When it was first announced that Seth MacFarlane would be hosting the upcoming 85th Academy Awards, most expected that the musically-inclined MacFarlane would include some sort of music element in the show. Indeed, ABC announced today that this year’s Oscars will feature a tribute to movie musicals of the past decade.  Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron revealed that they will showcase three movie musicals from the past ten years during the ceremony: Chicago, Dreamgirls, and this year’s Best Picture nominee Les Miserables.

Though I’m admittedly a big fan of movie musicals, I find it odd that the program has restricted the field to films from the past ten years.  There’s so much great matieral to be mined from the 30s, 40s, and 50s that MacFarlane could knock out of the park.  Nevertheless, We don’t know if MacFarlane will be handling the tribute alone, with some help, or if another party altogether will run the showcase.  Could we be in for a Seth/Stewie “They Both Reached for the Gun” rendition?  We’ll find out on February 24th.  Hit the jump to check out trailers for all three films followed by the press release.

Chicago (2002)

Dreamgirls (2006)

Les Miserables (2012)

Here’s the press release:

The Oscars will include a special celebration of movie musicals of the last ten years, the telecast’s producers announced today.

“The musical as a motion picture genre has had a remarkable renaissance in the last decade,” said producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. “We are excited to showcase three musical films -- ’Chicago,’ ‘Dreamgirls’ and ‘Les Misérables’ -- on our Oscar^® show.”

Oscars for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, February 24 at the Dolby Theatre™ at Hollywood & Highland Center^®, and will be hosted by Seth MacFarlane live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.