Sixty years after Maria first skipped across the Alpine meadows, Julie Andrews — the actress whose luminous performance helped make The Sound of Music a cinematic landmark — is quietly revisiting the film’s legacy as fans, archivists and studios mark the movie’s 60th anniversary this year. The milestone has prompted restorations, reissues and a renewed conversation about why Robert Wise’s 1965 musical continues to resonate with audiences across generations. (People.com)
Andrews, who became an international star with back-to-back wins in the mid-1960s, has long acknowledged the film as a turning point in her career. She appears in archival and newly packaged material that accompanies the anniversary reissue — including a long-running documentary short that brings her back to the Austrian locations where much of the movie was filmed. In that piece, originally produced for an earlier anniversary, Andrews revisits Salzburg and describes the experience of returning as an emotional surprise: she said she was “amazed” to find many locations little changed from her memories and delighted to reconnect with the people and places that shaped the movie’s look and feel. (Herald Extra)
That material will reach new audiences as the studio prepares a 60th-anniversary 4K Blu-ray release, featuring a brand-new restoration of the film and a suite of bonus features. Studio notes and industry coverage say the package includes the documentary of Andrews’s Salzburg return as well as fresh essays and location pieces that explore how the film’s visuals and music were created. The reissue — timed to capitalize on both nostalgia and the growing home-theater market for high-definition restorations — is expected to spur a wave of theatrical re-screenings and curated sing-along events worldwide. (Forbes)
For Andrews, the film’s endurance has been both personal and cultural. Cast members and crew, in recent interviews and retrospective packages, recall Andrews’s off-camera warmth and the maternal rapport she quickly developed with the child actors — qualities that helped give the fictional von Trapp family its convincing sense of intimacy. Those memories, shared across anniversary features, underscore how Andrews’s performance and the film’s music have entered family viewing traditions and seasonal rituals for decades. (People.com)
Critics and scholars still debate the movie’s aesthetic choices and historical liberties — an argument that has accompanied The Sound of Music since its release in March 1965 — yet almost all assessments agree on its cultural reach. From the instantly recognizable opening shots of Andrews singing on a mountainside to the perennial popularity of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s score, the film has been described as both a comfort picture and a contested icon, one whose earnestness remains its most durable trait. That complex legacy is precisely what anniversary programs and new restorations aim to explore: not simply to preserve celluloid, but to ask why a particular combination of song, scenery and star power continues to matter. (The Guardian)
As studios polish negatives and festivals plan screenings, fans will have fresh ways to revisit the film and the woman whose voice and presence anchored it. Whether viewers come for technical fidelity, to relive childhood memories, or to see Andrews again retracing the steps of a role that defined an era, the 60th anniversary reminds audiences that some movies, like certain songs, can feel less like artifacts and more like family heirlooms. (Blu-ray.com)
What’s next
Collectors should watch for the announced 60th-anniversary 4K Blu-ray edition — which is expected to include the Salzburg documentary and several location and restoration featurettes — and cinemas planning limited re-runs. For many viewers, the anniversary will be less about new facts and more about renewed feeling: the hills are, indeed, still alive. (Forbes)
(This article draws on new anniversary coverage and studio announcements about The Sound of Music’s 60th anniversary and associated restorations.)
