From sweltering dance numbers to feuding Hollywood legends, movie musical productions aren't always harmonious! Join us as we explore the most chaotic, shocking, and downright bizarre backstage stories from beloved musical films. These behind-the-scenes tales might forever change how you watch these cinematic song-and-dance classics!
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00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo and today we're counting down our picks for the most
00:07unhinged backstories and on-set antics from our favorite movie musicals.
00:11Number 10. The hottest hand jive ever, Grease. In the middle of this nostalgic 50-set musical,
00:27the students of Rydell High compete in a dance marathon in the gym.
00:31The scene was filmed in a real high school gym instead of a set.
00:34Danny, this is so exciting.
00:36Yeah, well, you see, what you gotta do is make friends with the cameraman.
00:38You know the cameraman?
00:40Yeah, his name's Ted.
00:41Film sets are already sweltering. Lights, cameras, and all that machinery can heat up even the most
00:47well-ventilated space. Add in dozens of people and a high-energy dance routine,
00:51and watch the temperatures skyrocket.
00:53There you go. Come on now, hands up.
01:03Now, let's just say that this gym wasn't equipped for airflow. As the story goes,
01:08the place was extremely hot, and the entire cast and crew purportedly
01:12endured temperatures topping out at 116 degrees.
01:24Number 9. Reshot and Refreshed. Annie.
01:27Maybe we fix it again with something shady.
01:39Give you one guess.
01:40Easy Street is one of the great villain songs. Carol Burnett, Tim Curry, and Bernadette Peters
01:45performed the number in the 1982 adaptation of the hit Broadway show, but the version they
01:50originally shot was very different. Deciding that the large-scale, jam-packed sequence they devised
02:09was excessive, the filmmakers reshot the whole thing. There was just one problem. Carol Burnett had treated
02:15herself to a touch of plastic surgery in the interim. As a result, when Miss Hannigan comes
02:20out of a closet towards the start of the scene, she debuts a brand-new chin.
02:24Best piece of direction I ever got. He said, well, you're just come out looking determined.
02:30Number 8. One Take Wonder, La La Land.
02:33Sun is nearly gone. The lights are turning on. A silver shine that stretches to the sea.
02:48A pivotal scene sees Mia and Sebastian falling in love over a sunset scene on a hill.
02:53This was shot on location and required an actual setting sun behind the actors.
02:58This left Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, and the entire crew very little room for error.
03:03To know so you agree.
03:06That's right. What a waste of a lovely night.
03:11Many of the numbers were filmed in extended takes, but the added pressure of the natural
03:15light disappearing ratcheted up the difficulty level by a hundred. As a result, they only got
03:20eight takes of the number over two days. Everyone was ecstatic. However,
03:25Gosling still has his issues with his performance, particularly one errant hand movement.
03:30We were supposed to have our hands up, and I thought it'd be cool to put my hand like that.
03:35Even though everyone told me it wasn't cool, I was sure that that was cooler than that.
03:39And now when I look at it, and I have to see it all the time,
03:42you know what would have been cooler than this? That.
03:467. Disney vs. Travers – Mary Poppins
03:50Walt Disney had enough trouble trying to combine animated characters with live-action ones,
03:54but he and the author of Mary Poppins were like oil and water.
03:58Mr. Disney, I cannot begin to tell you how uninterested, no positively sickened,
04:03I am at the thought of visiting your dollar printing machine.
04:07Well, for crying out loud, when does anybody get to go to Disneyland with Walt Disney himself?
04:11Disappointments are to the soul what the thunderstorm is to the air.
04:17The 2013 biopic Saving Mr. Banks tells a fictional version of her tensions with Disney,
04:23but it paints a much rosier picture of events. Serving as a consultant on the film,
04:27Travers stonewalled the writers at every opportunity.
04:31It is integral to the book and to the story, in whatever form is presented,
04:35that Mary Poppins should never be impolite of anybody.
04:38I heard she's in there, there's a place to bring them around.
04:40In case you said, hello?
04:41I'm wondering, after all, they're falling.
04:43Because my idea is, and probably you'll agree with me.
04:47She challenged any attempt to Disney-fy her story and her beloved heroine.
04:51It was not uncommon for her to mark up versions of the screenplay with the word no,
04:55usually underlined several times. Things got so tense between them
04:59that Disney refused to even be in town when she was there at one point.
05:03Walt Disney said,
05:05Mrs. Travers, or Pamela, will be arriving here today, and I will be leaving today.
05:13I'm going to my house in Palm Springs, and I'll be back when she leaves.
05:18Number 6. An International Incident — Evita
05:21It took years to bring the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical to the screen. The production went through
05:26multiple directors, writers, and leading actors before it finally started shooting in 1996.
05:32Meryl Streep and Michelle Pfeiffer were both set as the lead before
05:35Madonna took the role of former Argentine first lady Eva Perón.
05:38Stand back! You ought to know what you're gonna get in me. Just a little touch of star quality.
05:45Unfortunately, the film almost caused an international incident.
05:49Indeed, protests erupted in Argentina over Madonna's casting. The production actually had to
05:54hold a press conference to quell anxieties about Hollywood trampling Perón's legacy.
05:59Truthfully, I think that the negative remarks that people have made are based on things that
06:03people don't know and don't understand. And I urge you all to form your opinions after you see the movie.
06:13This didn't work. Local theaters screening the film were met with further outrage.
06:18Would it be to win through? And the answer is yes.
06:22I know. And yes. I know. And yes.
06:27No. Number 5. Brando vs. Sinatra — Guys and Dolls
06:32Two legends were cast in this Broadway adaptation, but the set wasn't big enough for the both of them.
06:37Frank Sinatra apparently coveted the role of Skye Masterson, but Marlon Brando got it instead.
06:43Sinatra was given the slightly smaller part of Nathan Detroit.
06:47How about a cup of coffee? Maybe a piece of cheesecake.
06:50Thanks. I'm pleased to hear things go well with you, Nathan.
06:53The crooner reportedly couldn't stand the A Streetcar Named Desire actor's naturalistic style.
06:58Rumor has it that to mess with him one day, Brando kept messing up takes of a scene where
07:02Sinatra had to consume cheesecake, forcing him to eat more and more.
07:07What's the matter, Nathan? You look sick.
07:10A temporary disorder. The cheesecake backed up on him.
07:13One source alleges their feud got so bad that the famously mafia-connected Sinatra had his co-star
07:18kidnapped and threatened. Maybe this supposed brush with organized crime influenced Brando's most
07:23famous role.
07:24I hoped that we could come here and reason together. And as a reasonable man, I'm willing to do whatever's
07:31necessary to find a peaceful solution to this problem.
07:36Number 4. Suffering for their art, singing in the rain.
07:39The three leads of this masterful MGM musical were put through the ringer to make these dances look
07:44effortless. In one scene, Debbie Reynolds danced until her feet bled, and she often endured harsh
07:49rehearsals with co-star Gene Kelly.
07:51I mean, you say he was a taskmaster. Some people say, actually, he was pretty tough on
07:54you during the making of that movie. Not always very nice to you.
07:57No, no, he was tough. You've got the right idea. But you have to be happy.
08:02Did he shout at you? He wanted you to work harder?
08:03Well, he had a microphone. He used to yell at me.
08:05Donald O'Connor threw himself into the highly physical make-em-laugh number and made it look easy.
08:11Yet we're sure it was anything but, though it's unclear if claims he had to spend days recovering are legitimate.
08:16What's the first thing an actor learns? The show must go on.
08:19Come rain, come shine, come snow, come sleet. The show must go on.
08:22Most impressive might be Gene Kelly's iconic dance to the title song.
08:26It is easily one of the most free-flowing and graceful routines ever committed to the silver screen.
08:31You wouldn't know he was suffering from a 103-degree fever when he filmed it.
08:35Take care of that throat. You're a big singing star now, remember?
08:40This California dew is just a little heavier than usual tonight.
08:44Number 3. The Sound of Blackmail. The Sound of Music.
08:48Given its serene Austrian setting and good-natured protagonist,
08:51it's probably hard to believe things weren't just as sweet on the set.
08:54But this production was troubled from its very first scene.
08:57That shot was filmed by me walking across a field from one end,
09:01and a helicopter coming down over the trees from the other end.
09:05The sweeping shot that finds Julie Andrews spinning in circles on a hill was hard to film,
09:09as the force of the helicopter kept knocking her to the ground.
09:12But director Robert Wise's biggest hurdle proved to be the film's historical accuracy.
09:17I have just come from the house of Captain von Trapp. Incidentally,
09:20the only one in the neighborhood not flying the flag of the Third Reich since the Anschluss,
09:25but we have dealt with that situation.
09:27Austrian locals initially refused to permit him to shoot scenes with swastikas. However,
09:32when he threatened to use very real wartime footage of the town covered in Nazi banners,
09:36they came to an understanding.
09:38Why was he so cross?
09:40Everybody's cross these days, darling.
09:41Maybe the flag with the black spider on it makes people nervous.
09:45Number 2. Death by a Thousand Cuts. Cats.
09:48Are you blind when you're born? Can you see in the dark?
09:55Can you look at a king? Would you sit on his throne?
10:00Anyone who saw this musical knows that it's easily one of the worst movies ever,
10:05but at the very top of the list of things that went wrong is the visual effects.
10:09Rather than settling for the elaborate catsuits of the stage musical,
10:12the creators behind 2019's Cats opted for the very finest special effects.
10:17We've used digital fur technology to create the most perfect covering of fur.
10:22These are people, but they're cats, and this is kind of blowing my mind.
10:26That was fine, except the effects team faced a punishing schedule,
10:29long hours, and impossible demands for feline realism.
10:33After all, as one designer had to tell the director, quote,
10:37cats don't dance. As a result, a now-legendary cut that features some very
10:41anatomically correct rear ends is said to exist.
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11:13Number 1. Mishaps and injuries and asbestos. Oh my. The Wizard of Oz.
11:18Sometimes movie magic is not magical at all. Frankly, the making of this family-friendly
11:23classic could inspire a list all on its own.
11:26We came back for lunch, and everybody again is tired. It was all just one mistake after another.
11:32At one point, Wicked Witch of the West actress Margaret Hamilton was severely burned during a
11:36pyrotechnic stunt gone wrong. Original Tin Man actor Buddy Epson had to exit the production after
11:42a severe toxic reaction to the aluminum dust used in his makeup. Pretty soon my lungs were coated with
11:47it. One night I took a breath and nothing happened. They got an ambulance for me and got me down to the
11:54hospital. Oh, and the snow in the poppy field scene was actually asbestos, which is highly toxic in its
11:59own right. From near-fatal injuries to dangerous props to dark urban legends, the set of The Wizard
12:04of Oz was pure nightmare fuel. We dream lots of silly things when we... No, Aunt Em. This was a real,
12:11truly live place. And I remember that some of it wasn't very nice. Did these chaotic backstories make
12:17you think differently about these movies? Let us know in the comments. It's all right.
12:22It's all right, Mrs. Travers. Mr. Banks. Going to be all right, I promise.
12:29It's just... I can't buy cartoons.
12:33Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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12:52So, maybe...
12:53Thanks, Matt.