During the late 1940s and into the 1950s, Arthur Freed transformed the old-fashioned (vecchio) musical films, to something new. His production started in 1939 with The Wizard of Oz, directed by Vincente Minnelli, and went on with Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Easter Parade (1948), On the Town (1949), An American in Paris (1951), Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and The Band Wagon (1953). This It was the era of the greatest talents in movie musical including Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Ann Miller, Donald O’Connor, Cyd Charisse, Mickey Rooney, Vera Ellen, Jane Powell, Howard Keel, and Kathryn Grayson. Since the 1950s, the musical film has declined in popularity. One reason was the rock n’ roll culture and the freedom and youth (gioventù) associated with it. Elvis Presley made a few movies that were inspired by the old musicals in terms of form. Most of the musical films of the 50s and 60s, for example Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music (Tutti insieme appassionatamente), were adaptations of successful stage (teatrali) productions. After the 1960s, filmmakers tended to avoid (tesero ad evitare) “musical films” in favour of using music by popular rock or pop bands as background music. Only in the cartoons the tradition was maintained (Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King). In the early 2000s, the musical film began to rise in popularity once more, with new works such as Moulin Rouge!, Across the Universe, High School Musical, and Enchanted, Chicago, The Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Dreamgirls, Sweeney Todd, Mamma Mia!, The Producers, Hairspray and Reefer Madness. Another exception is the Indian film industry, especially Bollywood (image), where most of the films are still musicals.