Well, I'm not fan of musicals too but I understand their charm. What you mentioned about toning-down the source material is kind of expected from Disney, sometimes I appreciate what they do, other times I wonder why did actually adapted the work in the first place.
Never watched this or the source so I can't give a verdict, but well, you said skip it so...
yeah, it was still visually appealing and has its charms, it just wasn't really for me. I enjoyed some of it but mostly i think people can give it a miss.