Newsies

 

 

Newsies is a 1992 Disney live action musical starring Christian Bale, David Moscow, and Bill Pullman. The cast also includes Robert Duvall and Ann-Margret. Although it was the lowest grossing live action Disney movie during it’s initial release, it obtained quite a cult following after it was released to video. It was the directorial debut of Kenny Ortega, who went on to direct Disney’s High School Musical.

 

Newsies featured the music of Alan Menken, the same man who brought us the memorable music of Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin.

 

Newsies started out as a drama entitled Hard Promises, but it became one in the hands of choreographer Kenny Ortega. It contains twelve song and dance sequences, and required intense training in dancing and martial arts.

 

Newsies is based on the true story of the Newsboys Strike, which took place in 1899 New York City. The movie centers around the Newsboys Lodging House in Manhattan, where newsboy Jack Kelly (Bale) lives. Kelly sells the New York World, a paper owned by Joseph Pulitzer (Duvall). When Pulitzer decides to raise the prices of the papers by a tenth of a cent per paper, the newsboys are infuriated. What seems to be a minor pricing increase to Pulitzer and his wealthy staff, is a huge blow to the newsboys.

 

Kelly, with his new friend David Jacobs (Moscow), and several newsboys (including Max Casella, Luke Edwards, Arvie Lowe, Jr., and Gabriel Damon) organize a strike, as a way to fight the pricing increase. Kelly and the newsies face many problems along the way, including a dirty political system, and many powerful members of New York society.

 

With the aid of Bryan Denton (Bill Pullman) reporter for the New York Sun, and vaudeville star Medda Larkson (Ann-Margret), the newsies organize a rally, which ends up becoming the turning point of the strike.

 

    Newsies is the story of a ragtag bunch of newsboys, "poor orphans and runaways", as the movie’s monologue calls them, who “found the courage to challenge the powerful”.