Line #14 Film/Newsies


1	[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/newsies_1992_poster.jpeg]]
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3	->''"Pulitzer may own the World, but he don't own us!"''
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5	''Newsies'' is a 1992 live-action Creator/{{Disney}} [[TheMusical musical]] film with a screenplay by Bob Tzudiker and Nomi White and songs by composer Music/AlanMenken and lyricist Jack Feldman ([[Music/BarryManilow "Copacabana"]]) It is a PeriodPiece which follows the story of a group of newsboys in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity in 1899, who strike against the city's biggest newspapers and their publishers after the price of newspapers goes up.
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7	It was a box office bomb when it was first released and [[ItWillNeverCatchOn severely mocked by critics]] (Creator/LeonardMaltin went as far as calling it "[[Film/HowardTheDuck Howard the Newsboy]]"), but a combination of releases on home video and DVD, airings on the Creator/DisneyChannel, the Internet, and word of mouth has given it a monster-sized cult following. [[VindicatedByHistory Swing and a miss, Maltin]]. A [[Theatre/{{Newsies}} Broadway adaptation]] debuted in 2012 and was promptly sold out and showered in Tony nominations. It won two, for Best Choreography and Best Score, winning Menken his first Tony.
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9	It should also be noted that the film was directed by choreographer Creator/KennyOrtega, who would go on to direct the ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'' films. The cast includes Creator/ChristianBale, Creator/DavidMoscow, Creator/BillPullman, Creator/MaxCasella, Creator/RobertDuvall, and Creator/AnnMargret.
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11	The horror-comedy film ''Film/BloodDripsHeavilyOnNewsiesSquare'' was made on the set of this film.
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14	!!This film provides examples of:
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16	* AdrenalineMakeover: At the start of the movie, David is well-dressed and his hair is neat, setting him apart from the other street kid newsies. By the epilogue, he's as scruffy as Jack or Crutchy, solidifying his transformation into a true newsie.
17	* AdultsAreUseless: Though only partially, since Denton does help the newsies by getting their story out. Similarly, the old man running the home where the newsies live refuses to give Jack up to Snyder.
18	* AmbiguouslyJewish: Both Pulitzer and Weasel (and by extension, Morris and Oscar), David's full name is "David Jacobs", his sister is named Sarah, and his parents are called Esther and Meyer, all Jewish names. (Pulitzer, of course, was Jewish in real life.)
19	* AngryMobSong: "The World Will Know."
20	* BadassBoast: From "Seize The Day": ''Proud and defiant, [[DavidVersusGoliath we'll slay the giant!]]''
21	* BerserkButton: For Jack, seeing David hurt or threatened.
22	* BewareTheNiceOnes: David is the most calm and level-headed of the group for the most part but when he thinks Jack has [[FaceHeelTurn betrayed them,]] he furiously chews the guy out and almost physically attacks him.
23	* BigApplesauce: Turn-of-the-century applesauce, no less.
24	* BigBrotherInstinct: David to his brother Les. Jack is quite protective of him as well.
25	* BigDamnKiss: Jack gets one with Sarah in the finale.
26	* BratsWithSlingshots: Most of the kids use these with marbles.
27	--> ''"And we got a ton of rotten fruit and perfect aim!"''
28	* BrooklynRage: Spot Conlon.
29	* TheCavalry: Spot Conlon and his gang.
30	* AChildShallLeadThem: By default.
31	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Pulitzer is the pre-20th-century-Robber-Baron variety of this.
32	* DaEditor: Pulitzer.
33	* DarkReprise: Jack sings a melancholy reprise of "Santa Fé" after he has been taken to the juvenile detention centre.
34	* DavidVersusGoliath: The premise; the original legend is referenced explicitly twice in the film: in dialogue ("What's your name?" "David." "As in David and Goliath?"), and in the song "Seize the Day": "Proud and defiant/We'll slay the giant!"
35	* DeliberatelyCuteChild: Jack teaches Les how to use his cute-little-boy charm to sell more papers.
36	* DontYouDarePityMe: Crutchy rejects Jack's offer to carry him out of the Refuge after he admits to Jack that he can't walk after being beaten up.
37	* FaceHeelTurn: When the strike looks like it's succeeding, Pulitzer [[spoiler:hauls Jack in and offers him money in exchange for him giving up on the strike. Jack's not interested until Pulitzer threatens Jack's friend and co-leader, David, and David's family; then he caves, and is later seen wearing new clothes and selling Pulitzer's papers. It doesn't last.]] (This is one aspect of the story that comes more or less straight from the historical record.)
38	* AFriendInNeed
39	* TheGamblingAddict: The aptly nicknamed "Racetrack" Higgins is unashamedly addicted to gambling.
40	-->'''Racetrack''': Remember that hot tip I told you about?\
41	'''Jack''': Yeah?\
42	'''Racetrack''': Nobody told the horse.
43	* HesBack: Jack briefly agrees to work for Pulitzer in order to protect David and his family, but as soon as he sees them attacked in the street, he's right back to leading the strike and sabotaging his former boss.
44	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Most of the boys are loosely or directly based on actual newsboys involved in the strike. Racetrack Higgins, Spot Conlon, Mush Meyers, Crutchy Morris, Kid Blink (the leader of the strike in real life), and several others are explicitly named in newspaper articles from the strike, and David is clearly based on a strike leader named Dave Simons. There was also a newsboy named Jack Sullivan who probably provided some inspiration for Jack Kelly. Not to mention, of course, Joseph Pulitzer and [[spoiler: UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt, Governor of the State of New York.]]
45	* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Medda is a showgirl singer who helps the newsies throughout the strike.
46	* IAmGreatSong: "King of New York", where the newsies revel in the face their strike has made the papers.
47	-->''I gotta be either dead or dreamin'\
48	'Cause look at that pape with my face beamin'\
49	Tomorrow they may wrap fishes in it\
50	But I was a star for one whole minute''
51	* IAmSong: The newsies collectively get one in the opening number, "Carrying the Banner", which explains their working life:
52	-->''Every morning\
53	We goes where we wishes\
54	We's as free as fishes\
55	Sure beats washing dishes\
56	What a fine life\
57	Carrying the banner home-free all!''
58	* IChooseToStay: Jack has always dreamed of going to Santa Fe, [[spoiler: but with a little off-screen persuasion by Governor Roosevelt, he decides to go back to his Newsie family.]]
59	* IdiotBall: Jack specifically tells Denton not to put his picture in the paper, but later when he whips his camera out and takes a picture of all the newsies, Jack doesn't duck down or cover his face or even move so as to make it blur. This leads to trouble when [[spoiler:Warden Snyder sees the picture and figures out that "Francis Sullivan" is now using the name "Jack Kelly".]] Of course, the subsequent plot is dependent on this happening, but why didn't they just have Jack be taken by surprise? Instead, he sees the camera and even points it out to the others.
60	* IfIWereARichMan: The song "King of New York" has shades of this, with the newsies imagining the extravagant things their fame will get them.
61	** Slightly averted, because they aren't even imagining anything truly expensive. The most expensive thing any of them want is a movie ticket and a private box at Sheepshead Races. Although one does hope for a Saturday night with the Mayor's daughter.
62	* ItsThePrincipleOfTheThing: David asks Pulitzer why he's forcing the newsboy to strike and risking bad press over a small amount of money that's chump change to a man like him. Jack spells out that a man like Pulitzer can't be seen as weak or giving in.
63	* IWantSong: Jack's solo "Santa Fé":
64	-->''Santa Fé, are you there?\
65	Do you swear you won't forget me?\
66	If I found you, would you let me come and stay?''
67	* IntergenerationalFriendship: Denton and the boys.
68	* KidHero: Also by default.
69	* KingOfTheHomeless
70	* LargeHam: Pulitzer, especially his rant about when [[StealthPun he created The World.]]
71	* TheLeader: Jack, without question. The strike almost falls apart after his brief [[FaceHeelTurn Face-Heel turn.]]
72	* LetsGetDangerous: Most of the strike songs have a chaotic, cheerfully defiant tone. Near the very end of the musical, however, with Pulitzer and Hearst having escalated over and over again and the situation having grown dark and nearly deadly, "Once And For All" has lost any hint of playfulness.
73	-->''This is to even the score;\
74	This ain't just newsies no more;\
75	This ain't just kids with some pie-in-the-sky,\
76	This is "do it or die,"\
77	This is WAR.''
78	* LiteralSoapboxSpeech: During "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmFKdyw0QwM The World Will Know]]", Jack hops on the pedestal of a statue of Joseph Pulitzer to start rallying the newsies for a strike against Pulitzer and Hearst.
79	* MarketBasedTitle: Released in Britain as ''The News Boys''.
80	* MeaningfulEcho: "Headlines don't sell papes. ''Newsies'' sell papes."
81	* MouthyKid: The cast is made of these.
82	* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: [[BadassBoast And the World Will Know!]] And the ''Journal'' too!
83	* NamedAfterTheInjury: Crutchy was given his nickname due to his 'bum leg', which he uses a crutch to ease.
84	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Pulitzer's hanging threat against David and his family puts Jack in a position where he could have remained a scab under Pulizer's thumb indefinitely, but then the Delancey brothers go one step further and just plain attack Sarah, which pushes Jack's aforementioned BerserkButton and gets him right back to leading the strike.
85	* NoSongForTheWicked: None of the antagonists sing.
86	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Many of the newsies.
87	* OrphanageOfFear: The Refuge, an orphanage/juvenile prison that Jack escaped from, where the corrupt Warden Snyder mistreats his charges while embezzling the money meant for their care.
88	* OutOfCharacterMoment: One of the Delanceys initially acts offended by his brother threatening to beat up David, indicating that he has HiddenDepths (or at least [[EvenEvilHasStandards standards]]). Within minutes though, he helps harass David and his family along with his brother and not seeming the least bit conflicted or hesitant about it.
89	** It's actually far more likely that Morris just didn't want Oscar telling Jack about their plans, as it would up the odds of Jack getting in their way.
90	* ParentalAbandonment: All of the newsies except David and his little brother, Les, are either orphans or otherwise effectively parentless.
91	* PoliceAreUseless: Right up until the very end of the film.
92	* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: "Poor orphans and runaways, the newsies were a ragged army, without a leader, until one day all of that changed..."
93	* RefugeInAudacity: When they realize they need to print their own paper if they want to rally all of the child laborers in the city, the heroes make use of one of Pullitzer's own printing presses, [[RightUnderTheirNoses stored in his basement]].
94	** When Snyder goes to the Newsies home looking for Jack, he just happens to walk right into the room while Snyders back is to him and begins to mock Snyder (whom he has spent most of the film running from) feet away from him.
95	* RefugeInTheWest: Discussed in the song "Santa Fe", Jack's IWantSong about his dream to move out to Santa Fe, which he sees as an escape from his current life of drudgery which has no future. [[spoiler: Subverted in that he ultimately gives it up to stay in New York and help his friends.]]
96	* RunningGag: For poetic reasons, the characters continually say that they will talk to the ''World,'' run by Pulitzer. It ''sounds'' like they're talking about the [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant actual world,]] but every now and then they'll throw in "and the ''Journal''" as a side note.
97	** The newspaper heading reads: "Children's Crusade: Newsies stop World." (The sub-heading says "and the ''Journal.''")
98	* SatelliteLoveInterest: David and Les' sister, Sarah, for Jack.
99	* ShownTheirWork:
100	** The novelization of the film included several historical facts and references about life at the time, including information on other strikes of the time period and what child laborers had to deal with, and spent several pages after the story to separate fact from fiction.
101	** [[spoiler: Teddy Roosevelt was in fact New York's Governor in 1899]].
102	* SomewhereSong: "Santa Fé".
103	* TheSmartGuy: David is "the brains" of the strike. Makes sense considering he's a student who's temporarily dropped out to sell newspapers until his father is healthy enough to return to his factory job. He lacks Jack's charisma and speaking skill, at least initially, but is better at organizing talking points and working the political side of the strike
104	* StealthPun: Evil Old Pulitzer's newspaper is named The World. They milk the hell out of this ("and the world will know! [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And the Journal, too!]]") (also see the page quote).
105	** There's also a part where Pulitzer is on a rant about the good old days and says, "Now when I created the World--" Even his cronies snicker.
106	* StrikeEpisode: Most of the plot involves the newsboys’ union going on strike when the newspaper companies refuse to give them a fair wage adjustment.
107	* ThatRemindsMeOfASong: Ann-Margret's solo is seemingly included, as Creator/RogerEbert quipped, "just so that they could say there's an Ann-Margret number in the movie."
108	* ThatWasObjectionable: Spot Conlon attempts this when the Newsies are taken to court for holding a protest rally.
109	-->'''Spot''': Your Honour, I object.\
110	'''Judge''': On what grounds?\
111	'''Spot''': On the grounds of Brooklyn.
112	* TheThemeParkVersion: Of the late-19th-century labor movement. The real thing involved a lot more violence, a lot more theory connecting strikes to the state of society, [[ArsonMurderandJaywalking and not quite as many musical numbers]].
113	* TriumphantReprise: The World Will Know!
114	* TrueCompanions: A major theme; all the newsies are these.
115	* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: There really was a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsboys_Strike_of_1899 newsboys' strike]] in 1899, and most of the newsies' nicknames are taken from contemporary records. History has been mute on the amount of singing and dancing involved, so it would be best to take that with a grain of salt.
116	* WardensAreEvil: Warden Snyder, the head of the New York "refuge", where boys and young men convicted of crimes are sent to be "re-socialized" and turned into productive members of society. In reality Snyder pockets most of the money intended to be used for the boys' upkeep, leaving them living in basically a poorhouse. He also seems to use his charges as his personal servants.
117	* WeirdTradeUnion: An union for newsboys seems an unlikely choice, but gets good results.
118	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
119	** We never find out if Dave and Les's father ever gets his job back at the factory so Dave can go back to school
120	** We never find out what happens with the trolley strike.
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Context Film / Newsies