up swimming in melancholy, yet its most convincing pleasures are the moments when it lifts the audience into a state of old-movie exaltation, leading us to think, “What a glorious feeling. I’m happy again.” - Owen Gleiberman

22. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
95 Points |13 Votes | Highest Ranking: 5 (1 Time)
Directed by Henry Selick | Starring Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara

Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home cause confusion.

"What's This?" in HD (from The Nightmare Before Christmas) - YouTube

"We're a long way from traditional Disney fare. Nightmare celebrates the joy of a good scare; it also deals with the repercussions of being misunderstood. There's not a trace of podlike conformity in Burton's vision, Elfman's score or Caroline Thompson's script. And director Henry Selick (he did the ingenious MTV logo animation) performs miracles in stop-motion; Nightmare took nearly three years to complete (over 100 crew members averaged only 60 seconds of film per week). The result has the earmarks of an enduring classic. Of all the new Halloween films, only this one has the power to truly haunt our dreams." - Peter Travers

21. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
96 Points | 7 Votes | Highest Ranking: 2 (2 Times)
Directed by Lars von Trier | Starring Bjork, Catherine Denueve, Peter Stormare, David Morse

An east European girl goes to America with her young son, expecting it to be like a Hollywood film.

Cvalda - Björk (Dancer in the Dark) [HD] - YouTube

""Dancer in the Dark" is a brave throwback to the fundamentals of the cinema--to heroines and villains, noble sacrifices and dastardly betrayals. The relatively crude visual look underlines the movie's abandonment of slick modernism." - Roger Ebert

[cinemaphile]

Dancer in the Dark () over La La Land?!? I can already tell this list is not going to align with my tastes at all

[imsounoriginal]

Never even heard of Dancer in the Dark, I'm sure there'll be more that are new to me. Hopefully one of my more obscure picks made the list.

[spanky87]

TOP 20:

20. The Lion King (1994)
101 Points | 7 Votes | Highest Ranking: 5 (1 Time)
Directed by Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff | Starring Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones

The Lion King - I Just Can't Wait To Be King (HD) - YouTube

"The soundtrack for The Lion King features numbers penned by Elton John, who lends his strained vocal cords to several songs, most of which mewl rather than roar. As Simba the Lion’s tyrannical uncle Scar on ”Be Prepared,” Jeremy Irons’ baritone sounds like a delighted Leonard Cohen. And composer Hans Zimmer (Rain Man, Thelma & Louise) primes his Wagnerian score with African choral harmonies that will please both boomers and their Simba-doll-clutching babies." - Owen Gleiberman

19. Cabaret (1972)
101 Points | 9 Votes | Highest Ranking: 1 (1 Time)
Directed by Bob Fosse| Starring Liza Minelli, Michael York, Joel Grey

A female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them.

Liza Minnelli Performing Mein Herr with Chair - YouTube

"Liza Minnelli's exuberant, corruptible Sally, going after fame and stardom no matter what, has that persistent spark--the amoral soul of theatre. Her emerald-green fingernails are no longer just the mark of a girl who wants to be shockingly original; Sally is no longer just an innocently and adorably mad gamine, older sister to Holly Golightly. This Sally has grown claws. The m.c. has burnt out his hopes, but she has youth and drive. He presides over a sinking ship and enjoys the spiteful knowledge of how tacky it is. But Sally, at the end, beckoning with those nails, has real force. Liza Minnelli makes you believe in the cabaret as "life" because she comes fully to life only when she sings. The features that seemed too large for her face suddenly fit. Her cherry lips and unnaturally bright eyes are no longer wild makeup; they belong to her performer's face. And her movements have speed and tension. Her desperation and Sally's are fused together; when a singer is belting it out, how can one separate the performer from the role? Liza Minnelli is a fine, if slightly overeager actress and inventive, appealing comedienne, but only when she sings is she a star: she's charged to give all she's got...." - Pauline Kael

[Al_The_Strange]

I for one am surprised and pleased to see Dancer in the Dark ranked as high as it did. I found it quite powerful.

[spanky87]

How do I deal with a tie? That is the only one on this list. Should I go from 20 to 22, or just don't skip any numbers? I remember there being a discussion about it in one of the best of the year lists before.

Anyway, I'll be posting more of the results later tonight.

[headphones]

Ties go like this
1
2
3
-
5
6

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by spanky87

How do I deal with a tie? That is the only one on this list. Should I go from 20 to 22, or just don't skip any numbers? I remember there being a discussion about it in one of the best of the year lists before.

Anyway, I'll be posting more of the results later tonight.

In past threads some of us have broken ties by putting the one that mas more votes ahead of the other(s). If there's still a tie, then I'd place the one that has more consistently higher-ranking votes ahead (like, the one that has more 1st place votes, or 2nd if they're still equal).

[spanky87]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

In past threads some of us have broken ties by putting the one that mas more votes ahead of the other(s). If there's still a tie, then I'd place the one that has more consistently higher-ranking votes ahead (like, the one that has more 1st place votes, or 2nd if they're still equal).

Yes, I see in other threads this is common, so I shall do that as well. Lion King becomes 20, Cabaret is now 19.

The rest of the list will proceed without any issue since I have 18 left without ties. Thanks.

[spanky87]

18. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
113 Points | 10 Votes | Highest Ranking: 1 (1 Time)
Directed by Baz Luhrmann| Starring Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent

A poet falls for a beautiful courtesan whom a jealous duke covets.

One Day I'll Fly Away - Moulin Rouge - YouTube

"Strictly in terms of musical razzle-dazzle, Luhrmann outstrips anything Hollywood has produced in years and now bears comparison to the likes of Busby Berkeley in his ability to conceptualize and physically energize production numbers. Drawing for inspiration on sources as diverse as pioneer silent-film fantasist Georges Melies and rap-era music sampling, the director surpasses his previous features, “Strictly Ballroom” and “William Shakespeare’s Romeo+Juliet,” even if the new work almost certainly will prove less congenial to general audiences." - Todd McCarthy

17. Les Misérables (2012)
114 Points | 12 Votes | Highest Ranking: 2 (1 Time)
Directed by Tom Hooper| Starring Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter

In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker's daughter. The decision changes their lives forever.

Valjean's Soliloquy - Les Misérables (2012) - YouTube

"It conquers its audience with weapons all its own: not passion so much as passionate sincerity, not power so much as overwhelming force. Every line, every note, every scene is belted out with diaphragm-quivering conviction and unbroken, unremitting intensity. The physical strength of this movie is impressive: an awe-inspiring and colossal effort, just like Valjean's as he lifts the flagpole at the beginning of the film. You can almost see the movie's muscles flexing and the veins standing out like whipcords on its forehead. At the end of 158 minutes, you really have experienced something. What exactly, I'm still not sure." - Peter Bradshaw

[spanky87]

16. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
126 Points | 9 Votes | Highest Ranking: 1 (1 Time)
Directed by Vincente Minnelli | Starring Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor

In the year leading up to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, the four Smith daughters learn lessons of life and love, even as they prepare for a reluctant move to New York.

Meet Me In St. Louis (1944) – The Trolley Song - YouTube

"Framed as a sepia-tinted postcard come to life, Minnelli’s panoramic city symphony examines the meanings of nostalgia and memory while offering a sweetly ironic depiction of Middle American conservatism where sex is taboo, dinner is at six, money is evil and father knows best. A heavenly slice of brassy Hollywood romanticism that’ll still have you swooning all the way to the trolley stop." - David Jenkins

15. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
139 Points | 12 Votes | Highest Ranking: 3 (3 Times)
Directed by Tim Burton | Starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman

The infamous story of Benjamin Barker, AKA Sweeney Todd, who sets up a barber shop down in London which is the basis for a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett. Based on the hit Broadway musical.

Sweeney Todd - Worst pies in London (HD) - YouTube

"And yet there is an exhilaration in the very fiber of the film, because its life force is so strong. Its heroes, or anti-heroes, have been wounded to the quick, its villains are vile and heartless, and they all play on a stage that rules out decency and mercy. The acting is so good that it enlists us in the sordid story, which even contains a great deal of humor -- macabre, to be sure. As a feast for the eyes and the imagination, "Sweeney Todd" is ... well, I was going to say, even more satisfying than a hot meat pie made out of your dad." - Roger Ebert

[spanky87]

14. The Blues Brothers (1980)
150 Points | 12 Votes | Highest Ranking: 1 (2 Times)
Directed by John Landis | Starring John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Carrie Fisher

Jake Blues, just out from prison, puts together his old band to save the Catholic home where he and brother Elwood were raised.

Aretha Franklin - Think (feat. The Blues Brothers) - 1080p Full HD - YouTube

"In the end, this is a 1980s mutation of the 1930s Warner Brothers musicals, with car chases instead of Busby Berkeley dance routines. The setting is realistic, observed with affection (it's a great showcase for Chicago without glamorising the city) and the showbiz characters are torn between their art and the practicalities of earning a living. Landis, who has a real feel for American music, puts songs everywhere (even the elevator musak and overheard radio licks are significant) and goes beyond the posings of Fame (1980) to give the music back to the people. " - Kim Newman

13. Aladdin (1992)
169 Points | 13 Votes | Highest Ranking: 3 (1 Time)
Directed by Ron Clements, John Musker | Starring Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin

When a street urchin vies for the love of a beautiful princess, he uses a genie's magic power to make himself off as a prince in order to marry her.

Aladdin - A Whole New World (1080p) - YouTube

"Aladdin, however, uses every song - bar the Genie's Friend Like Me - to move the plot along. They serve as bridges between scenes and locations: the thunderous Prince Ali marching Aladdin from his isolated street life to the opulent bombast of the palace, or the soaring A Whole New World carrying the romantic leads away from their troubled lives to a place alone above the clouds. The numbers don't just dance, they run." - Olly Richards

12. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
186 Points | 12 Votes | Highest Ranking: 1 (1 Time)
Directed by Jim Sharman | Starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick

A newly engaged couple have a breakdown in an isolated area and must pay a call to the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank-N-Furter.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (3/5) Movie CLIP - Sweet Transvestite (1975) HD - YouTube

"The plot is only semi-comprehensible, but the nearly non-stop musical numbers—brilliant conflations of glam-rock and showtunes—and transgressive sexual energy keep things moving. With its fairly extreme but somehow cuddly take on sexual fluidity, it's easy to see why the appeal of RHPS hasn't waned, even if watching it in the privacy of your own home does kind of defeat the purpose." - Keith Phipps

11. My Fair Lady (1964)
193 Points | 13 Votes | Highest Ranking: 1 (1 Time)
Directed by George Cukor | Starring Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Gladys Cooper

A misogynistic and snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society.

Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Dolittle singing "Wouldn't it be Loverly" in the movie 'My Fair Lady' (65). - YouTube

"What distinguishes "My Fair Lady" above all is that it actually says something. It says it in a film of pointed words, unforgettable music and glorious images, but it says it. Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" was a socialist attack on the British class system, and on the truth (as true when the film was made as when Shaw wrote his play) that an Englishman's destiny was largely determined by his accent. It allowed others to place him, and to keep him in his place.

Eliza's escape from the "lower classes," engineered by Higgins, is a revolutionary act, dramatizing how "superiority" was inherited, not earned. It is a lesson that resonates for all societies, and the genius of "My Fair Lady" is that it is both a great entertainment and a great polemic. It is still not sufficiently appreciated what influence it had on the creation of feminism and class-consciousness in the years bridging 1914 when "Pygmalion" premiered, 1956 when the musical premiered, and 1964 when the film premiered. It was actually about something. As Eliza assures the serenely superior Henry Higgins, who stood for a class, a time and an attitude:

They can still rule with land without you.
Windsor Castle will stand without you.
And without much ado we can all muddle through without you." - Roger Ebert

[cinemaphile]

Originally Posted by spanky87

18. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
113 Points | 10 Votes | Highest Ranking: 1 (1 Time)

17. Les Misérables (2012)
114 Points | 12 Votes | Highest Ranking: 2 (1 Time)

*sigh*
I was the lone high vote for both of these - They were my #1 and #2. Oh well, at least they made the list.

[Show spoiler]

Originally Posted by cinemaphile

1. Moulin Rouge! #18
2. Les Miserables #17
3. Rent
4. Beauty and the Beast (Disney #6)
5. Annie
6. Aladdin #13
7. La La Land #23
8. Guys and Dolls #24
9. Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny
10. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
11. The Lion King #20
12. Grease. #5
13. Little Shop of Horrors #10
14. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street #15
15. The Sound of Music.#3
16. West Side Story. #4
17. Into the Woods
18. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
19. Reefer Madness
20. The Blues Brothers #14

[spanky87]

10. Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
199 Points | 14 Votes | Highest Ranking: 1 (2 Times)
Directed by Frank Oz | Starring Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin

A nerdy florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed.

Little Shop Of Horrors - Dentist! - YouTube

"Virtually every number becomes a show-stopper under the direction of Muppeteer Frank Oz. The staging is at once boisterous and big enough to out-Busby Berkeley but still intimate enough to make the screen seem like a stage. The setting is cartoon squalor, peopled with baritone bums and a Greek chorus of ghetto teens in frou-frou and shoo-bop, like streetsmart Supremes." - Rita Kempley

9. Mary Poppins (1964)
213 Points | 17 Votes | Highest Ranking: 2 (1 Time)
Directed by Robert Stevenson | Starring Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns

A magical nanny helps bring the two children she's in charge of closer to their father through songs and magical adventures.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (from "Mary Poppins") - Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke - YouTube

"Charming, magical, full of whimsy and delight, Mary Poppins holds up awfully well a half century after it was made. Catchy tunes and superb dance numbers highlight this diverting classic children's movie, along with a starchy, confident performance by the young Julie Andrews that keeps the whole thing from getting too sentimental." - Laura Boeder

[spanky87]

8. Chicago (2002)
215 Points | 19 Votes | Highest Ranking: 1 (1 Time)
Directed by Rob Marshall | Starring Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere

Murderesses Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart find themselves on death row together and fight for the fame that will keep them from the gallows in 1920s Chicago.

Chicago | 'Roxie' (HD) - Renée Zellweger, John C. Reilly | MIRAMAX - YouTube

"The musical’s true thrill is its roxy heart: all of these jailed women, like feminist alchemists, converting their desperation into pure, sexy, exuberant victory. Zellweger makes the transformation manifest. She starts out as frightened as a rabbit, like a tremulous Altman heroine, but as Roxie pulls herself together and becomes the mistress of her own duplicity, the screen blooms with that Zellweger zest. By the end of ”Chicago,” just about everyone in it has razzle-dazzled someone, and so has the movie, which leaves you thrilled at how good it feels to see life, death, and girl power turned, once again, into a cabaret." - Owen Gleiberman

7. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
227 Points | 18 Votes | Highest Ranking: 1 (1 Time)
Directed by Mel Stuart | Starring Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum

Willy Wonka (HD) "Pure Imagination" - YouTube

"All of this is preface to a simple statement: “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” is probably the best film of its sort since "The Wizard of Oz." It is everything that family movies usually claim to be, but aren't: Delightful, funny, scary, exciting, and, most of all, a genuine work of imagination. “Willy Wonka” is such a surely and wonderfully spun fantasy that it works on all kinds of minds, and it is fascinating because, like all classic fantasy, it is fascinated with itself. " - Roger Ebert

6. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
234 Points | 19 Votes | Highest Ranking: 2 (1 Time)
Directed by Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise | Starring Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Jesse Corti

A young woman whose father has been imprisoned by a terrifying beast offers herself in his place, unaware that her captor is actually a prince, physically altered by a magic spell.

Belle's Song "Little Town" - Beauty and the Beast [Full HD] - YouTube

"But Beauty and the Beast is more than the sum of its characters, story and themes. Every hand-drawn frame, every hand- painted background and, yes, even the CG-born environments that house the film's most complicated shots exude the passion of the incredibly talented artists who devoted their all to bringing Disney's selfless heroine and sullen monstrosity to animated life." - Kenneth Brown

[spanky87]

5. Grease (1978)
263 Points | 25 Votes | Highest Ranking: 2 (2 Times)
Directed by Randal Kleiser | Starring John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing

Good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. When they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance?

Olivia Newton-John - Hopelessly Devoted to You (HD) - YouTube

""GREASE," is not really the 1950's teen-age movie musical it thinks it is, but a contemporary fantasy about a 1950's teen-age musical—a larger, funnier, wittier and more imaginative-than-Hollywood movie with a life that is all its own. It uses the Eisenhower era — the characters, costumes, gestures and particularly, the music—to create a time and place that have less to do with any real 50's than with a kind of show business that is both timeless and old-fashioned, both sentimental and wise. The movie is also terrific fun." - Vincent Canby

4. West Side Story (1961)
286 Points | 25 Votes | Highest Ranking: 1 (3 Times)
Directed by Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise | Starring Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer

Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.

West Side Story - Cool (1961) HD - YouTube

"West Side Story is at its best when the characters are singing and dancing. Bernstein's score is rich and memorable, and of the roughly twelve songs on the soundtrack, three are standouts. Two of them, the romantic ballads "Tonight" and "Somewhere," are instantly recognizable standards. The third, arguably the most energetic number, is the six-minute "America." In addition to being a favorite, the song also includes West Side Story's strongest element of social commentary. It is set up as a give-and-take between the Puerto Rican women, who cling to their dream of America as a land of promise, and the men, who have been disillusioned by the limited job and housing prospects for immigrants." - James Berardinelli

3. The Sound of Music (1965)
354 Points | 24 Votes | Highest Ranking: 1 (2 Times)
Directed by Robert Wise | Starring Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker

A woman leaves an Austrian convent to become a governess to the children of a Naval officer widower.

The Sound of Music (4/5) Movie CLIP - Do-Re-Mi (1965) HD - YouTube

"Unapologetically sweet and maybe even a little corny, The Sound of Music will win over all but the most cynical filmgoers with its classic songs and irresistible warmth." - Rotten Tomatoes

[imsounoriginal]

My Fair Lady didn't even crack the Top 10? For shame.