. . . because nuthin’ says “Merry Anschluß!” like a von Trapp family sing along!
Seriously, it seems that this movie is highlighted around the holiday season. Why is that? Do seven children wearing drapes equate to a Happy Festivus? Is the Abbey a hidden suggestion of Santa’s workshop at the North Pole? Seriously, I don’t get why The Sound of Music seems to be a holiday classic–I’m not complaining. I just don’t see it. Can anyone shed some light?
Tripler
Maybe it’s Christopher Plummer–he’s always been a jolly elf. Just like in Star Trek VI.
It feeds the soul. It is a gift unto itself for those who like the movie. It’s a feel-good movie for those who are unemployed or are otherwise depressed due to the holidays.
Anyway, I’m guessing it’s because it’s got snow, it’s got mountains, it’s got a bunch of lovable kids, it’s got a puppet-show sequence, and it’s a movie the whole family can watch. (Christmas is a very family-oriented time of year.)
What I actually find more curious is how The Great Escape became a TV holiday favorite in Britain.
It’s a family movie and it’s nostalgic? That’s all I got. For that matter, why is “The Wizard of Oz” shown a lot around this time of year? Same reasons?
The Sound of Music is also a pretty heavily Christian story, with messages about sharing, family values, the gifts of love and moral values being more important than material things, etc etc. We used to call it The Sound of Mucus when we were kids. The original books are very interesting though, if you can get Julie Andrews (not a word against her, fine woman etc) out of your head and avoid reading the real Maria in her voice, since it doesn’t really match up very well.
I was about to start a Sound of Music Appreciation (or denigration) thread…perhaps we can subvert the purposes of this one?
I just read the entry on Georg von Trapp in Wikipedia, wondering why land-locked Austria had a navy. (A: he was a captain in the Austro-Hungarian Navy in WWI). I was surprised to see that he and Maria actually married in 1927, long before the Anschluss. That’s a huge bit of license to take, given that it drives the dramatic events of the story.
And they renamed all the children for the musical.
I have a problem with the Problem Like Maria. The character of Maria is too good to be true, and doesn’t square with the person the nuns are singing about. We see no evidence that she can outpester any pest, or drive a hornet from its nest. The worst thing she does is be late for church because she’s singing in the hills.
The wedding scene is spectacular and gorgeous, from a costume / set design perspective…and then they ruin it by reprising that stupid song.
The whole story, as told in the film, is pretty much nonsense. Read the books. I think The Trapp Family Singers is the first one. And I agree about the rude and uncalled-for reprise: I would have turned back down the aisle and battered those nuns to death with my bouquet if I’d been her!
It was a good Disney musical that got put on the air every year at Christmas, when you only got to see whatever was currently being broadcast. You couldn’t watch what you wanted when you wanted to so if you didn’t watch it then you didn’t see it for a year. It’s competition was likely a not as good movie on another channel. Now that that you can choose your Christmas viewing there are many good movies, but it doesn’t matter, because it was something we are now used to having seen around Christmas time for decades when we were kids. It is now linked to Christmas. I must say Julie Andrews was a lovely lady and sang well. It was true story about escaping the Nazi occupation because of their unwillingness to conform to the Nazi line, so you should be able to get why it was a feel good movie for Americans, besides it was a musical with Julie Andrews.
A little off-topic, but the Castro Theater in SF holds a Sing-along Sound of Music every Thanksgiving weekend. It is a lot of fun. Sort of a G rated Rocky Horror in the afternoon.
