5 Musical Songs That Shouldn't Have Been Cut from the Movie & 5 Songs We Didn't Miss

MsMojo

Did your favorite or least favorite song make the cut? Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at five show tunes that were needlessly cut from their film adaptations, and 5 songs that were smartly deleted or replaced by better ones.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at 5 show tunes that were needlessly cut from

00:10their film adaptations, and 5 songs that were smartly deleted or replaced by better ones.

00:235.

00:24Missed, NYC, Annie

00:41In bringing the red-headed orphan to the screen, 7 songs were cut from the original score.

00:45The Broadway Productions lyricist and director, Martin Charnin, derided these decisions.

00:50One of the songs that was tossed, NYC, was replaced by the upbeat, Let's Go To The Movies.

01:04While that latter song has its fans, as its title suggests, NYC embraces the city that

01:10Annie and Oliver Warbucks call home.

01:22The change of song may have been made to showcase actress Anne Reinking's killer dancing skills.

01:27While she is great to watch, many fans still would have preferred NYC to keep its place

01:32in the story, and were rewarded when it was restored in the 1999 TV remake.

01:505.

01:51Didn't Miss, Once In A While, The Rocky Horror Picture Show

02:04Not only does Richard O'Brien's sci-fi musical have great songs, it has great song titles.

02:12You can conjure up The Time Warp, Over At Frankenstein Place, and Dammit Janet as soon

02:17as you hear their names.

02:18Once In A While, Brad's solo in Act 2 of the Rocky Horror Show is a pretty enough song.

02:23Compared to the rest of the score, it's as dull and nondescript as its title.

02:38Once In A While is the character's song of heartache after he cheats on Janet with the

02:42evil Dr. Frankenfurter.

02:43Although actor Barry Bostwick recorded and filmed the number, the scene was left out

02:48of the final cut.

03:014.

03:02Missed, A Bushel and a Peck, Guys and Dolls

03:14This one didn't make the movie soundtrack for a very simple reason.

03:18Producer Samuel Goldwyn didn't like it.

03:20It didn't matter that it's one of the most revered and covered songs from the musical.

03:24He didn't like it, so he made the writers replace it with a new song, the unfortunately

03:29titled Pet Me, Papa.

03:40You can almost respect a creative choice to remove a song, but this one just feels

03:44petty and ill-advised.

03:46Considering the original song became so popular that its position in the actual show was changed

03:52so the audience could hear it sooner, it seems like a bad business decision to boot.

04:094.

04:10Didn't Miss, Whose House Is This, Mean Girls

04:24Several songs were cut from the score of this teen musical, and fans were not happy.

04:29They were so vocal about it that Tina Fey even addressed it on the Las Culturistas podcast.

04:39Lost in the move to the screen were beloved tracks like It Roars and Fearless.

04:51Conspicuously absent from this list of songs the fans missed was Whose House Is This.

05:00Katie Heron's ode to self-destruction and partying is a little too repetitive and on

05:05the nose.

05:06It could have dragged the movie down, and it makes total sense why it was deemed expendable.

05:223.

05:32Christmas Bells, Rent

05:44Several storylines converged during this Act 1 showstopper in a way that would absolutely

05:49be thrilling to see on film.

05:51So the fact that the 2005 movie is missing the song with the most cinematic possibilities

05:55does not sit well with fans.

05:57Rent is a long show, but of all the songs to cut, Christmas Bells just isn't it.

06:07Performed by the entire ensemble, Christmas Bells takes place in the hours leading up

06:11to a protest.

06:13Full of desperation and longing, it's a counterpoint to the holiday during which it takes place.

06:17It's also one of the songs that drives home what's really at stake for the characters.

06:36Without it, the movie comes off more twee and empty.

06:393.

06:40Didn't Miss, Find Yourself a Man, Funny Girl

06:55Once Hollywood came calling, the movie version of this Broadway show was rewritten and tailored

06:59to its new star, Barbara Streisand.

07:01Songs from the musical that didn't feature her were largely eliminated.

07:05Many others were replaced with other songs from the repertoire of the real-life Fanny

07:09Bryce.

07:23But this jaunty tune, sung by the Bryce's old neighbors, was an easy cut.

07:35It's not much of a song, it's more of a diversion, and it doesn't advance the central romance

07:40between Fanny and Nick Arnstein.

07:42Furthermore, it was one of several scenes involving Fanny's mother that were also largely

07:46dropped in the transition from stage to screen.

07:492.

07:51Missed, Mama I'm a Big Girl Now, Hairspray

08:05When the movie version of Hairspray rolled around, fans were not pleased at the cutting

08:09of one of its most celebrated numbers.

08:11Mama I'm a Big Girl Now features Tracy Turnblad, Penny Pingleton, and Amber Von Tussle fighting

08:16against their mother's oppressive parenting.

08:23Unfortunately, the makers couldn't justify the song's inclusion.

08:35Pacing-wise, it slowed down the story.

08:38More damning, though, was their aversion to three-way split-screen.

08:41They felt it would be too stylistically different from the rest of the numbers in the movie.

08:45They were at least kind enough to put a version of the song over the end credits, sung by

08:49star Nikki Blonsky and two former Tracy Turnblad actresses, Rikki Lake and Marissa Jarrett-Winokur.

08:552.

09:12Didn't Miss, Don't Tell Mama, Cabaret Director Bob Fosse made so many changes to

09:30the Tony-award-winning musical that some fans think of the movie as a separate entity entirely.

09:35Whole subplots from the show are disposed of to focus on Sally Bowles, a performer at

09:40Berlin's Kit-Kat Club.

09:41Her introductory song in the show, Don't Tell Mama, is a body number about what her

09:45mother might do if she found out what she does for a living.

09:56Fosse replaced it with the stunning song-and-dance number, Mine Hair.

10:00Liza Minnelli and the ensemble do some unforgettable chair-ography that'll make you forget all

10:05about Mama and whatever it is you weren't supposed to tell her.

10:22Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified

10:27about our latest videos.

10:29You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.

10:33If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.

10:381.

10:39Missed, No More, Into the Woods

10:56Broadway fans were right to be skeptical that Disney would honor Stephen Sondheim's more

11:00adult take on classic fairy tales.

11:03The show's second act is a profound meditation on grief and loss.

11:06Unfortunately, the movie cut some of the score's biggest emotional payoffs.

11:10No More is a duet between the despondent Baker and his deceased father.

11:31Of all the songs that were cut, this one makes the least sense.

11:40In the show, it serves as the climax to the Baker's narrative, convincing him that he

11:44must accept his wife's death and face the future.

11:58Without it, the movie doesn't have nearly the emotional punch.

12:011.

12:02Didn't Miss, An Ordinary Couple, The Sound of Music

12:14In the original show by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, Maria and Captain Von Trapp

12:18declare their love over the duet An Ordinary Couple.

12:22The makers of the 1965 film version made the wise decision to sub it out for the devastatingly

12:27beautiful Something Good.

12:29Although An Ordinary Couple is a good song, it's hard to argue with the end result.

12:43Once you've seen Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer's rendezvous in the hazy moonlight

12:47of the gazebo, it's hard to imagine a more perfect piece of music.

12:51Rodgers composed the new song himself, as Hammerstein had passed away a few years before.

12:56It retains all the old-fashioned, highly romantic charm of their best work.

13:16What musical song were you sad to see cut from the movie version?

13:19Tell us in the comments!

Category

Transcript

Recommended