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Top 10 Best Oscar-Winning Musicals

Top 10 Best Oscar-Winning Musicals
VOICE OVER: Emily Brayton WRITTEN BY: Joe Shetina
Get ready for a musical journey through Hollywood's most celebrated song and dance spectacles! We're counting down the most iconic Oscar-winning musicals that have captured hearts, won awards, and defined the genre across decades of cinematic history. Our countdown includes legendary films like "West Side Story", "Chicago", "The Sound of Music", and more! From Gene Kelly's dazzling dance numbers to Liza Minnelli's electrifying performances, these movies represent the absolute best of musical cinema.
Top 10 Oscar Winning Musicals

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the greatest movie musicals that took home Oscar gold.

#10: “All That Jazz” (1979)

Bob Fosse’s masterful opus is part-showbiz musical, part-philosophical fantasy. Based very closely on his own life, “All That Jazz” shows the choreographer-director grappling with his own mortality and solipsistic ways. Main character Joe Gideon is a stand-in for the director, with all his womanizing, self-destructive, and perfectionist tendencies. Fosse even gave parts to some of the actual people in his life and career. Dancer and actress Ann Reinking essentially plays a character inspired by herself. “All That Jazz” was nominated for nine Oscars and won four: Best Original Score, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Film Editing. Its reputation has only grown stronger in the years since.

#9: “An American in Paris” (1951)

Gene Kelly starred in and created some of the choreography for this Paris-set musical about a war veteran who falls for his pal’s girlfriend, played by the charming Leslie Caron. “An American in Paris” is distinctive for its ambitious dance numbers and ballet sequences set to George and Ira Gershwin tunes. Kelly is at the height of his powers and charms. The movie won six Academy Award Nominations, including Best Picture. Shockingly, Gene Kelly’s even more famous and beloved follow-up, “Singin’ in the Rain,” did not win any Oscars - although it was nominated for two.

#8: “Fiddler on the Roof” (1971)

Tradition clashes with modern ways in this adaptation of the Broadway hit. “Fiddler on the Roof” takes place in early 20th Century Imperial Russia. Best Actor nominee Chaim Topol plays Tevye, a Jewish milkman who struggles with a changing world as his daughters insist on marrying the men they love regardless of custom. “Fiddler” is funny, exuberant, and tragic in equal measure. Critics were mixed to positive when it was released, but its reputation has only improved with time. It frequently makes appearances on lists of the best movie musicals ever for its enduring power and themes of community and oppression that are as relevant as ever.

#7: “The Sound of Music” (1965)

In only her third film role, Julie Andrews shines as the young but eager governess to a stern captain’s seven children. She wins them over with music. “The Sound of Music” is based on the real-life story of the Von Trapp Family, who escaped Austria during the Nazi occupation. The film took home five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. It isn’t the only Academy-acclaimed musical that Andrews has starred in. She won Best Actress for Disney’s “Mary Poppins”, which took home another four Academy Awards on top of that. She also starred in the underrated gender-bender“Victor/Victoria”, which picked up the Oscar for Best Original Song Score or Adaptation Score.

#6: “My Fair Lady” (1964)

In this delightful classic, Professor Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can transform a Cockney flower girl into a refined woman who speaks refined English. Best Actor winner Rex Harrison reprised the role he played on Broadway, but stage star Julie Andrews was replaced by Audrey Hepburn (although it’s Marni Nixon’s voice in the songs). The result is a charming, entertaining, and beautifully designed production that exemplifies the classic movie musical. “My Fair Lady” won eight Oscars, including Best Picture, and still remains one of the most successful stage to screen transfers ever made.

#5: “Dreamgirls” (2006)

Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, and Jennifer Hudson star in this story of a girl group’s meteoric rise to fame. Inspired by Motown group the Supremes, “Dreamgirls” charts their rise, the ousting of one of its original members, and a series of affairs and betrayals. Hudson’s Oscar winning performance as Effie White is a tour de force. Another thing that sets the movie apart is its stellar soundtrack, with wall-to-wall bangers that sound and feel like they’re actually from the 1960s and 70s. “Dreamgirls” is full of great performances, outstanding visual design, and songs you’ll be humming long after the movie is over.

#4: “The Wizard of Oz” (1939)

In this timeless classic, Dorothy Gale and her house are picked up by a tornado, and she’s dropped in the magical land of Oz. MGM’s big budget musical was a marvel of early Technicolor photography, stunning visual effects, and gorgeous production design. Judy Garland’s performance and voice have captivated audiences for decades ever since. “Gone With the Wind” ate up a lot of the attention at the Oscars that year. But “Over the Rainbow” won Best Original Song, MGM composer Herbert Stothart took home Best Original Score, and Garland was given an Academy Juvenile Award.

#3: “Chicago” (2002)

Renée Zellweger, Richard Gere, and Oscar winner Catherine Zeta-Jones lead an incredible cast of singing and dancing murderers, con artists, and fame chasers in 1920s Chicago. Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly are two jazz performers on death row trying to capitalize on their fame from prison. With its tongue-in-cheek themes of criminals becoming celebrities, it’s still pretty relevant more than 20 years later. The movie musical was all but dead in the early 2000s. “Chicago” revitalized the entire genre, and became the first musical to win Best Picture in over 30 years.

#2: “Cabaret” (1972)

With its themes of corruption, fascism, and decadence in 1930s Berlin, “Cabaret” was not a musical that was about forgetting your troubles. Nonetheless, taking viewers into the world of the seedy Kit Kat Klub, “Cabaret” is a stylish and evocative film that pushes boundaries. Its electrifying musical numbers are equal parts sexy and disturbing. Despite “The Godfather” winning Best Picture, “Cabaret” won 8 Oscars that same night, including Best Director for Bob Fosse and Best Actress for Liza Minnelli. Couldn’t it have been a tie?


Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.


“Moulin Rouge!” (2001)

This Postmodern Musical Broke Hearts & Took Home Oscars for Its Sets & Costumes

“The King and I” (1956)

This Sweeping & Deeply Romantic Broadway Adaptation Won Five Oscars


“Beauty and the Beast” (1991)

This Disney Classic Became the First Animated Film Nominated for Best Picture, & Won for Best Original Score & Song


“Oliver!” (1968)

Dickensian Poverty & Musical Numbers Are a Great Combination In This Best Picture Winner


“The Lion King” (1994)

An Epic Story Set to Elton John’s Unforgettable Music, Winning Both Best Original Score & Song


#1: “West Side Story” (1961)

After changing American theater forever, this modernized “Romeo and Juliet” landed on the silver screen. The result was 1961’s best and highest grossing film. Starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, and Oscar winners Rita Moreno and George Chakiris, the story of lovers from rival ethnic gangs is full of explosive dances and tragic romance. Mix this with some incredible Technicolor visuals, and you have a true musical masterpiece. Steven Spielberg’s 2021 remake carved out its own spot on a list of great musicals. But the original still remains a singular achievement in the genre. “West Side Story” won a whopping 10 Oscars, and more than that, it’s endured as one of the very best movie musicals of all time.

Did your favorite award-worthy musical make the list? Tell us in the comments.

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No Little Shop of Horrors??
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