The forgotten history of the Australian film musical: tracking the production and development of the genre in Australia

Abstract

While Australian film studies has located various genres, including horror, comedy, action/adventure, science fiction, and crime within the broader ‘Ozploitation’ discourse and the increase in Australian genre production in the 2010s, there has been little discussion of how a variety of song- and music-based Australian cinema operates in dialogue with the classical Hollywood musical and the global musical genre. Existing scholarship on the Austrlian musical has largely focused on singular well-known examples, including Strictly Ballroom (1992), The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert (1994), Moulin Rouge! (2001), Bran Nue Dae (2009) and The Sapphires (2012). Specific film studies on successful musicals, particularly on Moulin Rouge! and The Sapphires, are often framed in popular and academic circles as ‘reviving’ the genre for Australian audiences, due in large part to their box office success. This does not account for the long history of Australian musical films, and their popularity. This article posits a theoretical re-evaluation of the Australian film musical genre through its unusual variations and lesser-known examples, including dance films, animations, and musical biopics. It traces the Australian film musical genre in detail, considering its rich history, numerous subgenres, and its interconnections with Australian national cinema and the global musical genre.