The best movie musicals of all time, from Singin' in the Rain to Grease

There's a box office battle raging through cinemas this winter. Two movies aiming to join the ranks of the best movie musicals ever made have stepped into the ring to fight for the box office pounds of cinema audiences in the UK and all over the world. It's the witches of Oz versus the rulers of Motunui Island as Wicked takes on Moana 2.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are taking centre stage for Wicked, bringing the long-running stage show — or at least the first half of it — to the big screen after many years of development. Meanwhile, Disney shocked us all earlier this year with the announcement that they were going to release a theatrical sequel to their 2016 hit, starring Dwayne Johnson and Auliʻi Cravalho.

This means it's a great time to take stock of the colourful world of the movie musical and celebrate some of the greatest song-and-dance spectaculars of all time. Here's a selection of the greatest musicals to get your toes tapping in front of the TV...

Singin' in the Rain (1952)

Classic movie musicals don't come more energetic and joyful than Singin' in the Rain. Hollywood has never produced a song-and-dance star with more flair than Gene Kelly and his dynamite chemistry with Debbie Reynolds powers this story of the arrival of the "talkie" in the movie business.

Read more: Gene Kelly's widow busts the biggest 'Singin' in the Rain' myths on the classic musical's 70th anniversary (Yahoo Entertainment, 12 min read)

The songs are perfect, of course, but Betty Comden and Adolph Green's script is packed with jokes and memorable comedic sequences too — not least the scene in which the unfortunate-voiced Lina Lamont tries to get to grips with recording live sound. Even if all the movie had was Donald O'Conner clowning his way through the song Make 'Em Laugh, it would still be worth your time.

West Side Story (1961)

Inspired by the story of Romeo and Juliet, Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins' Oscar-hoovering musical has a legacy so strong it would later be remade by none other than Steven Spielberg. But the original West Side Story still stands as a truly masterful example of the movie musical, with incredible dance sequences and a tonne of emotion as the Sharks and the Jets feud while a forbidden romance brews between former Jet member Tony and Maria — sister of the Sharks' leader.

Read more: 'West Side Story': Steven Spielberg says his first musical was a 'steep learning curve' (Yahoo Entertainment, 3 min read)

Spielberg's version has plenty of glitz and is a worthy successor, but the original still has an undeniable place as one of the most successful and influential musicals in Hollywood history.

Mary Poppins (1964)

Not many people can say they've won an Oscar for their debut movie role. But then again, not many actors get a debut role that's practically perfect in every way. Disney worked hard to court author PL Travers and secure the movie rights to her books about a magical nanny — as depicted in the movie Saving Mr Banks — so the stakes were high. Travers might have had reservations about Mary Poppins on the big screen, but audiences didn't.

Read more: Why Mary Poppins has changed its age rating to PG due to ‘discriminatory language’ (The Independent, 2 min read)

Julie Andrews' luminous central performance as Poppins sent her right into Oscars history, while the innovative musical sequences and flourishes of animation ensured that the movie quickly became a family favourite. Even 60 years later, it's Disney magic at its most memorable.

Oliver! (1968)

With the best will in the world, Charles Dickens' books can be a little dull. Oliver Twist is one of those books. But it turns out that all it needed was a dose of Cockney caricature and some dynamite musical numbers. Lionel Bart's stage musical became one of the big screen's biggest song-and-dance hits when Sir Carol Reed brought it to the multiplex in 1968.

Read more: Raff Law says Twist is actually faithful to Charles Dickens (Digital Spy, 3 min read)

Every song is a stone-cold classic, from the toe-tapping Consider Yourself through to Nancy's tear-jerking ballad As Long As He Needs Me. It's a film packed with visual energy and charm, mixed with the darkness of its criminal underworld setting. Presumably, a remake won't be very far away.

Cabaret (1972)

Musicals legend Bob Fosse delivered his crowning achievement with the movie version of Cabaret, bringing the smoky foreboding of 1930s Germany to the big screen. Liza Minnelli's Oscar-winning performance as nightclub performer Sally Bowles is packed with energy and flair, while there's a very memorable turn from Joel Grey as the Emcee — a role recently played on stage by Eddie Redmayne.

Read more: 32 of the Best Dance Movies of All Time, From 'Cabaret' to 'Center Stage' to 'Dirty Dancing' (Parade, 12 min read)

Unusually for movie musicals, all of the songs in Cabaret are a part of the narrative, rather than a result of characters suddenly starting to sing. This ensures that music runs through the bloodstream of the story, which perfectly balances light and dark throughout. It's a classic for a reason.

Grease (1978)

Ask a person on the street to name a musical and there's no doubt that Grease will be one of the first words out of their mouth. This 50s-set tale of the love affair between a swaggering bad boy — John Travolta's Danny Zuko — and a shy Australian newcomer — Sandy, played by Olivia Newton-John — has been carving its way into audiences' hearts for nearly five decades at this point.

Read more: Grease fan spots NSFW blunder in the sequel (Digital Spy, 2 min read)

Grease is packed with style and colour, aided by the sheer energy of Travolta at his most charismatic and impressive. He was very much an avatar for cool in the late-1970s, and films don't come much cooler than Grease. You can debate its messaging, sure, but there's no debating its impact.

The Lion King (1994)

Disney has had a stranglehold on the world of the animated musical ever since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs first whistled its way into cinemas in the 1930s. In the 1990s, the studio had its strongest ever period for animation in what has since become known as the Disney Renaissance — peaking with The Lion King, in which the story of Hamlet plays out on the African savannah.

Read more: Lion King at 30: the global hit that Disney didn’t believe in (The Conversation, 3 min read)

The Lion King is visually bold and inventive — certainly more so than its "live-action" remake — and boasts an impressive array of songs that stand out in the Disney canon. There's a reason that Disney keeps going back to this world, with a prequel to the live-action film, based on Mufasa, set to arrive in December 2025.

Chicago (2002)

Before he died in 1987, Bob Fosse was working on a film version of Chicago, having directed and choreographed the original Broadway take on the show. He never got to achieve that goal, but Rob Marshall did eventually bring the show to the big screen — and the Oscars — in 2002. Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones lead the cast as two murderers trying to avoid jail.

Read more: Renee Zellweger was terrified of singing in Chicago (BANG Showbiz, 1 min read)

The influence of Fosse radiates through every frame of the musical, which also benefits from Richard Gere's performance as a slimy lawyer. The film provides an onslaught of colourful cabaret numbers, all delivered with a devilish glint in the eye.

The Muppets (2011)

Movie outings for the Muppets are always worth watching, but there was something very special about this 2011 movie, which addressed the franchise's legacy head-on. It's a silly, self-referential tale about the Muppets reuniting after decades apart in an attempt to save their old theatre by putting on a fundraising telethon. Jason Segel and Amy Adams provide a human element to the story, while newbie Muppet character Walter rubs shoulders with Kermit, Piggy, and the rest.

Read more: The Muppet Christmas Carol at 30: why the movie, coming to Disney+, is the best Christmas film bar none (The Standard, 5 min read)

The script, written by Segel and Nicholas Stoller, is packed with wit and heart, which also carries through into the songs — penned by Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords fame. The film has all of the anarchic fun and charm that young audiences need from these characters, along with enough smart, nostalgic material to keep adults happy.

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)

Unforgivably, almost nobody went to see Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. With the comedy musical team of The Lonely Island in key creative roles, the film took aim at the onslaught of pop star concert documentaries with a self-referential comedy about a vain pop music sensation — Andy Samberg's utterly clueless Conner4Real.

Read more: Andy Samberg wasn't a fan of Popstar's 'Justin Bieber marketing' (Digital Spy, 4 min read)

The gag rate is through the roof and the songs combine genuine musical entertainment value with the typically hilarious lyrics of The Lonely Island. Since its rather quiet release, the film has become something of a cult classic, with sing-along screenings aplenty. If there's any justice, it will continue to grow in esteem.

Wicked is in UK cinemas now, with Moana 2 set to be released on 29 November.