newsies

NEWSIES
Probably my most all-time favorite of all time! :)

1/15/02--Due to popular demand, Disney has now released the best movie in the world, NEWSIES, to Disney DVD. I bought it this week, and it was incredible!!! I mean, I've seen the movie a million times and knew everything about it, but there is SO MUCH on this DVD: behind the scenes, parts that aren't in the movie, interviews, the real story, everything!! Plus, when you watch it in the widescreen version, you see so much more stuff taking place on the sides that you never knew existed!!! So, for real, if you are a NEWSIES fan, the DVD will blow you away!! I was almost shaking I was so excited watching it!!! :)
I've always LOVED this movie, but I guess I never realized that it was considered such a "clandestine cult favorite" (by cult favorite, it doesn't mean favored by the occult, but rather that it has such a strong, and sometimes obsessive, fan base, such as Star Trek Trekkies, etc.) until I began to search for links on the internet. I am by far not the only huge fan of this movie, as shown by scrolling down to links, but, I'm not quite obsessive, either.

This is one of those movies that just seem to grow on you until it becomes your absolute favorite. I don't even remember the first time my family rented this movie, I just remember renting it over and over until one of our relatives finally found a copy and bought it for us.

Newsies is based on a true story about a group of newsboys around the turn of the century. They sold papers on the streets of New York during the era of William Randolph Hearst (the movie Citizen Kane was based on his life) and Joseph Pulitzer. One day, in response to price raise for their papers, these newsies decided to go on strike. They knew little of the far-reaching effect this would have on the working class of the city, which in turn impacted those in higher places such as Hearst and Pulitzer themselves. Newsies is a musical, which many times turns people away, but this modern musical is very much unlike those boring musicals of olden days. Probably the best part of this movie is the dancing in the streets. It is so fun to watch. Dancing can be cool. How many people love to watch Dirty Dancing? Exactly my point. So, normal people don't dance in the streets, but knowing that this is a musical and that dancing in the street isn't a normal thing allows for a greater suspension of disbelief and, therefore, greater enjoyment of the movie.

I don't know why I love this movie so much. I'm usually a fan of realistic dramas and stuff, but this movie just makes you feel so good and plus, as I said, it just grows on you until you completely love it. But good luck trying to find your own copy. This movie is nearly impossible to find. I've looked so many places. They don't have it at normal stores or online. I'd suggest going to used book stores or something. That's where I finally found my own copy. Believe me, I was pretty excited! Also, the soundtrack is a pretty rare item. My mom found one on eBay.com, a cassette tape, used, and put it in my stocking. I've been listening to it nonstop for about a week now! This movie is owned by Disney, and I don't know why, but Newsies never seems to get the attention of other Disney movies. (*note-NEWSIES, due to popular demand, is now available on Disney DVD and the soundtrack has also been re-released. You can find both on Amazon.com)

This movie, though it never did all that great at the theatre when it first came out, is now considered a sleeper. It now has a very strong fan base; and, though it may be small, we are very strong, and there are many, many fans, including me, that LOVE this movie! Here are some other fans' sites about Newsies:

LINKS:

The Obsessive Newsies Homepage - This site has a TON of stuff! This was made by someone who obviously suffers from ONS (Obsessive Newsies Syndrome), but, still, it's pretty good! Besides the usual stuff about the cast and story, on this site you can find: Newsies jokes, redneck newsies jokes, how to know if you're obsessed, Newsies drinking game, original script, new ways to watch the movie and other fun newsie stuff.
The Lodging House - This site also has a lot of good stuff, including: what the cast members are doing now, timeline of events related to the real newsies strike of 1899, info about other newsies strikes, what the real House of Refuge was like, 19th century recipes, Newsies sequels (written by the website author), Newsies bloopers, and more!
Crutchy's Newsies Nook - This site has pictures of all the newsies, various headlines in papers during the movie, Newsies games, Tibby's menu, and other details about the movie.
http://scribe.vende.org/ - This is a pretty good fan site. There isn't very much info on the movie itself, but has a lot of fanfic and a TON of web rings.
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/4980/ - This site has a very good history of the newsies strike of 1899. also has a Newsies quiz and survey.
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Makeup/5228/newsies.html - This site has observations and bloopers from the movie, quotes, magazine articles about the movie and cast members, surveys, pictures and more.
http://www.geocities.com/spit_shake - another Newsies fan site.
http://www.geocities.com/newsies_R_us - Gen and Shadow's wonderful Newsies Amusement park
The New New York World - The New York World is back for 1997+, centered around Newsies. The background might make you dizzy, but it's a decent page.
Cola's Newsies Page - The largest collection of Newsies fan fiction on the web. A bit hefty to plow through, but nice archive.
Laura's Newsies Page - This site has various pages such as Titanic vs. Newsies and also desktop Newsies pictures. Clean, with a good amount of info. Your basic Newsies site but without all the bad graphics and accented writing.
Newsies Central - This is cute. Skweeker's got a scrapbook, a Newsies yearbook to sign, and some other nifty stuff. Go here. Now.
www.Newsies-Movie.com - Beautiful. This is based on the official pressbook. Great info and design.
The Back Page - Beautiful design, if lacking somewhat in information. Go look at it cause it's really really pretty.

it's strange that since I adore this movie so much, that I would write such a crappy report on it, but here is the review I did for my film class:

Newsies; Walt Disney, 1992; 121 minutes

Producer: Michael Finnell; Director: Kenny Ortega; Written By: Bob Tzudiker, Noni White; Music: Alan Menken; Lyrics: Jack Feldman; Major characters - actors: Joseph Pulitzer - Robert Duval; Jack Kelly/Francis Sullivan - Christian Bale; David Jacobs - David Moscow; Les Jacobs - Luke Edwards; Spot Conlon - Gabriel Damon; Bryan Denton - Bill Pullman; Medda Larkson - Ann-Margret; Racetrack - Max Casella; Kid Blink - Trey Parker

In earlier decades, musicals such as Singing in the Rain, The Sound of Music, and The King and I were popular and widely accepted by young and old alike. However, by the 1990's audiences have forgotten such classics and became fans of other genres. Unfortunately, audiences now consider musicals acceptable only in cartoon form and/or aimed toward children. Except in these cases, musicals have lost their popularity in the current movie-going industry.
, a 1992 musical based on a true story, was not able to find an audience and did not fare well at the box office. However, in years following its release, Newsies has become known as a sleeper- a little known about, but excellent, must-see movie.
In 1899, a group of newsboys, outraged by the recent rise in newspaper prices, decided to strike and stop selling the papers of two New York newspaper tycoons, William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. This movie, filmed almost 100 years after, tries to recreate many of the aspects of the real story. Several of the characters names such as Racetrack and Kid Blink were real nicknames of the 1899 newsies.
This movie is one of my favorite movies of all time. I highly recommend it to everyone. While there may be a few instances of language and/or minor violence, Newsies, rated PG, is a clean movie appropriate for the entire family. The music and dance scenes in this feel-good movie make you want to sing and dance yourself. Though unpopular at first, this movie is becoming more popular each day and is destined to become a classic.

last updated: 1/10/01