Movie musicals seem to have become a staple in American cinema, from West Side Story to La La Land to Les Miserables and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and most recently, Wicked.
We have to think about what makes movie musicals so popular and how the audience enjoys them in different ways from how they enjoy movies like Oppenheimer and Star Wars.
To really say what makes a movie musical popular, we first need to think about the impact of what is maybe the most influential studio in the production of movie musicals: Disney.
Disney’s musical production started in 1937 with the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; since then, Disney has produced dozens of musicals through animation, live-action, and on the stage. Disney has also taken stage musicals and turned them into movies like Newsies and Into the Woods.
These movie musicals have been so popular because people love seeing the story on stage, and they love the convenience of seeing it on the silver screen. A lot can be done through the screen that can’t be done on the stage.
For example, at the end of Wicked’s movie adaptation, Elphaba literally flies, which can’t easily be achieved on stage. But, through the use of visual effects, movies add an extra layer of majesty to seeing a live musical.
People also enjoy sharing a show that they might have seen as a child that is no longer on Broadway or in local theaters, going to see it in movie theaters with their own kids.
Finally, movie musicals are so popular because of how they make people feel when they go to see them in theaters; for some, it’s the feeling of childhood. For others, it allows them the freedom to dream and to imagine, and for others still, it allows them the opportunity to see a show that they might not have been able to see otherwise.
