Only Two Musicals Have A Near-Perfect Score On Metacritic

“If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.” It’s a phrase we may each have used before, or at least something of the spirit behind it, when talking about films of a certain genre. You may think, if you’re not a fan of horror movies, that if you’ve seen just one slasher, you know how they all work. And if you see just one feel-good romantic comedy, you might think you don’t need to watch any more because of how familiar the tropes may be. But arguably, few genres get treated like this, and so unfairly, as the movie musical. Where so many audiences can suspend their disbelief to watch a superhero film or the like, they struggle to get over the image of people bursting into song to express their emotions. But the truth is, each genre has its standout entries and its misses. Not every musical is perfect, or nearly perfect, but many of them can not only impact audiences of all ages, but they can also work across mediums.

You could also fairly say that those film buffs who are also critics are both the most forgiving and the toughest viewers of musicals. When someone criticizes the very concept of a musical on social media, it’s often critics who will jump in to defend the genre from any haters. But conversely, those same critics have seen many of the presumed classics of the genre, making newer musicals like “La La Land” or “The Greatest Showman” an even tougher sell because of how they feel like they’re referencing better or more memorable films. As such, it should come as no surprise that when you visit Metacritic to see the highest-rated movie musicals of all time, two things are true: first, no movie musical has a perfect 100 on the site; and two, the two musicals that come closest to 100 are both elder statesmen of the genre. 

Let’s talk about each of those two musicals. One of them, glimpsed above, is among the greatest of all movies, “Singin’ in the Rain.” The other, as hinted at earlier in this article, isn’t even live-action, but the 1940 animated film “Pinocchio.”

When you think about it for even a second or two, it should come as no surprise that on Metacritic’s page of highest-ranking movie musicals, five of the top seven titles are from Walt Disney Animation Studios. (If there is anything about which we can quibble, it’s that the 1940 film “Fantasia” is among those five animated entries. It’s an excellent film, but not a musical in the traditional sense considering that no one actually sings in its entirety.) Long before Disney hired Alan Menken and Howard Ashman to write the songs for its “Little Mermaid” adaptation, the studio was emphatic about fusing songs with the fairy tales its animators were adapting. The 1940 film “Pinocchio,” which is arguably the best animated film Disney has ever made, not only utilizes songs in its retelling of Carlo Collodi’s story of a little wooden boy who goes on an intense journey to become a real boy to his maker and father Geppetto. The film also opens with “When You Wish Upon a Star,” a song so iconic that it’s literally the studio’s anthem. 

(Fun fact one: “When You Wish Upon a Star,” unsurprisingly, won the Oscar for Best Original Song. Fun fact two: “When You Wish Upon a Star” was the first Disney song to even be nominated for that category, meaning that “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” got snubbed back in 1937.) 

Now, to be fair, none of the other songs in “Pinocchio” come close to topping “When You Wish Upon a Star,” which is effective both in distilling the dreams and hopes of the film’s characters and in being a haunting refrain as originally performed by Cliff Edwards (who portrayed Jiminy Cricket). The film as a whole has a fascinating approach to its storytelling; yes, you may recall how Pinocchio has to face off against baddies like the greedy Stromboli or the terrifying Monstro the whale. But the 90-minute films spends its first half-hour inside Geppetto’s workshop, as we meet the kindly old woodcarver, his cat Figaro, his fish Cleo, and eventually the anthropomorphized Pinocchio himself. Once the film leaves the workshop and Pinocchio meets all manner of characters, we hear songs like “Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor’s Life For Me)” and “I’ve Got No Strings,” which are bouncy, upbeat numbers. In fact, only “When You Wish Upon a Star” is something of a ballad; the other four songs (and reprises) are fast-paced melodies that are plenty catchy even today.

In addition, in case you’re curious, there are 17 reviews of the film captured on its Metacritic page. Don’t forget, on Metacritic, it’s not just that the site collects fewer reviews than its competition, but it also tabulates reviews by either an assigned star or number rating (or it assigns one based on the tenor of the review). So, even though this movie has a 99 on the website, it does have a few reviews (gasp!) under even a 90 out of 100. One such review suggests that “Pinocchio” isn’t even in the “upper echelon” of Disney classics, but listen, we all get one wrong every once in a while. Not even critics are perfect.

For this writer’s money, there is no better film than “Singin’ in the Rain.” We’re not just talking musicals here, but films in general. It absolutely is the best movie musical of all time, but it very much deserves to be considered as the greatest film of all time too. From 1952, the film is technically a period piece itself, set in the late 1920s during the time when Hollywood was making the difficult transition from silent films to talking pictures. The film’s lead, the raffish and charming Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly), is an ex-stuntman who’s more than happy to show off his singing and dancing chops once sound comes to Los Angeles, especially since he’s realized that the kinds of pictures he makes (vaguely adventurous tales of derring-do and romance) aren’t as creatively exciting as they used to be. (The first line of this article is a direct quote from the film that lights a spark underneath Don.) Though Don’s ready for the sound era, his obnoxious blonde co-star Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) isn’t, thanks largely to her nails-on-a-chalkboard voice and demeanor. Meanwhile, Don is falling for Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), a dancer with aspirations for stardom. (If some of this general storyline reminds you of the Damien Chazelle film “Babylon,” that is not accidental, especially considering how that film quotes this one in its final moments.)

“Singin’ in the Rain” is one of the great cinematic joys of all time, the kind of movie that fills you up with positivity and good feeling without feeling forced or phony. The film walks a careful tightrope between honoring the past of the film industry while also mocking Hollywood ruthlessly. Kelly and his male co-star Donald O’Connor (as Don’s best friend Cosmo) are both absolutely delightful, dancing solo or together; the title sequence, coming as Don realizes the depth of his love for Kathy, is also one of the most iconic in film history. Thus, it’s absolutely no surprise that the film has a 99 score on Metacritic, also based on 17 reviews. Like “Pinocchio,” the film does have a few reviews with ratings below 100, but just three, including an era-specific write-up from Bosley Crowther of the New York Times. (Since Bosley’s got plenty of years on him, we’ll forgive his implication that the film’s script is hacky, which is definitely A Take.)

That two such disparate films, not just because they were presented in different mediums but because of the distinctive stories being told, can land so high on the list of musicals on Metacritic should serve as a reminder: just because you’ve seen one doesn’t mean you’ve seen them all. It’s quite the opposite. Yes, in a musical, you’ll see someone start singing and/or dancing to communicate how they feel, but the backdrop for those actions is often very different. All you need to enjoy these films, to truly appreciate them, is to fully suspend your disbelief.