The Case of Newsies (1992)
Well now that Animation April has come to an end, we’ve decided to launch right into MUSICAL MAY! *cue fanfare*! This week we’re revisiting a movie that we’ve mentioned before. But this time, we’re gonna give you the whole scoop. It’s Newsies!
Back in the early 90s, Walt Disney Studios produced one of its most ambitious flops: an original live-action musical movie about the historical newsboy strike of 1899. Newsies featured songs by Alan Menkin (of Broadway and Disney film fame); a cast of well-known actors like Robert Duvall, Ann-Margaret, and Christian Bale; and hundreds of dancing teenagers and young adults, all decked out in turn-of-the-century clothing. After its disastrous showing at the box office, the musical was seemingly forgotten. Except, of course, for the fact that it gained a small-but-mighty cult following.
So…EXTRA EXTRA HEAR ALL ABOUT IT, IT’S TIME TO TALK ABOUT NEWSIES!
Because Newsies is based on a true story, let’s talk about what happened during the real strike of 1899.
Back at the turn of the 20th century, the only way to stay up to date was to read the newspaper; and the quickest way to get a newspaper was to buy it from a salesperson called a newsie. Newsies lined the streets, calling out to customers, and coming up with exciting ways to get a buyer’s attention. Some would get up at dawn and buy the papers hot off the presses, studying the headlines for creative angles. Others would pick up the afternoon edition to sell it after school. When the news was slow, the newsies got creative. They would put on performances, lie about illnesses, and would even pretend to not have change for their customers.
The news organizations charged the newsies five cents for 10 papers. But during the Spanish-American war, many outlets raised that price to six cents in order to cover the costs of expensive correspondents. Newspapers were releasing several editions every day, forcing the newsies to work around the clock to cover the updates. War meant great business for the newsies so that extra cent proved to be a big cost issue when it was over.
After the Spanish-American war had ended, most newspapers lowered their price back to 5 cents for 10 papers, except the two biggest: The New York World (owned by Joseph Pulitzer) and the New York Journal (owned by William Randolph Hearst). This created general unrest amongst the newsies. One event in Long Island City was the catalyst for the strike. The newsies discovered that the man selling them their newspapers from his cart was not giving them all the papers they purchased. The newsies became angry and tipped his wagon. Shortly after, they began organizing and formed a union.
Because each newsie was an independent contractor and not an employee of the newspaper, the news organizations didn’t expect them to form a union, especially not one organized enough to go on strike all over New York City. Hearst and Pulitzer attempted to conduct business as usual. They hired people to replace the disgruntled newsies and paid the police to break up any disturbances. But as word spread of the strike, many prominent figures in politics and entertainment spoke up in favor of the kids.
At the height of the strike, the newsies held a meeting in New Irving Hall. Comedians and politicians were in attendance, as well as about 3,000 newsies. Their leader, a newsboy named Kid Blink, even spoke about not fighting the scabs that were taking their place. This sparked rumors that Pulitzer might have bribed him into calling the newsies off, a plotline that is explored in Newsies.
In the end, the newsies won! While Hearst and Pulitzer did not lower the price of the papers back to 5 cents, they did allow the newsboys to sell their remaining papers back to the newspaper at the end of the day, so they no longer had to eat the cost of unsold newspapers.
Although other newsboy strikes occurred later on, none of them were as organized and successful as that strike in 1899, when the children of New York defeated the two most powerful men in the city.
The Making of Newsies
The screenplay for Newsies was written by married couple Bob Tzudiker and Noni White. The pair have written many successful screenplays together including Tarzan and Anastasia. They first got the idea for the screenplay when Bob saw something about the strike mentioned in an New York Times article. He brought the idea to Noni, who thought it sounded like the quintessential “David and Goliath” story.
Because Bob is a history buff, he wanted to make sure that they got information from primary sources. So, the couple would spend hours poring over copies of newspapers from the Library of Congress. They also looked into the telegrams sent between Pulitzer and Don Carlos Seitz, the newspaper owner’s right hand man.
It was correspondence like this that proved collusion between papers to squash the story of the strike, a minor subplot mentioned in the film Newsies.
Bob and Noni first wrote the screenplay as a spec script. It was a dramatic script that wasn’t meant for Disney specifically. In the original version, the main character’s love interest was a female newsie that lived in a house of ill repute with her aunt. Once disney bought the script, the screenwriters knew that this would be changed.
The script was constantly changing, causing continuity issues and making life difficult for the songwriters. The original ending of the movie, which had the main character leave New York on a train to Santa Fe, was scrapped because of budget issues.
When director Kenny Ortega read the script for Newsies, he connected with the story. Ortega had been working in the film industry for several years as a choreographer, but this was his first time as a director. It wasn’t until he was connected to the project that Newsies became a musical.
From the beginning, Newsies was fighting an uphill battle. Live-action musicals weren’t popular in the early 90s, and Disney executives were hopeful that this could revitalize the genre. The film only had a budget of $15 million dollars and a tight filming schedule.
Despite these issues, the young cast members in Newsies had a great time on set. Ortega made sure that the filming environment was fun and positive for the kids. The cast would often play pranks on Ortega throughout filming, like squirting him with water guns and filling his trailer with newspapers. The set often had visitors too, like Mickey and Minnie Mouse and studio exec Jeffrey Katzenburg. Famed dancer Gene Kelly even visited the set!
Newsies was mostly filmed on the Universal Studios backlot. It was the first film shot on the newly rebuilt New York City street set, complete with real cobblestone. Production designer William Sandell and his team recreated the living quarters of the newsboys, including the cramped housing that many New Yorkers called home at the time.
Costume designer May Routh made sure to dress the boys in realistic period clothing, especially their shoes. The production company bought boots from Stacy Adams, a shoe company that made the cast custom boots designed exactly as they were in 1899.
One of the most eye-catching parts of Newsies is the dancing, especially from the ensemble cast.
Peggy Holmes was the choreographer tasked with training the large cast of young kids how to dance. This proved especially challenging for the two leads, Christian Bale and David Moscow, who had never been in a musical and didn’t have any dancing experience. The cast trained for months to prepare for the musical numbers, especially the opening number that included almost the entire cast.
Holmes has choreographed dances in many films like Hocus Pocus and Father of the Bride Part II.
When Kenny Ortega selected the leads for Newsies, he chose up-and-coming child actor Christian Bale to play Jack Kelly.
Bale had already been in several films, including Empire of the Sun, directed by Steven Spielberg. He is a Welsh-born English actor. Just before filming on Newsies began, he had difficulty securing his visa! Apparently Spielberg stepped in and helped the young actor get his visa so he could film.
Bale was very nervous about being in a musical, and he was reluctant to tell people about the role. The production brought in Madonna’s vocal coach to help out the two leads with their singing. Because Bale doesn’t enjoy a lot of rehearsal, Peggy Holmes would meet with him right before the shoots to go over dance moves with him.
The other young lead in Newsies was David Moscow as Davie. Moscow later said that he felt bad for the people who had to teach him how to dance and sing.
Before Newsies, Moscow appeared in Big as young Josh. He rehearsed six days a week to prepare for filming, and he had difficulty with the dancing.
Moscow brought a lot of joy to the set and was known to be a bit of a prankster.
For the villainous Joseph Pulitzer, Kenny Ortega’s first choice was Robert Duvall. Duvall was hesitant to be in the film, but ultimately Ortega convinced him.
Robert Duvall is a high profile actor that’s played many different characters and appeared in The Godfather films.
The film paints Joseph Pulitzer in a negative light, portraying him as the villain of the story. The screenwriters explained in an interview that Pulitzer was more complex, and wasn’t necessarily evil. They believe that if the newsies hadn’t been holding up his business, he would have supported them.
Bill Pullman played Denton, the reporter that helps the newsies spread the word about their strike. Pullman had already starred in Spaceballs before Newsies. This was four years before he would become a household name for his role in Independence Day.
The Music
Of course Newsies wouldn’t be the cult classic that it is without its iconic music.
The score was composed by JAC Redford, who has scored various TV shows and films. He has also worked as an orchestrator on films like Avatar.
When Alan Menken was asked to write the songs for Newsies, he had just finished working on Beauty and the Beast. His long-time songwriting partner Howard Ashman was ill, and passed away the day before Menken was scheduled to start working on Newsies. Menken reportedly flew to California to write music with Jack Feldman, the lyricist for Newsies, then had to fly back to attend the funeral for his friend and writing partner before returning to work.
Jack Feldman is a composer and lyricist best known for writing the hit song “Copacabana” with Barry Manilow.
Menken and Feldman had a difficult time writing for Newsies. The constant script changes meant that the songs had to be continuously rewritten or cut from the movie. Some songs were written in very short periods of time, and the songwriters did their best to make sure the songs fit into the story.
Carrying the Banner (Entire Newsies Ensemble)
Carrying the Banner is the first song that we hear in the film. It introduces us to the Newsies and how they live. Not only does this song set up exposition, it showcases the dancing and singing talent of the ensemble cast. To many people, this is the best song in the movie and it feels the most like a broadway number.
During this song, the audience meets David and Les, two new newsies that need the help of the main character, Jack, to sell papers.
Carrying the banner took weeks to put together between learning the dance and getting the song recorded. It took at least 22 weeks between the practice and the final shoot.
The scenes could get very hot because of the sun and the heavy clothes that they wear.
My Lovey-Dovey Baby
My Lovey-Dovey Baby is the second song in the film and is sung by Ann Margaret as Medda, a vaudeville performer. Jack, after teaching Les and David how to sell papers, has been spotted by Snyder. Snyder is the warden from the refuge that Jack had escaped. After the boys have escaped from Snyder, they run into a Vaudeville Theatre owned by Medda. Medda lets them stay and so we get to see her short performance.
The real Newsboys would sometimes forgo dinner to see a Vaudeville show. Years after the strike, Pulitzer would have special shows done at the Vaudeville theaters on holidays for the newsboys.
Santa Fe
On the way back the boys come across the Trolley Workers and their strike. They see some of the workers that have begun to unionize beating up those that have not joined and are trying to go back to work. To get Jack out of the riot, David invites him over for dinner. Jack sings Santa Fe after spending time with David and Les’s parents and sister.
Jack dreams of something different, where he does not have to sell papers every day.
The first shot of the film foreshadows Jack’s dream to head west. The scene showcases a statue of Horace Greely, a newspaper editor and politician famous for the quote, “Go west, young man.”
The World Will Know
After learning that Pulitzer and Hearst have hiked the price of the newspapers from 5 to 6 cents per 10 papers, the Newsies decide to become their own union!
Led by Jack, all the Newsies join in for this song as they begin to realize the power that they have together. They sing around the Horace Greeley statue. At the end Jack writes STRIKE overtop of the headline board.
Bryan Denton from the New York Sun sees this happen and decides to follow the Newsboys story.
This song showcases how Jack is the face of the Newsies, but David is the brains behind the union.
Seize the Day
In order to have more effect on the Newspaper giants, the boys visit the Newsies of Brooklyn. They try to enlist Spot, their young but tenacious leader. After he tells them they must prove that they will not run at the first sign of trouble, they go back to the Horace Greeley statue for this song.
Seize The Day is a joyful fight song that hypes up the Newsies before they get ready to fight the people crossing the picket line.
David leads this song with the Newsie Ensemble backing him up. This was a favorite song of the cast, and went on to be one of the most famous songs from the film.
Despite the obscurity of the movie and its soundtrack, Disney put this song on one of their Disney songs cassette tapes. This is how Robin discovered the song, which launched her into a Newsies obsession.
It gets a reprise after one of the Newsies gets captured and taken to a “refuge.” The Newsies return to fight more of the “scabs” that have crossed the picket line.
King of New York
After the Newsies make the front page of the New York Sun, they celebrate by singing this rousing song about their brush with fame. This song features the Newsies ensemble with Denton, played by Bill Pullman.
“King of New York” was written really quickly and put in at the last minute.
Kenny Ortega wanted a moment for the boys to be able to celebrate with Denton because they had developed a great relationship with him. It also makes his decision to tell the kids he has to stop covering the strike much more powerful
This song showcases Racetrack, the newsie obsessed with gambling on horses. Max Casella, who played the character, really took to tap dancing, so they made this a tap number. Casella was starring alongside Neil Patrick Harris in Doogie Howser MD while filming Newsies, and has since appeared in The Sopranos, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
High Times, Hard Times
In this scene, the movie recreates the historical moment when the real-life Newsies gathered at New Irving Hall for their meeting. It was a rally for all the Newsies to gather, celebrate, and have speeches to further the cause.
Medda performs this song with the Newsies singing in the background as they watch.
This is one of the most disliked songs in the film, and it even earned a Razzie for worst song!
Once and for All
In this scene, the Newsies (along with Denton and Sarah, Jack’s love interest) “borrow” a printing press and make their own paper. They distribute it to all of the working class kids in New York, not just the Newsies. This is a call to action for people to attend another rally after the last one had been raided.
This is the only song in the film that doesn’t have a musical number. Instead of seeing the characters singing it, we hear the characters sing overtop a montage of them printing and distributing their own paper.
Carrying the Banner (Reprise at the end)
After the Newsies declare their victory, and Jack Kelly takes a ride with Teddy Rosevelt (for some reason), the newsboys get back to work just as before. Since they’re carrying the banner once again, they sing a reprise of the opening song.
At the end of "Carrying the Banner” in the beginning of the movie, the cast sings, “Go get ‘em, Cowboy!” At the end of the song in the finale, the cast says, “You showed ‘em, Cowboy!”
Reception/Legacy
Newsies was released on April 10, 1992 with a budget of $15 million. The film did not recoup that budget, making less than a fifth of that at the box office. It is also one of the least financially successful live-action movies made by Walt Disney Studios. This is because, following a lack-luster opening weekend, the movie was pulled from several theaters.
Reviews are not very kind either with an average score or 39% on rotten tomatoes. Critics note underwhelming musical interludes despite Christian Bale making for a spirited hero. Some critics have even called it one of the most boring movies they have ever seen.
The film was nominated at the 14th Youth in Film Awards for Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture. Additionally it was nominated for several Razzie Awards, but luckily only won one of them.
It’s not all bad news however. Since then, with video, DVD and Blu-ray releases, Newsies has amassed a sizable fan base. It’s considered a cult classic today, and is beloved by many of the people who grew up watching it.
In 2011, the film was adapted into a stage musical. Alan Menkin and Jack Feldman wrote a few new songs, and Harvey Fierstein updated the story. Some characters were removed or replaced, and some of the less popular songs were dropped as well. The musical was so successful that it made it to Broadway. As a Broadway production, it was much better received than the film and went on to win 8 Tony awards, including Best Musical. Alan Menkin now has a Razzie and a Tony for the same musical.
Following its success, a live filming of the musical was made in 2017. Both are available on Disney+.
Conclusion
Despite its critical and commercial failure, Newsies has managed to make a lasting impact. It’s a “David and Goliath” story about standing up for yourself and each other, and demonstrates the power of the people.
Sure it’s cheesy, but Newsies is a balm for anyone that loves a genuine movie musical. The dancing is on point, many of the songs are fun to sing along to, and overall it’s just a fun film. To some, Newsies is boring Disney schlock with underwhelming performances. But to some of us (Robin), it’s a classic that played a key role in our lives. And because of that, we don’t find Newsies to be a failure at all.