Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / BusbyBerkeleyNumber

Go To

1%% Image kept on page per Image Pickin' threads:
2%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1334274278023920100
3%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1480713133079168200
4%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
5%%
6[[quoteright:350:[[Film/FortySecondStreet https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/busby_berkeley.jpg]]]]
7[[caption-width-right:350:Even when sober, this is really trippy.]]
8
9Know all those big, splashy musical numbers with elaborate sets and precise, fancy choreography that are a key memory of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood? They came largely from the mind of one man. He basically brought the RuleOfCool to musical theater.
10
11Creator/BusbyBerkeley was a former theater actor who served in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI as an artillery lieutenant. There, he learned how to get large groups of people to move in sync. This helped him when he went to Broadway and set up some of the most elaborate dancing numbers in the history of theater, with only Florenz Ziegfeld coming close. When he went to film, he topped even that, thanks to cameras being able to shoot where people couldn't sit, using more ChorusGirls than could ever fit on an ordinary stage. (In 1971 he was once again credited on Broadway for choreographing the revival of ''No, No, Nanette'', but this was InNameOnly.)
12
13One of his trademarks was to drill a hole in the ceiling to take direct shots of the dancers from above ([[OlderThanTheyThink before]] Creator/OrsonWelles [[Film/CitizenKane made the camera lower with a hole in the floor]]) while they moved in intricate patterns.
14
15But that's just some of the crazy things he did. Watching his numbers is a visual treat, even for those not into musicals.
16
17Naturally, today, musicals are likely to have homages to him, especially in {{Disney Acid Sequence}}s.
18
19There's a subset of Busby Berkeley Numbers that could be called "Esther Williams Numbers" for their most famous star ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther_Williams info]] at Website/TheOtherWiki): scenes done in pools, featuring wonderful examples of synchronized swimming. Usually with several female swimmers standing in a row on the left side of the screen and jumping in the water sideways to the right. Traditionally the camera then follows them swimming under water and then, in bird perspective forming a huge circle with their floating bodies.
20----
21
22!!Films featuring his work:
23
24* ''Whoopee!'' (1930), Berkeley's first film
25* ''Film/FortySecondStreet''
26* ''Film/GoldDiggersOf1933'', ''Film/GoldDiggersOf1935'', ''Film/GoldDiggersOf1937''
27* ''Film/FootlightParade''
28* ''Film/{{Dames}}''
29* ''Film/FashionsOf1934''
30* ''Film/ZiegfeldGirl''
31* ''Film/TheGangsAllHere''
32* ''Film/MillionDollarMermaid'' (Berkeley only worked on two Esther Williams films; this is one of them.)
33
34----
35!!Homages:
36
37[[foldercontrol]]
38
39[[folder:Advertising]]
40* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h-A3UtguZw "Whopperettes"]] ad campaign Burger King started with Super Bowl XL was clearly inspired by Creator/BusbyBerkeley.
41* The 1970 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFnqhefkQJw Great American Soups]] ad by Creator/StanFreberg featured a vaguely Creator/BusbyBerkeley-ish number performed by Ann Miller (a top tap dancer) as a housewife telling her returning husband what kind of soup was at home. The ad proved to be very popular and increased sales of soup, but [[WhatWereTheySellingAgain not Great American Soups]] soup. People bought rival Campbell's Soup instead. (Maybe the actual brand name, Heinz, should have been mentioned...)[[/folder]]
42
43[[folder:Anime]]
44* "Sunny Day Song" from ''Franchise/LoveLive: The School Idol Movie'' features a performance by a huge number of school idols from all over Japan.
45[[/folder]]
46
47[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
48* "Better Life", the Broadway-esque number by Ansel Beauregard in ''WesternAnimation/ArloTheAlligatorBoy''.
49* "Be Our Guest", from the [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney version]] of ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast''.
50* The BigLippedAlligatorMoment with the frogs in ''WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster''.
51* "In Summer" in ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' has Olaf dance with cartoon seagulls for one of his verses while fantasizing about summertime.
52* The "Food, Glorious Food" number in ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeTheMeltdown''.
53** The related short ''Gone Nutty'' plays with this trope when Scrat falls amid hundreds of acorns.
54* The last part of the final stanza of "I Just Can't Wait to Be King", from ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', is intended to invoke a Busby Berkeley Number, even if the visual elements aren't there. The "animal tower" especially is reminiscent of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=707VxB-ek4Q#t=7m28s this part of "By A Waterfall"]].
55* The [[MushroomSamba dream]] [[DisneyAcidSequence sequence]] in ''WesternAnimation/LuckyLukeBalladOfTheDaltons'' has a Berkeleyesque swimming and dance number performed by the Dalton brothers. Also includes a parody of ''Film/SinginInTheRain''.
56* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017'' has "One Small Thing", which quickly morphs into this as Pinkie Pie shows the seaponies a good time. It's an homage to the seaponies' appearance in G-1, which itself invoked this trope.
57* The opening credits of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rio}}'' show flocks of colorful birds flying in geometrical patterns.
58* "Princesses on Parade" from ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess''.
59* ''WesternAnimation/TheTiggerMovie'''s "Round my Family Tree" counts as this, at least its end, complete with synchronized Tigger swimmers that dive in a pool and make a circle.
60* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{The Wind in the Willows|1983}}'' claymation film, the ducks do this during the "Ducks Ditty" song, overlapping with DisneyAcidSequence.
61[[/folder]]
62
63[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
64* In the 1982 film version of ''Film/{{Annie|1982}}'', the whole "Let's Go To The Movies" scene with the ushers and ChorusGirls[[note]]Specifically, the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes[[/note]] is pure Berkeley.
65* ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' has a bowling-themed number like this as one of The Dude's dream sequences, which not only references choreography from specific dances, but also Berkeley's [[ShownTheirWork distinctive editing style as well]].
66* Ken Russell's MGM adaptation of the Broadway musical ''The Boy Friend'' contains a number of elaborate production numbers that homage Berkeley's work, including from-above shots of synchronized circular choreography.
67* Creator/MelBrooks seems to be a fan of Berkeley's work:
68** In the "Springtime For Hitler" number in ''Film/TheProducers'', dancers march in a formation resembling a swastika (but overhead, like the typical Berkeley shot).
69*** The stage production (and the newer film) of ''The Producers" even uses a rear wall of mirrors to display the top angle of the dance number, replicating the overhead camera shot.
70*** The number "I Want to be a Producer" has a very Busby feel to it, with its elaborate set and chorus girl posing, though it is somewhat minimal.
71** Part of "The Inquisition" song from ''Film/HistoryOfTheWorldPartOne'' has a swimming number with Nuns and Rabbis.
72** And, of course, in ''Film/BlazingSaddles'', one of the sets they [[NoFourthWall break into]] is rehearsing one of these.
73* The Pool Scene of ''Film/{{Caddyshack}}'' begins with one of these, a successfully absurd synchronized swimming sequence.
74* Naturally, the "Star-Spangled Man" sequence in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' runs on this. The montage of Steve Rogers' work for the USO where he goes on stage in his Captain America costume encouraging Americans to buy war bonds is complete with dancing showgirls, tanks that shoot red-white-blue confetti, and choreographed Hitler "punching".
75* During the "Augustus Gloop" song in ''Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'', several Oompa Loompas dive into the chocolate lake Berkeley-style and then are seen from overhead creating synchronized patterns around the chocolate pipe.
76* ''Film/DontWorryDarling'' plays with the trope to nightmarish effect, featuring a number of beautifully choreographed and shot Berkeley-esque dance numbers which are actually hallucinations, usually occurring when the protagonist is on the edge of a howling breakdown.
77* ''Film/HailCaesar'' depicts the filming of one of these on a studio lot. It's a big synchronised swimming number entirely in the pool, with the lead actress dressed as a mermaid.
78* ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'':
79** ''Film/HighSchoolMusical3SeniorYear'', particularly "I Want It All" - which actually makes sense: Sharpay and Ryan Evans rule the theatre club and share a dream of becoming Broadway stars.
80** ''Film/HighSchoolMusical2'' has a shot in "Fabulous" that also homages Creator/BusbyBerkeley dance maneuvers.
81* "So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish," the opening song of ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005''. Especially strange, as it involves ''dolphins''.
82* Willie's "Anything Goes" floor show in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' (which of course wouldn't work as an actual floor show).
83* ''Film/InTheHeights'' has a little bit of this during "96,000", which in the film is set at the community pool.
84* The ending of ''Series/{{Jackass}}: Number Two'', which involved the cast getting dispatched in various ways.
85* Parodied in the 1996 film ''[[Film/JoesApartment Joe's Apartment]]''. With singing ''cockroaches''. In a ''toilet bowl''.
86* Creator/KennethBranagh's version of ''Theatre/LovesLaboursLost'' has several dance sequences, but ''No Strings (I'm Fancy Free)'' stands out as another Esther Williams Number.
87* ''Film/Paddington2'': A closing credits [[TheStinger stinger]] features a scene where [[spoiler: Phoenix]] performs a Busby Berkeley Number [[PrisonerPerformance with his fellow prison inmates]], and he is clearly delighted while doing so.
88* TheMovie version of ''Theatre/ThePiratesOfPenzance'' briefly shows the policemen in one of these near the end of "[[GoYeHeroesGoAndDie Go, Ye Heroes!]]".
89* "Too Marvelous For Words" from ''Film/ReadyWillingAndAble'' had Ruby Keeler and Lee Dixon dancing on the keys of a giant typewriter with the legs of sixteen ChorusGirls typing out the lyrics. Oddly enough, Warner Bros. didn't get Creator/BusbyBerkeley to do this movie.
90* ''Film/SinginInTheRain'' had the somewhat more low-key number "Beautiful Girl", which nevertheless featured a flock of ChorusGirls who follow and then form rings around the lead male singer in an overhead shot at the end of the number, following a mini fashion show within the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E06HZ7AosrA (featuring some truly ridiculous roaring 20's looks)]], all of which [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment had nothing to do with the plot]].
91* ''Film/TankGirl'' has a parody version of this. Everyone at the Liquid Silver club breaks out into a CrowdSong (and dance) set to Music/ColePorter's "Let's Do It".
92* The Creator/RobinWilliams movie ''Film/{{Toys}}'' features a brief one involving a squadron of mechanical tanks.
93* "Venus" has this in a dream sequence in ''Film/WalkingOnSunshine'', in which Maddie's harem of swimmers dance around her in the swimming pool.
94[[/folder]]
95
96[[folder:Live Action TV]]
97* Harry Solomon performed one in a DreamSequence in ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun''.
98* In ''Series/TheArmandoIannucciShows'', a vision of heaven features a Creator/BusbyBerkeley routine [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1fG1UFME2o "performed" by corpses.]]
99* In ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'', the "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92538NJ0lbE West Covina]]" song ends with a giant Busby Berkely Number and the main character sitting on a giant pretzel.
100* In the ''Series/GetSmart'' revival movie ''The Nude Bomb'', Maxwell Smart and the villain make two separate armies of clones of each other and have a battle that includes an injoke of an overhead shot of them fighting in a Creator/BusbyBerkeley formation.
101** In an episode of the TV series, Max is pushing a baby carriage containing a MacGuffin when he and numerous other agents start switching around their carriages in Berkeley formation.
102* ''Series/{{Glee}}'' has one of those in the proposing number [[Music/{{Rihanna}} "We Found Love in a Hopeless Place"]], featuring the Synchronized Swimming team.
103* The ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''' MusicalEpisode has the songs ''Welcome to Sacred Heart'' and ''Friends Forever''. The first one, in particular, makes good use of overhead shots.
104* In ''Series/That70sShow'', on the episode "[[MusicalEpisode That 70's Musical]]", the number "The Joker" features the lead characters performing a BusbyBerkeleyNumber while high on pot [[spoiler: in Fez's head]]. {{Disney Acid Sequence}} indeed.
105* The closing ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics featured, near the end of the telecast, a parade of everything [[MooseAndMapleSyrup stereotypically Canadian]] set to a jazzy air of "The Maple Leaf Forever", that the American anchor specifically called "Creator/BusbyBerkeley meets Canadia." With dancing mounties, giant hockey players and flying moose. And giant, inflatable squirrels.
106* ''Series/Warehouse13'' has the original marquee from the Strand theater which, when triggered, produces a several chorus lines of tapdancing showgirls and compels anyone in the vicinity to dance along to "42nd Street" until they die from exhaustion. Appropriately, Artie uses Busby Berkeley's drinking flask and the original pan from Tin Pan Alley to deactivate the artifact.
107* In one run of the newscasting game in ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'', Ryan Stiles' role is that he's always wanted to star in a Creator/BusbyBerkeley musical. The audience is then treated to a dance inspired by the forecast of "sunny days ahead", which includes an overhead shot of Ryan doing snow-angel and running-in-place motions while lying on the floor. Creator/BusbyBerkeley has come up in multiple episodes of both the American and British versions of the show, particularly (of course) during the musical games.
108[[/folder]]
109
110[[folder:Music]]
111* Music/TheChemicalBrothers' music video, directed by Creator/MichelGondry, for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti4ip8zQyrc Let Forever Be]]. Probably the only one to involve a drumming hobo.
112* The video for "I Heard a Rumour" by Banapnarama.
113* Music/{{Pulp}}'s "This Is Hardcore" video.
114** "Party Hard" (from the same album) seems to be inspired by the concept as well.
115* The Music/RedHotChiliPeppers' video for "Aeroplane".
116* Music/TheMagneticFields' song "Busby Berkeley Dreams" invokes the trope as a symbol of the singer's runaway imagination.
117-->''I haven't seen you in ages\
118But it's not as bleak as it seems\
119We still dance on whirling stages\
120In my Busby Berkeley dreams\
121The tears have stained all the pages\
122Of my true romance magazines\
123We still dance in my outrageously\
124Beautiful Busby Berkeley dreams''
125* Music/TakeThatBand's music video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwC1Ctrj6Xk Shine]] is a three minute long homage/parody of his work.
126* The music video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvn6eYJh-0c "Kids"]], former Music/TakeThatBand member Music/RobbieWilliams' duet with Music/KylieMinogue.
127* Cloud Nothing's video for "Fall In" has this while the band plays.
128* Music/OKGo's elaborate one for "[[https://youtu.be/u1ZB_rGFyeU I Won't Let You Down]]" involving Honda [=UNI-CUBs=], Japanese schoolgirls, one well-controlled drone and an epic ton of umbrellas.
129* The music video for The BPA and Music/DavidByrne's song "Toe Jam" combines this with CensoredForComedy. A large group of [[{{Fanservice}} very attractive young people]] dance naked in a living room and use the {{censor box}}es covering their privates (and occasionally [[FlippingTheBird middle fingers]]) to create humorous images and formations a'la Busby Berkley.
130* Music/{{Nayeon}} features some shots of pool dancers in the last third of the "Pop!" video.
131[[/folder]]
132
133[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
134* The "Piggy's Fantasy" number from ''Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper'', with Miss Piggy as the lead swimmer, is a take on the Esther Williams Number.
135* There were a few ''Series/SesameStreet'' shorts featuring chorus girls doing Busby Berkeley Numbers while teaching the kids at home about numbers.
136** One of them was written to be like a Busby Berkeley number, although the visual elements weren't present. The song was a subtle musical theatre parody called "I Just Adore Four," sung by Big Bird first as a solo, [[SummonBackupDancers but then by the second chorus becomes a splashy showbizzy number with the assistance of the]] [[LargeHam Tarnish Brothers]]. The album "The Count Counts" said it came from TheMusical "Two Plus Two," but in reality it was the splashy opening to a ''Sesame Street'' episode called "The Number Four Show."
137** The "Penguins" episode of ''Series/ElmosWorld'' had a short musical swim segment.
138[[/folder]]
139
140[[folder:Theatre]]
141* "Busby Berkeley" is the name of an improvised theatre game in which the participants are to improvise a dance number in which they must move symmetrically without looking at each other directly.
142* The 2002 revival of ''Theatre/FortySecondStreet'' utilized mirrors and a turntable during "Dames" to mimic the overhead camera shots used by Berkeley.
143* The ShowWithinAShow in ''Theatre/AChorusLine'' features a Busby Berkeley-style number called "One". [[spoiler: This is used for DramaticIrony as the whole show has us learn the story of each dancer only to have the ones picked become faceless, nameless background cogs in the musical extravaganza machine]].
144* Creator/CirqueDuSoleil:
145** ''Theatre/{{O}}'', which has a giant pool serving as its stage, features several transitions with Esther Williams-style synchronized swimming.
146** ''Crystal'' has Busby Berkeley ice skating.
147* In ''Theatre/TheDrowsyChaperone'', the [[LemonyNarrator Man in Chair]] refers to "The Bride's Lament" number as "a little Busby Berkeley, a little Jane Goodall".
148* In a rare case of cross cultural osmosis, the traditional [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgHmSdpjEIk "Thousand Handed Goddess"]] dance routine from China draws a lot from this trope.
149* The choreography for "Dirty Laundry" from ''Literature/TheWitchesOfEastwick'' musical deliberately invoked Berkeley's style.
150[[/folder]]
151
152[[folder:Video Games]]
153* The Honeybee Inn of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' has been reimagined as hosting lavish nightclub-style floor shows, and Cloud finds himself roped into performing in one if he is to secure his disguise for getting into Don Corneo's mansion to find Tifa.
154* "Pajama Party" in ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven Megamix'' is essentially one of these numbers themed on beds, pillows, and sleeping. "Kitties!" is another take on the concept, complete with the Big Band Jazz that would've been popular in Berkeley's time.
155* ''VideoGame/EvilGenius'' uses a synchronized swimming number performed by scuba diver character models as the background of one of the menus.
156[[/folder]]
157
158[[folder:Web Videos]]
159* WebVideo/KarolinaZebrowska's art video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v8F9Lt7BSI s h o e s]] includes a mirrored Berkeley Number inference, though with shoes in a kaleidoscope effect rather than dancers.
160[[/folder]]
161
162[[folder:Western Animation]]
163* In the MusicalEpisode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', a group of Atlanteans do this while under the sway of the Music Meister. It's part of a hypnosis-induced CrowdSong that essentially the entire planet is performing.
164* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' Have one of these every series or two, usually in their "Road To..." episodes, and one regarding the benefits of marijuana in episode "420".
165* In the ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse2013'' episode "[[Recap/MickeyMouseS4E20RollEm Roll 'Em"]], Mickey and Minnie stumble onto the set of a synchronized swimming number at one point.
166** And their opening credits sequence, though it's by necessity a pretty short example.
167* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePony'' pilot Special "Rescue at Midnight Castle" (AKA "Firefly's Adventure") features one of these performed by the Sea Ponies.
168** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has done one or two, such as "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E14SuitedForSuccess Art of the Dress]]", when Rarity makes the poniquins dance around her with her magic.
169* In the ''WesternAnimation/ToyStoryToons'' short "Partysaurus Rex", several of the bath toys dive off the edge of the bathtub one after the other ''a la'' Berkeley.
170* ''WesternAnimation/ShaunTheSheep'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtfb4m6xGCA has elements of it]].
171* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Lisa Simpson has one with the other children in a swimming pool, in the episode ''"Bart Of Darkness"''.
172* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': In the episode "Mr. Greg", the title song features Greg and Steven indulging in Greg's newfound wealth with a backup butler chorus until Pearl cuts it short.
173* ''WesternAnimation/TheYearWithoutASantaClaus'' features Snow Miser and Heat Miser singing their respective character songs before they engage in HamToHamCombat.
174[[/folder]]

Top