Newsies

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Newsies

Theatrical release poster by John Alvin
Directed by Kenny Ortega
Produced by Michael Finnell
Written by Bob Tzudiker
Noni White
Starring Christian Bale
David Moscow
Luke Edwards
Max Casella
Gabriel Damon
Marty Belafsky
Bill Pullman
Ann-Margret
Ele Keats
Music by Alan Menken
J.A.C. Redford
Cinematography Andrew Laszlo
Editing by William H. Reynolds
Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s) April 10, 1992
Running time 121 minutes (approx.)
Country Flag of the United States United States
Language English
Budget $15 million USD (estimated)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Newsies is a 1992 Disney live action film musical starring Christian Bale, David Moscow, and Bill Pullman. Robert Duvall and Ann-Margret also appeared in supporting roles. The movie gained a cult following after its initial failure at the box office. The film marked the directorial debut of choreographer Kenny Ortega (Dirty Dancing, High School Musical) and featured the music of composer Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin).

Although the film was not originally intended to be a musical, it contains twelve songs and multiple dance sequences (for which the young cast trained for approximately 10 weeks). Musical highlights include "Carrying the Banner," "Santa Fe," "Seize The Day," and "King of New York."

Newsies was not a commercial success when first released; in fact, it ranked among the highest-costing and lowest-grossing Disney live-action films in the studio's history (due to it being released on the day as FernGully: The Last Rainforest). Movie critic/historian Leonard Maltin even christened it "Howard the Paperboy" (in reference to another infamous box-office flop, Howard the Duck).

However, the picture gained fans when it was released on VHS and was played on the Disney Channel. After much petitioning, Newsies was released on DVD in 2002. It has since gained a modest yet enthusiastic cult following.[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] Plot

Newsies is based on the true story of the Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York City. Thousands of homeless children are living in Newsboys Lodging Houses, including Manhattan newsboy Jack "Cowboy" Kelly (Christian Bale), who is a regular newsboy selling newspapers for Joseph Pulitzer (Robert Duvall) and his paper, the New York World. Jack "Cowboy" Kelly has a dream of escaping NYC to go to Santa Fe, NM. David Jacobs (David Moscow) leaves school temporarily and joins the newsies along with his little brother Les (Luke Edwards) to help his family while his father is out of work because of a broken arm. Soon, Jack and David become good friends, David introduces Jack to his family, and Jack falls in love with Sarah, David's sister. Shortly afterward, the price of newspapers for purchase by the newsboys is raised 10 cents per 100 papers, decided by joint decision of Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst.

Feeling they will be unable to bear the added cost, Jack Kelly organizes a strike with the aid of David Jacobs. As the protagonist, Jack Kelly struggles with his past as he forms an important friendship with David and his family. Between his dream of one day going to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and currently wanting to help his friends, he faces lots of difficult decisions involving money and lodging. Along the way, the boys are aided by newspaper reporter Bryan Denton (Bill Pullman) and vaudeville performer Medda Larkson (Ann-Margret), as well as being hindered by Snyder, warden of "The Refuge" juvenile detention facility (Kevin Tighe). Jack and the newsies gain the cooperation of every newsie from New York and Brooklyn to team up and strike against the big-shot newspapermen.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Soundtrack

The album cover from the soundtrack.
The album cover from the soundtrack.

The soundtrack to Newsies was released in 1992 by Disney. A remastered reissue was released in 2001. The music was composed by Alan Menken and the lyrics were written by Jack Feldman.

[edit] Track listing

  1. Prologue – 0:48
  2. Carrying the Banner – 6:15
  3. Santa Fe – 4:18
  4. My Lovey-Dovey Baby – 1:30
  5. Fightin' Irish: Strike Action – 1:50
  6. The World Will Know – 3:20
  7. Escape from Snyder – 2:08
  8. Seize the Day – 2:01
  9. King of New York – 2:25
  10. High Times, Hard Times – 2:54
  11. Seize the Day (Chorale) – 1:12
  12. Santa Fe (Reprise) – 1:50
  13. Rooftop – 3:13
  14. Once and for All – 2:24
  15. The World Will Know (Reprise) – 1:50
  16. Carrying the Banner (Finale) – 6:22

[edit] Reaction

Newsies received harsh reviews from most critics and audiences and made $2,819,485 at the U.S. box office, and became a box office bomb. On Rotten Tomatoes, its average score was 29%.

The movie briefly garnered some controversy for featuring a heavily male-dominated cast. Many feminists protested the film during screenings because of the lack of strong female characters, especially since it was released a year after Thelma & Louise. After it was explained that the movie was set in a time when women did not have many rights and was based on actual events, the feminists eventually backed off. However, the controversy hurt the film's popularity. The movie has gained popularity in recent years.

[edit] Stage Adaptation

Music Theater International is currently working on a stage adaptation of Newsies. In an e-mail response to a question, an MTI employee stated that "at this time, the performance rights to NEWSIES are still not available and a release date has not been set, although we are hopeful that a stage adaptation might finally be available sometime in 2008-2009".

[edit] Historical Basis

The film is loosely based on the actual New York City Newsboys Strike of 1899, which began on July 20 and ended on August 2. The conflict was resolved when the newspapers agreed to buy back all unsold newspapers.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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