Can you rate the disney musicals against each other?- Page 2

[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

[kyguy78]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 11:15am

Of the shows I've seen, my order would be:

1. Beauty and the Beast 

2. The Lion King

3. Newsies

4. Mary Poppins

5. Aladdin

6. The Little Mermaid

 

 

 

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 2/27/18 at 11:58am

I loved Newsies first but that's really in a different category being it was not originally an animated film in any part so adapting was clearly not as challenging.

I wasn't 100% in love with the others I saw. I guess I would put Mary Poppins first though it should have been more magical and those dancing statues were downright creepy. But again, this wasn't a straight animation to Broadway so also in its own category.

After that Lion King has a great opening and ending and is a little dull in the middle. But I appreciate the overall style. Beauty and the Beast was overblown and lost the simple charm of the film. Aladdin had some great numbers and a charismatic genie. The rest was pretty ordinary.

I'm not sure I've seen any of the other earlier versions ( I saw Aida tour and it was just not my cup of tea even though I can't think of what to specifically criticize).

I have seen Frozen but I don't feel right comparing an early preview to a finished product. No matter how little or how much they change, I'll wait

Updated On: 2/27/18 at 11:58 AM

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 3/2/18 at 11:00am

I've only seen a few of them, so I'll rank those.

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

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 3/2/18 at 11:03am

I’d say
1. Lion King
2. Mary Poppins
3. Newsies
4. Hunchback
5. Aida

[Princeton2]

Posted: 3/2/18 at 11:21am

1 - Beauty and the Beast
Pure Disney magic, opulent (based on original staging) and there wasn't really a weak link in the new songs

2 - The Lion King
Visually stunning and creative, pure theatre. And I don't find it drags, especially love the additional African music

3 - Aladdin
Just great fun, making it a buddy comedy was the right way to go. quite ugly to look at though, that was the main disappointment

4 - Mary Poppins
Some moments of pure theatrical magic and some great production numbers, but otherwise a bit flat

5 - Hunchback of Notre Dame
Would have been higher if it had a better production

6 - Little Mermaid
I just don't think this should have been attempted on stage. I did like the new songs though

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 3/2/18 at 11:22am

I've yet to see FROZEN, but otherwise:

1) THE LION KING

2) MARY POPPINS

3) AIDA

4) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

5) THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME

6) NEWSIES

7) TARZAN

8) THE LITTLE MERMAID 

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 3/2/18 at 11:38am

"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".

What's interesting about the comment above, is that of all the Broadway shows Disney has put out, Tarzan, Frozen, and Newsies were the only ones to have the new songs written by the original film songwriters. I wonder what Aladdin, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast could have been like if Howard Ashman had lived longer to adapt this films. 

Also, "The Music Behind the Magic" cd set, of those 3 shows, are something to listen to, and its interesting to hear cut songs, that did make it back into 2 of the productions.