Newsies

This is a musical based on the New York City newsboy strike of 1899. When young newspaper sellers stood up to their ruthless, exploitative bosses. Disney produced this tough precursor to television musicals in which young people burst into songs largely related to their own angst. The young men who perform in this musical are nothing short of astonishing. This is a musical in the truest sense; the songs tell the story. Ann-Margret, often underappreciated as an actress, shines in the small role of Medda Larkson. You will look into the faces of these self-described "bunch of street rats" and wonder how such performances are made to happen--and wonder even more about the real boys who inspired them. Although this show never produced any "hit tunes" of note, "The World Will Know" and "Seize the Day" stand out as the best scenes in the film. Watch carefully and you'll catch young Christian Bale in the cast. ---from Musicals on the Silver Screen, American Library Association, 2013

Having seen this movie in the theatres when it was released, at the age of eight, I have a real affection for it. I had the hugest crush on Spot Conlon. It's hard to find faults in a movie like that. How you feel about this movie will probably depend on how receptive you are to it. Chances are, you'll have one of two reactions while watching "Newsies". One: "I can't believe I'm watching a musical about newsboys." Two: "I freakin' *love* this movie."

Yep, I'm with the latter group. My interest in Newsies was revived when I picked up the soundtrack lately. The music is well written, and infectiously engaging. If you don't like musicals, you're not going to like this film. If you do like musical, I defy you to not like it.

Some parts, yes, are a bit hokey. It's a Disney flick, and by definition, is kid friendly. (A lyrics sampling: "And we'll kick their rear!" "They gave their word, but it ain't worth beans.") But the characters are great (and I'm not just talkin' 'bout Spot). The dynamic between Jack and Davey is great. And even though the cussin' is bland, it's still a story of young kids living in an adult world, facing adult problems with teen angst. That's good stuff. Plus, Robert Duvall's in it. Come on.

"Newsies" kind of got pushed aside after release. As an afterthought, it's interesting to wonder, with the new interest in musicals thanks to "Chicago", if the reception would be different if it were released today. No matter. As evidenced by the comments here, people enjoy it. Darn tootin'.

When I first watched this movie, I was just 3 years old.. My mom tells me that my little brother and I used to dance and jump off couches and try to spin around on the ceiling fan, and sing, when we watched this movie...

Recently, it was being mentioned to me for suggestions for our school chorus.. I began to look things up about the movie, and all of a sudden, had an urge to go out and buy it the next day. I've had the movie for a week, and have already watched it 6 times.

Around 12 or 13 years later, the movie still has me wanting to dance and sing along... This is a movie that never gets old, no matter what your age.

'"Newsies" keeps itself from an educational documentary by holding the Pulitzer and Hearst conflict, Theodore Roosevelt and effectiveness of strikes in the periphery. Indeed, it forces historical accuracy out of the periphery and into the trashcan to provide a feel good ending for the film.

Newsboys did indeed strike in 1899 as a result of Pulitzer's decision to raise the price the newsies paid in order to cover the cost of foreign correspondence. However, the newsie's union did not achieve its goal. Joseph Pulitzer did not return the price of the papers to its former level. The newsies only won the right to redeem unsold papers for money.

But that's not much of a victory, is it? Not compared to the voices of thousands of children raised in protest, calling for rights while gathered in the square beneath the offices of newspaper tycoon Joseph Pulitzer.

Machiavelli would have been full of pride (and taking notes) as Robert Duvall's Pulitzer extorted a few extra cents from his 'distribution apparatus'.

James Rogers, author of the 'Dictionary of Clichés', would have instantly revised his book to include characters Racetrack (a character who just might have been lifted from a Damon Runyon novel: a snappy dresser who bets and smokes cigars), Frances Sullivan/Jack Kelly (charismatic leader), Crutchy (crippled kid looked after by his friends), David Jacobs (the brains behind the leader) and Brian Denton (idealistic journalist looking for a great angle), among others.

At any rate, it's a David and Goliath story. Had the Philistines, the Israelites' opposition at the biblical battle where a shepherd slew a giant, made a cameo appearance, they most likely would not have been able to keep up with the newsboys' dance moves. The choreography blends together well, but still holds the right tone for the characters, working kids living as they please.

All in all, it's a fairly enjoyable movie, if you forget history and refrain from analyzing characters and plot. Its idealistic ending is a crowd pleaser, and the song 'King of New York', will stick in your head

Waaaaaaaaaaaay back in the early 1990's, when Jeffrey Katzenberg was still a top exec at Disney, he had one of his less successful ideas -- to bring back the break-into-song musical. So, as the story goes, he selected three scripts that were about to go into production and gave them to Disney Music Maestro Alan Menken and asked him which of the scripts could be turned into a musical.

And that's how NEWSIES was born.

It's a great story, too, being a fictionalized account of the newsboy strike in New York at the turn of the century. It follows the exploits of a ragtag band of teenage boys, including Cowboy (Christian Bale), who dreams of becoming a ranch hand in Santa Fe, and David & Les (David Moscow & Luke Edwards), brothers who take up selling newspapers when their father is injured on the job.

Conflict arises when Joseph Pulitzer (Robert Duval) gets greedy and raises the price of his newspapers to the newsboys, but not to the public. The outraged "newsies" decide to go on strike, which eventually galvanizes all the working children in the city to stand up for themselves.

It's a fun film, with Duval playing his villain to the hilt, but Ann-Margret is wasted in her role as a showgirl (both of her musical numbers are badly edited down to just snippets of song). Bale is the real wonder here, though, singing and dancing with surprising aplomb. The songs overall are quite good, but a couple of them are hard to distinguish from each other. My favorites are the opening number, "Carrying the Banner," and the rousing "The World Will Know." It seems odd, though, that Duval doesn't get a musical number of his own, considering in Disney's animated musicals the villains usually get the best songs ("Poor Unfortunate Souls" or "Be Prepared" anyone?).

It's a shame that the film didn't do better financially, since as a result of its dismal box office Disney declined to ever make another like it. First time director Kenny Ortega, who also choreographed (he was known for his choreography of DIRTY DANCING), directed one more feature after this, the underrated Bette Midler flick HOCUS POCUS; since that film also failed to find an audience, he hasn't directed a movie since. And that's a shame; he has a very distinctive kinetic style that served both films well.

Seek out a copy of NEWSIES, and go for the widescreen version. You won't be disappointed!