10 Best Musical Numbers In Film
These are the scenes that really get your toes tapping.
The musical is one of those genres (like the Western) that people just aren't as excited about anymore. 60 years ago, the musical was to Hollywood what the superhero film is today. But nowadays we get maybe one a year. Fun fact: The Academy Awards still officially have an exclusive category for Musicals, but not enough films have qualified for the category to come back... since 1984.
Regardless, every new musical feels much more special because of their scarcity. La La Land is currently tied for most Academy Award nominations of all time, and expected to win big this coming Sunday. La La Land is filled with gorgeous and energetic musical numbers which stick with the viewer long after they leave the theatre. But we're not here to talk about that, because remarkably, the film did not invent the genre.
What we're talking about is how an expertly staged musical sequence can elevate the film that frames it - even when the film itself is a little... ropey.
Let's face it: It's much easier to talk about musical movies based on their numbers (For Example, one could walk out of the theatre saying: "what was your favourite scene? Mine was 'Someone in the Crowd' because it perfectly captures what it feels like to get dragged to a Hollywood party!").
The best musicals know how to use precise editing and cinematography to enhance the energy of a song without completely turning into a music video.
10. Savages - Pocahontas
As the only major studio regularly producing movie musicals, Disney has been honing their craft since the early days of animated films. Their catalog of truly "iconic" songs is extremely vast, from Aladdin's "A Whole New World" to more recent entries such as "Let it Go" and "How far I'll Go" (time will tell if the next Oscar-nominated Disney song has 'Go' in the title).
But the reason I chose to put "Savages" here is for how effective it is at a single sequence. Pocahontas is a middling entry in the Disney canon on the whole - handicapped by a pair of fairly one-note protagonists - but this particular number plays to all of the film's strengths. It is stunningly animated, crisply edited, and fuelled by the power of real-world racial divides that still trouble the world even today.
'Savages' packs a punch even when viewed completely out of context. For a short three minute sequence, the film achieves the powerful social commentary it is striving for through its entire runtime. While neither John Smith nor Pocahontas are particularly interesting characters, this song reminds us how interesting the setting and aesthetics around them are.