#5. Newsies
Before Christian Bale was rasping it up as Batman, he was dancing his way to the picket line in the Newsies. Take away the music and what you find is a history lesson about the exploitation of child labor and the start to the labor movement back in the 1890's. Though a cult classic today, the Newsies was a box office bomb back when it was released back in 1992. The film cost to Disney was a roughly 15 million. Not all that much considering what most motion pictures go for now-a-days. However, when the film only grosses almost 3 million it's easy to see why, in an entertainment environment of remakes, no one is talking about a Newsies remake.
#4. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
Even before Trey Parker and Matt Stone made their way over to Comedy Central they were singing it up on Troma Films with their iconic flick Cannibal: The Musical. Since then they have taken their love of Broadway to a new, possibly more immature but definitely more vulgar and fun environment. Their hit Comedy Central show South Park has musical numbers spread throughout all the seasons. Trey and Matt's blockbuster film Team America: World Police was a musical and the duo is currently in production of a Broadway musical called The Book of Mormon. This much love of musicals makes it no surprise that the two would turn their beloved South Park show into a major motion musical in South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut.
#3. Rent
This film really needs no explanation. It was epic, it was revolutionary, it was about poor people and AIDs, protesting and cross dressing.
#2. Hairspray
Hairspray was one of those movies that I only gave the time of day to because.....well.....I had nothing better to do at that particular time of the day. After making it through, this movie easily became one of my favorites. It's teeth rottingly, irritatingly sweet dialogue and cast makes it tough for a lot of people to enjoy but once you get past it's hyper corny exterior you finally understand why John Waters made this musical the way he did. The reason why Hairspray comes of as so, for lack of a better word, white is because it tells the story of a time when the white washed brain washed American culture believed that all things were good as long as they were white. The 50s and the 60s was white society on steroids and any conflicting cultures were "put in their place" through segregation. Shops were segregated, schools were segregated, bathrooms were segregated, even television programs were segregated. Hairspray shows the cracks in the fascistic white culture as the 60s hurdled towards the counterculture revolution.
#1. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Easily the best movie musical. I was aware of Sweeney Todd a couple years before Tim Burton got his hands on it and even had the pleasure of seeing the show at a local theater. So Burton nailing this musical on the head made it that much more entertaining and enjoyable. Burton gets a lot of flack for making everything with that Tim Burton aesthetic but with Sweeney Todd that aesthetic didn't hinder the story, it enhanced it. Not to mention that Danny Elfman's take on Stephen Sondheim's music actually created an improvement for a musical score which tends to be a little harsh for the ears at times.
Bonus - A Muppet Christmas Carol
Possibly the first movie musical I ever saw. It's A Christmas Carol, it's Muppet's, it's enough said.
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