Can you rate the disney musicals against each other?

[222disneyland]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 9:33pm

thanks

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 9:36pm

The good ones:

Beauty and the Beast
Mary Poppins
Lion King

In that order. And I thought the rest were unmitigated disasters.

[222disneyland]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 9:39pm

Scarywarhol said: "The good ones:

Beauty and the Beast
Mary Poppins
Lion King

In that order. And I thought the rest were unmitigated disasters."

including frozen!!!

[222disneyland]

Posted: 2/25/18 at 9:41pm

Scarywarhol said: "The good ones:

Beauty and the Beast
Mary Poppins
Lion King

In that order. And I thought the rest were unmitigated disasters."

 

Do not quote me on this. But I actually think Disney is a good company. And its films are good source material. But they really then need to  do older films with actual directors that are good for the material. I am not at all sure Casey is not doing Frozen. He did a Disney Musical he worked with the song writing tea. WTF? I personally think they could of taken the lots set designer for london ?? but I am fat 30 year old ****wit

 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 8:14am

1. Frozen

2. Mary Poppins

3. Newsies

4. Beauty and the Beast

5. The Lion King

6. Aladdin

7. The Little Mermaid

8. Tarzan

 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 11:01am

IMO, there has not been a single really good Disney musical, The Lion King may one day be the longest running show ever (it is doing much better business than Phanton was doing at this point in its run), but it is all downhill from the opening number, with periodic impressive moments, e.g., the stampede.  

Beauty was a bloated bore; Aladdin was periodically entertaining, but overall totally mediocre.  Every dance number in Newsies seemed the same as the last one.  Mermaid and Tarzan were junk.

Ironically, I already have my tickets for Frozen; one saving grace is that my kids were not growing up while the movie versions of these shows were constantly on in my home, so I have only seen Frozen the movie one time.  Maybe that'll help.

PS -- I never actually saw Mary Poppins, so I cannot comment on it.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 11:08am

I feel like, when we compare Disney shows, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Mary Poppins stand on their own. Tarzan, Aida, The Little Mermaid, Frozen, Hunchback,  Aladdin, even On the Record can be together. 

Beauty and the Beast was their first show, when they knew nothing. To me, it was more of a "Broadway musical" in the traditional sense. It wasn't about trying to exactly reproduce the animated film. Remember, it was called the "Best Musical on Broadway" in its animated form, and was created before the Thomas Schumacher era.

The Lion King had Julie Taymor, who took the story and adapted and brought a whole new level of theatrics to the show.

Mary Poppins was co-produced with Cameron Macintosh. I feel like he produced the show, and Disney was the "owners" of the property, therefore, they made a collaboration together. 

Everything else to me is Disney/Thomas Schumacher making musicals of their movies. 
 

Updated On: 2/26/18 at 11:08 AM

[thebookofwhizzer]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 11:19am

Personally I thought the Lion King was stunning, everything Taymor did with it was so incredibly unique and magical. I loved Mary Poppins, it was just pure fun nothing too special. I adore Newsies, as it's one of my most favorite musicals. I have yet to see any of the others in any form so I can't comment much on them.

Updated On: 2/26/18 at 11:19 AM

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 11:27am

Of the ones I've seen, my rankings are...

1. The Lion King
2. Newsies
3. Aladdin
4. Beauty & the Beast
5. Mary Poppins
6. The Little Mermaid

I've never seen Aida, haven't seen Frozen yet, and still have never seen the stage adaptation of Tarzan.

Updated On: 2/26/18 at 11:27 AM

[markypoo]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 1:04pm

There are two more:

1) King David, and

2) The 1980 Radio City Music Hall Snow White.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 1:08pm

I like them all. I’d rate Tarzan and Aida higher on my list than others have. I really liked those two. Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King were probably the most successful for me with The Little Mermaid somewhere near the bottom of the list. The problem with The Little Mermaid, for me, is that I’ve yet to see a satisfying design concept for the underwater scenes. And I actually prefer Ursula’s songs on the Broadway album over the new songs in the recent tour I saw.

Updated On: 2/26/18 at 01:08 PM

[minicko88]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 1:18pm

If we were only rating the first 10 minutes of the show, I'd have Tarzan as #1. The first 10 minutes of that show took my breath away. After that, it become mediocre. I agree that Beauty and the Beast would probably be #1 overall, because it has originality and is an improvement on the movie (in my opinion). Lion King was beautifully done and the best crafted of all of these musicals. The Little Mermaid was horrendous, with the exception of Norm Lewis. Every other Disney production, other than the few listed, was a decent adaption from the original. 

[BroadwayShowTime]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 1:23pm

The Lion King

Aida

Beauty and the Beast

Mary Poppins

Aladdin

Newsies

The Little Mermaid

Tarzan

 

** I haven't seen Frozen yet **

[222disneyland]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 6:12pm

great finally I can rest. Will see frozen. Was and of hoping taking my bay area's family to see it. She has two kids

 

bwayphreak234 said: "1. Frozen

2. Mary Poppins

3. Newsies

4. Beauty and the Beast

5. The Lion King

6. Aladdin

7. The Little Mermaid

8. Tarzan

"

 

Posted: 2/26/18 at 8:57pm

I can't wait to make everyone cringe with this...but I loved "Tarzan"- **HIDES BEHIND PLAYBILL**

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 9:07pm

Mercades said: "I can't wait to make everyone cringe with this...but I loved "Tarzan"- **HIDES BEHIND PLAYBILL**"

I loved Tarzan as well!

Updated On: 2/27/18 at 09:07 PM

[CoolDogeGuy]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 9:22pm

Here's mine from best to worst:

Beauty and the Beast

Newsies

The Lion King

Aladdin

Mary Poppins

The Little Mermaid

Tarzan

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Aida

Peter and the Starcatcher

King David

----------------- I don't know about Frozen though. I'll just put it at the bottom for now.

[BroadwayMan5]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 10:29pm

Of ones I've seen (not all professionally)

1. Aida - I know it was a hit but I think it's underrated in terms of quality. I LOVE the music and I think the script does not doom it the way other think it does

2. The Lion King - just for the sheer innovation. There are parts it drags

3. Aladdin - very slick & James Monroe Iglehart was phenomenal

4. Beauty and the Beast - the best source material for a stage show IMO but I think Disney didn't quite have the technical magic down at the time it came out. I think it would be better now.

5. Mary Poppins - well produced but it got kind of long

6. Newsies - I just wasn't all that entertained by Newsies

7. The Little Mermaid - such a mess. But it could have been done well, obviously the score & story are great. Just terrible vision and direction.

8. Tarzan - doesn't work at all as a stage show

 

Have not seen Frozen yet or Hunchback if that one counts...

[222disneyland]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 10:31pm

yes MP was great. But it did go on and on and on. Did they really need 15 minutes -20 minutes of reprises that were not needed.

BroadwayMan5 said: "Of ones I've seen (not all professionally)

1. Aida - I know it was a hit but I think it's underrated in terms of quality. I LOVE the music and I think the script does not doom it the way other think it does

2. The Lion King - just for the sheer innovation. There are parts it drags

3. Aladdin - very slick & James Monroe Iglehart was phenomenal

4. Beauty and the Beast - the best source material for a stage show IMO but I think Disney didn't quite have the technical magic down at the time it came out. I think it would be better now.

5. Mary Poppins - well produced but it got kind of long

6. Newsies - I just wasn't all that entertained by Newsies

7. The Little Mermaid - such a mess. But it could have been done well, obviously the score & story are great. Just terrible vision and direction.

8. Tarzan - doesn't work at all as a stage show



Have not seen Frozen yet or Hunchback if that one counts..."

 

[supersam1026]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 10:38pm

From best to worst:

1) Lion King

2) Beauty and the Beast

3) Mary Poppins

4) Hunchback (yes, I did like it more than most!)

5) Newsies

6) Aladdin

7) Frozen

Tarzan

Did not see Aida or Little Mermaid, so can't properly place those. And do believe that #1-#5 were great and #6-#8... not so much!

Updated On: 2/26/18 at 10:38 PM

[222disneyland]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 10:39pm

I wonder what the review son frozen will be like legit. I wonder what Lord Ben will say

supersam1026 said: "From best to worst:

1) Lion King

2) Beauty and the Beast

3) Mary Poppins

4) Hunchback (yes, I did likeit more than most!)

5) Newsies

6) Aladdin

7) Frozen

Tarzan

Did not see Aida or Little Mermaid, so can't properly place those. And do believe that #1-#5 were great and #6-#8... not so much!"

 

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 10:50pm

I haven’t seen them all and my experiences with the ones I have seen are spread out over a long period of time so it’s hard to compare, but here’s my list:

1. Aida (touring production)

2. Newsies (Broadway)

3. Aladdin (Broadway)

4. The Lion King (touring production)

I remember saying I liked The Lion King probably more than I actually did when I saw it at the time (the first time it toured through Tulsa, Oklahoma). I think it was because I thought I was supposed to. I’m also not sure if the experience is heightened on Broadway. Conversely, I went into Aladdin with diminished expectations after getting same day box seats (my only time in box seats) at the box office. Didn’t miss out on too much of the stage from the box seats and it was a unique experience that exceeded my expectations although most people would expect me to rate TLK higher. Plus, I saw Aladdin with the original cast including the Tony Award winning genie!

[CPannullo]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 11:02pm

1. Beauty and the Beast

2. The Little Mermaid

3. Marry Poppins

4. The Lion King

The lion king really wasn’t my favorite even as a movie.

My high school did The Little Mermaid so it grew onto me after months and holds a place in my heart

I’m seeing frozen in May and I’m gonna guess it’ll fall as 2 or 3

Updated On: 2/26/18 at 11:02 PM

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 2/26/18 at 11:25pm

In order of how much I enjoyed them:

1. Beauty and the Beast
2. Aida
3. Peter and the Starcatcher (if we’re counting this one)
4. Newsies
5. Marry Poppins
6. The Lion King
7. Aladdin
8. The Little Mermaid
9. Tarzan

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 3:28am

My biggest issue with these adaptations is they don't use the extra 45 minutes they tack on to be Broadway length to really strengthen anything in the story or find a new layer in the material. It's almost always padding. 

And for that matter, fairy tales by nature are short, Disney animation figured out a way to lengthen them with sidekicks and other obstacles, but still at the end of the day they felt like slightly longer fairy tales.

So when you take an already simple fairy tale idea and stretch it to 2 hours and 30 minutes, it feels outrageously bloated. 

Lion King works the best cause it's a theatrical experience. It's not trying to just lengthen the movie or photocopy it.

Disney Theatrical would NEVER do this, but I would welcome 2 One Act Stage adaptations of Disney films in one night. Like Hercules and Emperor's New Groove or something. The brilliance of Disney movies often lies in the pacing, and these productions often lose all sense of that. 

Not to mention, the new songs from all these shows put together, it's like a handful that are memorable and live up to the original material. 

 

Updated On: 2/27/18 at 03:28 AM