Newsies

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!

This moving is a testament to how good of an actor Christian Bale is. The casting director literally picked a Welch actor -who absolutely couldn't sing or dance if his life depended on it- to play the lead character in this disney musical about New York kids unionizing. Amazing.

apart from being a wonderful musical (which i've grown up watching so i can tell a good from a bad) it also has a wonderful story-line. the plot is so well thought of, it isn't every day when they make a musical about a strike that happened in 1899. i fell in love with this movie the first time i watched it. it's classical, and when you see it, you can't help but liking it. the dancing, acting, and singing is great. i don't know many teenagers who can dance and sing like that! evenn thought this movie was made 10 years ago and i don't remember it, it's starting to come back. my mom's friend called one day saying that her daughter loves this movie called newsies, and i said that i love it! i thought nobody knew about it, but i was wrong. how could you forget a great movie like this? if you haven't seen it, i gaurentee you 100% that you will probably end up liking it as much as i do.

It is so hard to find something that the whole family can watch but this one of the few. Christian Bale does it again bringing laughter and tears to his portrayal of Jack Kelly. Jack is a Newsie(a young boy who sells newspapers) that helps lead a stike against the newspaper owners of NYC in the late 1800's. With the help of his friends, Jack overcomes and wins his rights as a working boy of NYC. Along the way he wins the heart of the girl he loves,confronts his past, and sings and dances his way into the hearts of everyone how watches this film. The music and dance routines are fun and energetic,making everyone want to join in the fun. Includes apreances by:Bill Pulman and Ann-Margret. Music by: Alan Menkin

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