I have always loved the poster for That's Dancing!, the That's Entertainment for dancers only, most likely because of its inherent GMA factor.I was reminded of this movie (which was finally released on DVD last month) while perusing Entertainment Weekly's recent video poll of the "Best Dance Moves on Film".
Covering terpsichorean highlights from movie, television and music videos, both good and well, interesting, EW pits various dances against each other in such wacky categories as "Best Random (But Perfectly Choreographed) Dance Interlude" and "Best Reason to Enroll in Adult Tap Classes".
Represented is a fare mixture of both longtime classic dance sequences (Singin' in the Rain, West Side Story, Saturday Night Fever) and current favorites (Pulp Fiction, Napoleon Dynamite, Little Miss Sunshine). But the surprise for me was this clip from the TV toon Family Guy, wherein baby Stewie is impressively integrated into the famous Gene Kelly/Jerry the Mouse number from Anchors Aweigh.
I am by no means a fan of the Family Guy; unlike The Simpsons, their satire is usually served up straight with no chaser. This is what impressed me all the more with this particular scene, as it is no crass parody of musicals, but an actual tribute to the form.
UPDATE: The original clip I linked to has been removed, but I did find another YouTube video that is even better, with a cool split screen showing Kelly dancing with Jerry at the same time as Stewie. The link above will now take you to that clip.
Click here to buy the That's Dancing! poster or DVD
from Amazon.com. Links via Imdb.com, EW.com and YouTube.com.
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