Seth MacFarlane’s favourite movie of all time: “Who would’ve thought?”
Seth MacFarlane is a walking contradiction. His most famous creations, Family Guy, American Dad, and more, are lewd, tactless comedies, designed to offend as much as to entertain. However, his life away from those projects couldn’t be any different. By all accounts, he’s pretty mild-mannered in real life, content to make his little Star Trek parodies and talk about how much he loves Carl Sagan.
This dichotomy is on full display across his surprisingly deep music career. Since 2011, MacFarlane has released nine studio albums of crooner music, in the vein of Frank Sinatra. His most recent record, Lush Life: The Lost Sinatra Arrangements, features previously unheard arrangements of songs ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’ planned to release but never got around to. He also lent his voice to an animated mouse show tunes singer in the movie Sing, performing a version of Sinatra’s song ‘My Way’.
MacFarlane is clearly a fan of an older style of music. This was confirmed during an interview with Wired, where he answered some of the internet’s most-asked questions about him. One of them was ‘Seth MacFarlane favourite movie’, which isn’t technically a question, but that’s the web for you. Once he’d gotten over this crime against grammar, the voice of Peter Griffin was more than happy to offer a response.
“The Sound of Music. Can you believe that?” he revealed, almost in disbelief at his own answer. “Who would’ve thought? The Sound of motherfuckin’ Music.” MacFarlane probably assumed that, given his never-ending pursuit of the crass, his preferred film wouldn’t be something so wholesome. However, as we’ve already explained, his life is far more complex than fart jokes and offensive humour. If you look closer, you’ll even find traces of the classic musical scattered across his career.
He covered ‘Something Good’, a song specially written for the movie version of the stage show, on his debut album, Music Is Better Than Words. When he hosted the Oscars in 2013, he made a very odd joke about the Von Trapp family in front of Christopher Plummer. Then, there’s the strangest connection of them all. On Twitter, MacFarlane explained the origins of the popular ‘It insists upon itself’ joke from the Family Guy episode, ‘The Griffin Family History’. While Peter Griffin uses the phrase to refer to The Godfather, the creator revealed that he had first heard the quote when one of his film professors used it to describe The Sound of Music. “First-rate teacher,” MacFarlane wrote, “but I never quite followed that one.”
The man behind Ted isn’t the only unlikely celeb to have a fondness for Julie Andrews. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a big fan, as the movie reminds him of his home country of Austria. Jackie Chan once also admitted to enjoying the movie, so that’s two-for-two on movie tough guys and singing nuns.
Honestly, there is no shame in picking it as a favourite. The Sound of Music is a classic for a reason; one of the greatest movie musicals ever made with a banging soundtrack and great performances up and down the board. MacFarlane might not think it suits his character, but anyone who knows what he’s truly about can put the pieces together quite easily.
