Before I go into this, I will make it clear that I am by no means a fan of Funny Girl as a musical property.
It has a few truly great songs, but it is held up by a very meager Book and has one of the weakest Act Two quality drop-offs of any popular musical.
This is a show that truly rests on the merits of its lead performer.
Speaking of leading performers, I am obviously way too young to have seen Barbra Streisand play this role onstage. I have only listened to her cast recording and audio clips of her time onstage, watched the movie, and heard her sing the songs live in concert.
Streisand is one of those big icons that I haven't had a passionate a feeling towards as I have to someone like Judy Garland or a lot of the great jazz singers such as Ella Fitzgerald or Lena Horne.
That isn't to say I dislike Streisand as I very much adore her early albums and I think she has one of the true distinct and vibrant voices of any female singer in the last 60 years. I tend to dip on my opinions of her career post-The Way We Were.
What I am trying to say is that I have no real passionate affinity to either Funny Girl or to Barbra Streisand. Although, I will gladly admit that when Jule Styne wrote the score, he knew exactly what he needed to do to make Streisand shine.
Streisand's connection to the role of Fanny Brice is one of the most iconic in the history of musical theatre. The legend and her shadow have made it far more intimidating to revive the show in the decades since it premiered in 1964, but I do think there are those out there who also were willing to admit that the show itself is simply not that great.
Cut to 2011: Bartlett Sher wants to revive Funny Girl but a lot of controversy is had because he wants to cast Lauren Ambrose, who at the time was mostly known for her work as Claire on the HBO series Six Feet Under. Many were baffled at the casting choice, but it didn't matter as everything fell through and the production got scrapped.
Randy Graff, who had signed on to play Mrs. Brice, told Seth Rudetsky "It's cursed". It just seemed like it wasn't destined to be revived...but there was one particular girl waiting in the wings who wanted a chance.
2011 was a time in which Lea Michele was achieving the biggest fame of her career starring as Rachel Berry on the hit FOX series Glee. Prior to Glee, she was mostly only known to theatre audiences for her work in musicals like Ragtime, Fiddler on the Roof, and particularly Spring Awakening, which paired her with her best friend Jonathan Groff.
On Glee, her character is known for being the girl with the amazing voice and as the show came to a close, her character went from being a complete unknown to getting cast in a revival of Funny Girl as Fanny to great acclaim.
Then, Glee creator Ryan Murphy bought the rights to Funny Girl with the seemingly growing interest of giving Michele a chance to play her dream role in reality.
I could be here for quite a while if I go into my own personal opinion about Lea Michele as a person and a performer...OR all of the stories about her treatment towards people that she deems to be not worth her time.
All I will say is this: I have never found Lea Michele to be a compelling actress. She DOES have a good voice, however I don't find anything about her voice to be particularly distinctive or that remarkable as opposed to belters like Stephanie J. Block.
So that brings us to the 2022 revival of Funny Girl.
It was announced last year that comic actress Beanie Feldstein would be playing Fanny Brice and that it would be a life-long dream come true. This was the truth as photo-evidence showed that she had a Funny Girl-themed birthday party at the age of 3.
Feldstein had been mostly known for her supporting character work, although she did get a chance to shine as the co-lead of the delightful 2019 film Booksmart.
She also managed to be a great foil to Kate Baldwin's Irene when she played Minnie in the 2017 Bette Midler-led production of Hello Dolly. That would've been my introduction to her and I found her very charming in the role...and later that year, she was featured as best friend to Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird.
Hearing her announced as playing Fanny was, to me, a refreshing choice. I knew she could sing but what sort of concerned me at first was that I hadn't really heard her sing anything that would hint she could tackle the belt-heavy score.
I had shortly found a video of her singing "Meadowlark" from The Baker's Wife on YouTube and found myself kind of underwhelmed by it. It wasn't that she was bad, but it just showed that it wasn't quite the right song for her voice.
The video was almost 10 years old so I thought to myself that it was possible she grew.
Feldstein is also great at comedy, and that became the other big promotional selling point: Putting the FUNNY back in Funny Girl.
So, let's do this...
I have seen many Broadway shows over the years. The quality of the shows varied but one thing I can definitely admire about Broadway performers is that they tend to rise to the occasion. Even if I may hate the material, the performers are usually very adept and able to show that there is talent underneath the mess of the writing or directing, etc...
I will reiterate that Feldstein is good at comedy...and she was able to find solid moments in a lot of the funnier scenes.
But I will say it....
I could easily make a case of Beanie Feldstein giving the worst performance I have seen on a Broadway stage.
This has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she doesn't fit the mold of the role due to her size, because I have seen some people claiming it is a weight thing, but that is not it at all.
This simply comes down to the fact that she simply cannot sing the role and even when certain songs are closer to her range, the timbre of her voice comes off as too forward, too nasal, and too breathy.
A lot of people have posted audio clips of Feldstein in the role but the producers of the show are very quick in taking them down.
So, while it is a bit lengthy and jumbled, the following video below features audio of 4 different performances of the show's most iconic number "Don't Rain on My Parade":
#1 - Streisand's last performance on Broadway in 1965
#2 - Beanie Feldstein on Broadway
#3 - Julie Benko (Feldstein's standby)
#4 - Lea Michele doing the song in concert in 2018
In the case of Streisand, keep in mind that with her recording being nearly 60 years old, the microphone audio is more prone to come across as rather metallic sounding at times.
Also worth noting is that Benko sings the song a step up than the standard arrangement.
Some of Feldstein's staunchest advocates (and she does have them) just say that the critiques against here are quite vicious just because she isn't Streisand...or that she does the role differently.
Well...yeah...she isn't Streisand. But other people have sung the song over the years and did remarkably well with it, like Lillias White or Stephanie J. Block.
This isn't a matter of being different; it is a matter of someone being out of their wheelhouse.
I have performed in many musicals over the years and I know I have my limitations as to what roles I can sing.
I am obviously way too old now...and then again, so was he at the time he made the movie....but let's say that when I was in my early 20s, I was cast as Evan in Dear Evan Hansen.
Maybe I would've been able to act the role, but there was no way in hell I could've been able to sing that role.
That might be more of an extreme example, because there are moments in the score of Funny Girl where Feldstein would sound perfectly fine.
However, if you listen to how she sounds in this recording, it gives you a very firm idea as to what the problem is with her in the role and a lot of that stems down to her vocal technique.
Her breath support is often lacking which is only further exacerbated by the fact that her energy in the performance is very lackluster. This is where I will slightly diverge to admit that I think a lot of this has to do with the arrangement and tempo of the song.
The orchestra feels so sparse and then when you put her quieter, nasal timbre next to the meager orchestra that matches the level of meek energy, it makes for the least exciting version of "Don't Rain on My Parade" I have yet to hear or witness.
Many rumors have been swirling about how she got the part, whether that be her family helping to finance in some capacity to guarantee her a shot at her dream role (and FYI, she is Jonah Hill's brother...he opted to change his name for Hollywood) or that she presented herself as a viable choice to director Michael Mayer.
Speaking of Mayer, he is one of the more erratic directors working in musical theatre today. Funny Girl represents some of the worst, if not THE worst, work of his career. I think a lot of the blame can be placed on his shoulders along with that of the show's main producers...one of whom is Sonia Friedman, a very prominent producer from the West End.
This is a case of someone who made it through rehearsals, through the sitzprobe, and possibly didn't even truly have a real audition...and yet, they just let every aspect slide that she simply wasn't right for the role.
You can't even write anything more juicy in how the real downfall began.
After a truly awkward preview period in which online message boards proceeded to drag Feldstein down a muddy Henry Street, the show opened and she got the expected mediocre reviews...although Rex Reed showed her an immense amount of mercy.
THEN...Feldstein had a wedding to go to for a close friend out in the Hamptons and the scheduled weekend set of performances were set to go on with Feldstein's standby Julie Benko.
For the record, I had no idea who Benko was. She had been quietly making the rounds and as expected, she went on that weekend and got praised to the high heavens.
While I haven't gotten to see Benko live yet, it is obvious from the audio that she has a lot more confidence and verve in the role and she is able to make the rather ho-hum arrangement a lot more exciting.
Now that Feldstein is departing at the end of the month...although some wonder if she will bail even sooner...Benko will get the chance to play the role for a little over a month before Lea Michele will take it over.
Maybe if more news comes out, I will write a follow-up. I might also try to go see Benko in the role next month. As it stands, I think it truly is a shameful situation...but if the rumors are true that Feldstein is being rather bitter towards Benko, that sort of pisses me off.
I can understand that to an extent, but I also think it is fully aware that this is a case where the standby is just simply better and if you are going to be on Broadway, you need to be able to deliver.
It is shameful that some articles are now showing that the producers are painting Benko as having been deceitful for simply promoting herself and her performances.
She is getting praise because she, simply put, deserves some praise.
I still stand by the fact that Feldstein was woefully miscast and gave one of the worst performances, if not THE worst, performance I have seen in a professional show.
And it simply has to do with the quality of her voice being ill suited and being directed in a matter that didn't try to factor in any of her comic strengths.
It also has NOTHING to do with her weight either. Some will still claim it is a fat shaming issue, but that is very much not the case. Sure, she may look NOTHING like the real Fanny Brice but Streisand didn't exactly look like her either...and neither does Lea Michele.
If you really want to get technical, Benko does bare a slight resemblance.
Having said that, Fanny Brice isn't even really known as a figure in that capacity anymore. Her legacy is mostly connected to this rather messy musical...which is both a blessing and a curse.
...and speaking of curses, hopefully in the years to come, someone will come along who can play Fanny Brice to its best potential.
Right now, Benko deserves the shot...but also, why the hell has no one given Jessie Mueller a call?!?!
The Disney Universe has to be one of the most beloved and vast properties ever created. If you think about it, the first full-length animated feature to be released was Snow White & The Seven Dwarves back in 1937.
In the decades since, many generations have grown to fall in love with many Disney films and despite those decades, quite a few of these films have endured and maintained a high level of popularity and esteem...or, at the very least, a sense of warm nostalgia.
Having been born in the late 1980s, I came in right at the early years of the Disney Renaissance which led to some of the most iconic animated films ever made such as:
1989: The Little Mermaid
1991: Beauty & the Beast
1992: Aladdin
1994: The Lion King
This resurgence was so impactful that the success of Beauty & the Beast led it to being the first and only animated film to receive a Best Picture nomination at a time when only five films could be nominated.
*SIDE NOTE: Even after they increased the nominees to range from 8-10 in the last 12 years or so, only 2 animated films have managed Best Picture nominations: Up and Toy Story 3. That is truly a shame when other highly praised animated efforts like Inside Out and Soul got the shaft from the still seemingly intense animation bias*
A lot of the big success of the Disney Renaissance came from the fact that they were films modeled by a traditional Broadway Musical structure with scores written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, the team who had found immense success creating the iconic 1980s off-Broadway classic Little Shop of Horrors.
With The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, and Aladdin, they truly transformed the downtrodden studio and on a strictly personal level, made mine and many others of my age group, have a very memorable childhood.
Even prior to the Renaissance, Disney had a history of creating truly iconic songs for their films and that is going to be my main focus for today's post.
Narrowing the list down to 10 is going to be a particularly difficult process, but I am currently stuck at my office on a slow day and need the distraction. Stressing over a list of Disney songs sounds far more appealing than making sure a bunch of people have the perfect kind of peanut butter (don't ask...)
Also, I am going to try my best to give this list some variety by limiting the movies featured. I just wanted to spread the wealth with the songs, but in the end, I have chosen two songs from 3 different movies (that includes my honorable mentions as well).
So, let's get this started. Here are my top 10 favorite Disney songs, plus 5 Honorable Mentions:
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
- When You Wish Upon a Star (Pinocchio)
-A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes (Cinderella)
- Poor Unfortunate Souls (The Little Mermaid)
- I Just Can't Wait to be King (The Lion King)
- Hellfire (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
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#10 - SUPERCALAFRAGALISTICEXPIALADOCIOUS
Mary Poppins (1964)
The Sherman Brothers
There are very few songs in the Disney canon...or just in the world of musicals in general...that are quite as jubilant and joyous as this one.
I can recall having to sing it in music class in Elementary school and it was one of the only songs that seemed to excite my classmates to sing...as often was the case that most people hated to even be in that class.
Even as a sequence, I can only imagine that the green screen effects and the blending of animation and live-action were quite the feast for the eyes back in 1964.
Ignoring the infamous accent work of Dick van Dyke, he is a true delight in this and his chemistry with Julie Andrews is off the charts.
It is crazy to think this was Andrews' feature film debut and that it would go on to net her an Oscar.
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#9 - CIRCLE OF LIFE
The Lion King (1994)
John/Rice
This is a song that I don't exactly listen to often...but I felt like I just had to include it.
Why so?
This has got to be one of the best openings to a film ever.
It also would lead to one of the best opening numbers of a Broadway musical ever...although I will still say that I never felt the Broadway musical was that impressive aside from most of its technical aspects and certain cast members.
*SIDE NOTE: For you fellow musical theatre geeks out there, I still say Ragtime was robbed of the Tony. Full stop.*
Nevertheless, this is simply a very powerful opening number.
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#8 - CANDLE ON THE WATER
Pete's Dragon (1977)
Do I actually like Pete's Dragon as a film?
Some people honestly hate it and think it is one of the worst films Disney ever released.
While I might not go that far, I do think this is one of those films that is rather enjoyable though not exactly well made by any means.
The film's crown jewel was that of Helen Reddy, the Aussie pop icon who was most famous for her feminist anthem "I Am Woman".
Reddy, who sadly passed away in 2020, has such a distinctive and truly charming voice. She sings throughout the film in various songs, but it is when she climbs to the top of the lighthouse and sings about how she longs for her fiancé Paul to return after having been lost at sea for a whole year.
"Candle on the Water" is one of those songs that is on the brink of being kind of cheesy simply due to the metaphor of a title it has, but the lovely melody and the tender voice of Reddy made this a song that I have loved from quite some time.
Sometimes, I sort of forget about the song but whenever it crosses my mind, I can't help but smile and then rush to listen to it.
It never ceases to make me feel all warm and fuzzy...despite its sad undertone.
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#7 - GOD HELP THE OUTCASTS
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
Menken/Schwartz
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When it comes to the films of the Disney Renaissance, I usually would dim my admiration towards all of the films following The Lion King.
However, a recent rewatch of The Hunchback of Notre Dame proved to be a bit of a pleasant surprise.
While this version rather understandably erases the truly tragic ending devised by Victor Hugo, I am still kind of amazed by the darker and more mature themes that Hunchback had.
Frollo as a villain, in particular, was simply dark and disturbing. "Hellfire" (which got an honorable mention) is one of those villain songs that has seemed to gather more esteem over time, and I think it deserves a lot of praise for being such a dark number in a Disney animated film.
Though I am choosing to single out "God Help the Outcasts" for two very simple reasons:
1) It is gorgeous in terms of its melody.
2) Its message is rather profound.
In fact, a lot of the lyrics strike close to home...especially if you want to tie it into the whole Evangelical Right nonsense happening in the political world today.
"God help the outcasts, the tattered, the torn
Seeking an answer to why they were born
Winds of misfortune have blown them about
You made the outcasts, don't cast them out
The poor and unlucky, the weak and the odd
I thought we all were children of God"
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#6 - A WHOLE NEW WORLD
Aladdin (1992)
Menken/Rice
With the release of Encanto last year, an obsession arose around the score written by Lin Manuel Miranda...but the obsession was especially strong over the song "We Don't Talk About Bruno".
The popularity was so strong that it ended up becoming the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100...not even "Let it Go" from Frozen managed that.
The Encanto effort has become the biggest selling Disney single of all time and the first song to become #1 since Aladdin's "A Whole New World".
The biggest difference is that Bruno was the actual single from the movie. With "A Whole New World", it was the duet cover done by Regina Belle and Peabo Bryson.
Regardless, there is no denying the instant iconic status that the song received no matter which version you were listening to. I was only 4 when the film came out and around 5 when it finally came out on VHS.
I still recall the song being everywhere and it became so popular so fast that the Honors Choir that my sister was singing with in the spring of 1993 actually sang the song because it was already so popular despite the fact it had only been released 4-5 months before.
It is a song that has become something of a cliche but is also one of those songs that has such a high level of whimsy and charm that I can't help but fall in love with the song all over again.
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#5 - YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME
Toy Story (1995)
Randy Newman
The Toy Story movies were sneakily a deeper part of my soul than I ever expected...which was evidenced when I went to see Toy Story 3 in theaters and that the final third of the movie managed to leave me a sobbing mess.
I am not kidding. I came close to having to pull over when driving on the highway back home still reeling from how much it affected me.
I grew up on Toy Story. When the first movie came out in 1995, I was 7 years old...and seemingly around the same age as the Andy character.
There are a lot of things to love about this film series...particularly the level of writing. The first one was also the first animated film to receive a Screenplay nomination...but this was also the first film I can recall seeing with a score by Randy Newman.
While the work of Randy Newman these days seems to be coasting on relative Autopilot, this very simple song about friendship manages to always put me back into an instant place of childhood nostalgia.
I think it is a shame that Newman lost this Oscar...especially when he lost it to another song from the world of Disney: "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas, a song that is fine from a movie that is rather weak.
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#4 - THE BARE NECESSITIES
The Jungle Book (1967)
Terry Gilkyson
The same composing team who often wrote for the Disney movies of this era, the Sherman Brothers, were brought into The Jungle Book when it was deemed that the work of Folk singer/songwriter Terry Gilkyson was too dark for the film.
However, one song of his remained: The Bare Necessities.
Despite the obvious talent of the Sherman Brothers, I think that their best work came from other films and there is a reason that this particular song stood out and managed to get a Best Song nomination (which it inexplicably lost to "Talk to the Animals" from Doctor Doolittle).
Despite its upbeat arrangement, the song does have a little bit of a moodier edgier sound than a lot of the other Disney tunes from that era...not to mention, it does have a very fun lyrical pattern.
While it may not exactly rhyme, I do love the flow of rhyming "necessities" with "rest at ease".
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#3 - FEED THE BIRDS
Mary Poppins (1964)
The Sherman Brothers
There are always those particular songs that whenever they would come onscreen as a kid that you would be compelled to fast forward through.
I can still remember my mother and sister showing me Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory for the first time and them fast forwarding through "Cheer Up Charlie" as they deemed it far too dull. Amazingly, I have learned I was not the only one who had that experience.
In the case of "Feed the Birds", I don't recall ever fast forwarding the VHS, but I do remember finding the song rather stuffy and little creepy as a kid.
It wasn't until I was in college and, for whatever reason, my acting teacher was talking about movie musicals and the topic of Julie Andrews came up. He asked me to think about what my favorite musical moment of hers was in a film...and after a moment of recollection, I was surprised when "Feed the Birds" was what I settled on.
It is no surprise that Walt Disney responded so strongly to this song. Its message is rather sweet, but the arrangement/melody has to be one of the most haunting from the Disney canon.
This is the second song from Mary Poppins on this list...and I made that exception as I actually consider it to be my favorite Disney movie.
Here is the clip from the film with Dame Julie Andrews singing the song as a lullaby to Jane and Michael:
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#2 - UNDER THE SEA
The Little Mermaid (1989)
Menken/Ashman
This would be the first Best Song win for Alan Menken and Howard Ashman...and with it, we got the beginning of the Disney Renaissance.
The Little Mermaid was the saving grace for the Animation Dept at Disney and a lot of that success rested not just on the animation team but the shoulders of Menken and Ashman...particularly the storytelling genius of Ashman.
The whole score to Little Mermaid is sublime.
"Part of Your World", which almost met the fate of the cutting room floor, is one of the best ballads in Disney history.
"Kiss The Girl" is an enchanting and truly sly romantic piece.
"Poor Unfortunate Souls" is one of the more iconic villain songs of all time.
And then you have "Under the Sea", perhaps the more boring choice but I can't deny that I have always loved this song. Everything about is simply so infectious and the truly brilliant lyrical work of Ashman is on full display here.
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#1 - BE OUR GUEST
Beauty & the Beast (1991)
Menken/Ashman
While I basically debated through dozens of songs and swapped out several, there was one song that remained pretty strong and that was "Be Our Guest".
I knew from the moment I started this list that it would be my #1 choice.
I can remember watching Beauty and the Beast for the first time...and although it would take me until I was a little older to acknowledge that it was fantastic and perhaps the best animated film from the Disney Renaissance era, I distinctly remember being entranced by "Be Our Guest" as a sequence and as a tune.
I didn't quite understand all of the lyrics of course (considering I was only 3 when it was in theaters and 4 when it came out on VHS), but there was a certain buoyancy to it I adored to the point where I would want to watch the sequence over and over again.
And while I may not have gotten the meaning of a lot of the fanciful lyrics, it was the first time I can recall taking notice of rhyming within lyrics.
It is a relatively simple song and premise that was equally made better by how it was presented onscreen. I could easily make the argument that "Be Our Guest" was the major deciding factor in me finding a love for big flashy musical numbers and taking an interest in looking at some older movie musicals at the recommendation of my grandparents, which then lead to my obsession with that of Judy Garland.
And now, Art Isn't Easy proudly presents, "Be Our Guest":
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FINAL THOUGHTS:
This was sort of harder than I thought.
I think some of these songs could interchange and a few that I didn't even mention would warrant some attention.
I think this is a topic that would certainly get a lot of debate.
And yes, it felt good to have this list not include anything from Frozen.
As a kid of the 90s, I was an avid viewer of the iconic cable channel Nickelodeon and one of the more popular shows on the channel at the time was Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Modeled around a group who calls themselves "The Midnight Society", they all sit around a firepit at night and share a scary story. A lot of these episodes are quite cheesy to look back on, but at the time, there were a few episodes that had moments that truly tapped into my fear of death, ghosts, and cemeteries.
Even to this day, I would argue that the opening credits are surprisingly chilling.
Maybe you'll agree? Look below:
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I do think that Are You Afraid of the Dark?, despite not being my favorite show on the network, did fuel an interest in scary stories for me. This extended into what would be my growing love of movies in my pre-teen years in which I discovered old classics like Frankenstein or Dracula but also newer films like The Sixth Sense which came out when I was 11 years old and at a time where I still did have an immense fear of the idea of death.
My history in the 20 years since has been rather erratic.
As a genre, I feel like horror gets both a bad rap...but I can also fully understand why it does. I just wish that people were more able to acknowledge when a horror film succeeds on a high artistic level rather than instantly disregard film because of the stigma that horror films have.
I say this as someone who has been biased against horror for a while and I have been guilty of doing this not just for horror films, but other popcorn genres like Action/Sci-Fi/the Marvel Universe.
There was actually a time when I would've said that Horror was my favorite genre...but one major factor turned me away from that in my still relatively new obsession with film as an art form.
One could deem it as a level of pretentious opinions, but I did develop a strong affinity to indie cinema and foreign cinema in my teenage years and took on more of an artsy snob persona towards my opinion of films and what I felt were worthy of immense praise or accolades.
Keep in mind, I was a teenager/college student throughout the 2000s, so this was an era of film that I was truly witnessing firsthand and developing my own opinions on without much influence on what the rhetoric towards films from even the 90s might have had.
During the 00s, horror was mostly dominated by the likes of films such as Saw or Hostel. While I did like the first Saw film, I can't say I had any real desire to see the saga continue with its sequels.
In the case of something like Hostel, I loathed it and a lot of the "torture porn" sub-genre of horror films from the very moment I saw them.
Slasher films are also the same way...but even some of the biggest names of that subgenre were truly very good films like the original Halloween or A Nightmare on Elm Street.
While Elm Street was quite gory, its themes/plot involving a villain killing victims within their dreams was a compelling story.
Halloween was remarkable in that you truly didn't see much, if any, gore. A lot of what made that film work was simply the truly tense and eerie atmosphere that John Carpenter created...and the subsequent sequels and copycats like Friday the 13th, opted more for gore and a lot of stereotypical plot devices to point where they all seemed practically interchangeable.
Once we hit the 2010s, I would say we began to see signs of a horror renaissance.
Movies like The Babadook, It Follows, The Witch, Get Out, Hereditary, The Lighthouse, Midsommar, and Us all managed to get a lot of attention from film critics/fanatics or even managed to get some form of Oscar buzz (which Get Out only truly ended up benefitting from).
With the big snub of Toni Collette for her truly chilling work in Hereditary and then a snub the following year for the dual work of Lupita Nyong'o in Us, many bemoaned the horror bias that Hollywood seems to have when it comes to viewing horror as a potentially prestigious genre.
Even when it comes to honoring horror films, only one horror film has ever won the Oscar for Best Picture: The Silence of the Lambs.
Even that film had a very strong dramatic weight as it was also essentially a detective story and a psychological thriller as Jodie Foster's Clarice Starling is dealing with a lot of emotional traumas from her childhood.
So where exactly am I going with this?
Honestly, I had something of an interesting diversion over the last week or so that made me think a lot more about the idea of "horror" as a genre and a storytelling devise.
Via YouTube, I had come across a couple of random videos that were real-life creepy incidents of odd moments captured on the Ring Cameras of people's doorbells.
They proved to be a bit chilling to say the least, but I noticed that two different YouTube channels popped up as posting videos like these:
Mr. Nightmare
and
Chilling Scares
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The first one I noticed was one by the latter channel and it was entitled "Three Downright Disturbing Theatre Horror Stories".
At first, I was uncertain about the content. I wasn't sure if these were incidents that all happened to the poster (which would be hilariously unfortunate for them), if they were real, or if they were fictional.
After looking into it more, I noticed that both of these channels ask for people to send in real-life horrific encounters that happened to them which would then lead the channel creator to read the stories aloud along with various creepy images, music, and sound effects to add to the atmosphere.
I am someone who has never scared easily, especially by most horror films.
I do admire films that can make me feel very uneasy with how it presents itself...one such example of that was Robert Eggars' The Witch.
However, the thing that works so strongly about these two particular YouTube channels are the creators. These are two guys who have to read off stories that didn't happen to them and be able to find their nuances. A good voice on a YouTube channel is basically crucial...I have definitely turned off several videos on topics I might have been interested in simply because the quality of the video/audio was too harsh or raw to deal with.
The creators of Mr. Nightmare and Chilling Scares managed to pull me in because they both mastered a very chilling tone that can put me into a sense of unease rather quickly.
I was admittedly very impressed by that fact, and also amazed at how several of the videos managed to make me feel paranoid at even the slightest sound I would hear within my apartment or at my office.
In fact, one morning last week, I was alone in the kitchen doing my normal early morning routine when people aren't normally in the office yet.
And then...someone did show up...and them walking in startled me to the point where I had to tell them what I was listening to so that they didn't think I was simply so easy to startle.
I am going to include two examples from each channel so you can check them out for yourself if you may have an interest:
From Mr. Nightmare, here are:
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From Chilling Scares, we have:
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I have tried listening to a couple of other channels, but so far, none of them have been able to pull me in the way that these two have. Of the two, Mr. Nightmare has the biggest following of nearly 6 MILLION subscribers and he has been posting n4ow for roughly 7 years.
Chilling Scares is a lot newer, but he has managed to net nearly 400k subscribers despite only being around for a year. It makes sense because he so obviously uses Mr. Nightmare as a template even down to a lot of the same vocal stylistics.
I would actually argue that Chilling Scares might have the creepier voice, but Mr. Nightmare might be better at finding the lighter moments within his narrations when it is needed. Both are truly remarkable at being able to place you within the world of the story...and at times, they will throw in visual jump scares that even made me rather on edge to the point where I didn't even want to look at the screen for a while.
So, to wrap this up, I guess this sort of became a way for me to just let out some of my feelings on Horror as a genre and how amazed I was that two YouTubers were able to manage to give me more of a thrill and a sense of unease than many horror films I grew up around in my youth.
I also feel like it gives me a stronger desire to root for and keep an eye out for upcoming horror films that may push the envelope in the sense that it may get enough acclaim to be viewed as art worthy of high critical adoration.
And yes, as I often say, awards aren't everything...but it would be thrilling to see a movie along the lines of The Witch be able to find its way to the Oscars podium.
However, as we often see, the Oscars often give us horror in the form of their actual choices.
