Classic Review: Newsies (1992): 20th
Anniversary Edition Blu-Ray - Page 1
By Albert Gutierrez

"That's the power of the press, Joe. Thanks for
teachin' me about it.." - Jack Kelly
"How do I know you got what it takes to win?" - Spot
Conlon
"Sometimes all it takes is a voice, one voice that
becomes a hundred, then a thousand, unless it's silenced." - Bryan
Denton

Newsies: 20th Anniversary Edition
Original Release: April 10, 1992
Blu-Ray Release: June 19, 2012
Film Length: 121 minutes
Author's Note: The screen captures included in this
review are from the 2002 DVD, and should not be indicative of the
video quality on the 2012 Blu-Ray.

The Movie:
In 1899, the Newsies run the streets of New York
City. They control the flow of information more effectively than the
newspapers they sell - a penny a pape - thanks to their boisterous
voices and flair for embellishing headlines. "Improvin' the truth,"
they call it. But life isn't easy for these overworked and underpaid
children. For some, it's the only option. Still, they make the best
of it, as evident by the opening song, "Carryin' the Banner." This
upbeat number introduces us to our resident troupe of newsies,
ranging from our hero Jack "Cowboy" Kelly to true-blue Noo-Yawker
Racetrack Higgins, from the gimpy Crutchie to the patch-wearing Kid
Blink. Various other newsies fill in the ranks, with names like
Mush, Boots, Specs, Skittery, Pie-Eater, Swifty, etc. Joining the
newsies are a pair of brothers, David and Les, temporarily leaving
school in order to help their injured father. David and Les find
themselves working with Jack, who takes it upon himself to teach
them the business.
However, business is slow for the newsies, thanks to
lousy headlines from "The New York World," run by Joseph Pulitzer.
One of Pulitzer's cronies suggests improving profit by charging the
newsies more for their papers, increasing the purchase price 10
cents per 100 papes. To Pulitzer, it seems practical: a mere tenth
of a cent more for every paper. For the newsies, it's the difference
between life and death. Inspired by the trolley strike that's been
headlining the papers for three weeks, the Newsies soon organize
themselves into a union, intent on striking until the price goes
back down. Through the songs "The World Will Know" and "Seize the
Day," the newsies strike begins. Eventually, they get support of
other newsies - largely due to participation from Brooklyn newsies
and their leader, Spot Conlon - resulting in attention from "New
York Sun" reporter Bryan Denton, who covers their story for his
paper. It seems the newsies are unstoppable, until Pulitzer sends
the police to break up their rally and capture Jack Kelly. Now it's
up to David and the rest of the newsies to carry on, and hopefully
help Jack in the process.

My Thoughts:
Until Newsies came along, Disney had avoided
the live-action musical for fifteen years. Their last effort in the
genre had been 1977's Pete's Dragon, a cute film about an
orphan boy (Pete, obviously) and his animated dragon Elliot. While
that film was a success at the box office, critical reaction was
mixed, even amidst the film's two Academy Award nominations for Best
Original Score and Best Original Song, "Candle on the Water." For
years, Disney had been trying to emulate the success of 1964's
Mary Poppins, but by 1977, the big-budget musical had already
become pass' amidst the gritty and urbane films that New Hollywood
was now offering. Despite Helen Reddy's insistence, there was not
room for everybody. But as the old adage goes, all that's old
becomes new again, and by the early 90's, Disney decided to try and
bring back the big-budget musical.
Ironically, the screenwriters of Newsies
originally had been developing the story as a dramatic film titled
Hard Promises. The screenwriters - Bob Tzudiker and Noni
White - had begun drafting their ideas for the project in 1985, but
the focus shifted from drama to musical when Kenny Ortega
(choreographer for 1987's Dirty Dancing) was brought on
board. Also hired on were composer Alan Menken - hot off his Academy
Award wins for The Little Mermaid and in the midst of working
on Beauty and the Beast - along with lyricist Jack Feldman.
Together, they would write eight songs for the film, the most
well-known being "Seize the Day." Actor Christian Bale was
originally unsure about signing on for Newsies when he was
first approached for the project. When he finally joined, the film
shifted gears and became a musical, which was not good news for the
non-singing, non-dancing Bale. He told director Kenny Ortega that he
"didn't want to be a bloody Artful Dodger in a remake of Oliver!,
jumping down the street with a big smile on [his] face" (Seventeen
magazine). Ortega assured him that wouldn't be the case. After all,
Newsies was still a serious story, now just enhanced by
musical performances. It would be a serious musical.

Of course, for anyone who's seen Newsies, I
think it's safe to say it's anything but serious. The entire history
of the strike is rewritten for dramatic license, resulting in a
scrappy "we can do it!" underdog story. It's still an inspiring
tale, but holds little weight for an audience where the worst thing
to happen to strikers is a $5 fine in night court ("Five bucks? This
sucks!" as Spot would say). Opportunities for character development
are limited to Jack Kelly's journey from newsie to scab to newsie
again, and his realization of where he belongs in the grand scheme
of things. No one else among the newsies really grow, they're just
as content in their lives at the end as they were in the beginning.
The entire film is lightweight, more enjoyable for the spectacle
than for anything deeply meaningful. And yet, the film remains a
cult hit with its very devoted share of fans. Newsies has
resonated with so many; most of its fans harbor a very strong love
for what is arguably only a passably-decent film musical. Don't get
me wrong when I say "passably decent." I'm a huge fan of the film,
but any fan of the film should not be blinded to criticism of the
things they love. Otherwise, they can't appreciate it all the more.
That appreciation stems mainly from the gleeful
approach that the musical takes with everything. Newsies
succeeds because it's a high-energy and all-around joyful film to
watch. It's a popcorn musical. I don't watch it to get a
heavy-handed message; I watch it because I want to have fun. The
songs are infectious and catchy, the dancing is amusingly
imitatable. The characters are the cool kids on the playground,
taking time to hang out with the audience. And what better
playground than Universal Studios's famous New York streets? From a
production point of view, 1899 New York has a wistful quality to its
design that makes viewers long to walk those streets or dance in the
caf'. The romanticized past is certainly part of its appeal,
especially when in a world where strikes are held to a chorale of
"Seize the Day," complete with tin can band and rigid choreography.

Newsies has endured for twenty years now because
of its devoted audience, not because of star power or industry
accolades, and certainly not because of its box-office success. The
film placed at a distant #13 during its opening weekend and
eventually made only $2.8 million, barely 1/5 of its $15 million
budget. For most movies, that's the end. They'll be forgotten and
resigned to a lonely life unchecked at the local Blockbuster, or
unwatched late at night on some cable network. But for Newsies,
cable television is where it found success. Disney Channel would
rerun it constantly throughout the 1990's, and it was a big seller
on home video. Both helped introduce the film to viewers far better
than the original theatrical run. They let viewers revisit the film
time and again, creating a familiarity that makes them embrace
Newsies on their terms.

The Disc:
Video: 2.35:1 Widescreen
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA (1), Spanish 2.0
Dolby Surround (2), Commentary 2.0 Dolby Surround (3)
Subtitles: English (1), French (2), Spanish (3),
English Sing-Along (4), Commentary - English (5), Commentary -
French (6), Commentary - Spanish (7)
Chapters: 22
Newsies hit the digital video format in 2002, in
a "Collector's Edition" DVD that included a fair amount of bonus
features. Ten years later, Disney has re-released the title again,
now on high-definition Blu-Ray and sporting the "20th Anniversary
Edition" banner. This release retains most of the supplements, while
it upgrades the audio/video quality.
The film is presented in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio on
both discs, preserving the composition of its original theatrical
exhibition. For fans who grew up watching this film on Disney
Channel broadcasts or VHS, a great deal of picture is now available
to them, formerly cut off in the pan&scan process, as seen in the
example below. Any black bars seen is not image lost, but unused
space. The image is enhanced for 16:9 televisions on both discs,
which will lesson the black bars, although they still will be
apparent.

Four of the newsies are gone in pan & scan!
The Blu-Ray includes a sticker on the packaging
declaring the film to be "digitally restored," although we don't see
the level of restoration as done on 1991's The Rocketeer,
where the differences between the Blu-Ray and its original DVD are
staggering. Side-by-side comparisons for Newsies on Blu-Ray
and DVD show the natural upgrade in picture quality, although I
believe the Blu-Ray uses the same digital transfer made for the 2002
DVD, with minor clean-up passes done. Make no mistake, the Blu-Ray
is clearly superior and the one I prefer to watch, but due to the
higher resolution, the minor imperfections from the 2002 DVD become
more apparent.
The film always felt soft on DVD, and while the
image gets sharpened in Blu-Ray, we also see a heavier amount of
grain. Normally, I wouldn't complain about that. Grain in itself
should not be a bad thing; it's an inherent part of film. But
there's such a layer on Newsies that even though I enjoy the
high-def presentation more than its standard DVD, I feel Disney
should have done another round of DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) to
better smooth the image out. Don't get me wrong, Newsies
still looks amazing. But I feel it would look better if the image
weren't so grainy. Most film studios get a lot of flak for excessive
DNR on Blu-Ray video transfers, though in this case, I don't think
enough was done (if any at all).
Both discs also use a 5.1 audio mix, with Blu-Ray
upgrading from Dolby Digital to DTS-HD Master Audio. I'm not a
hardcore audiophile, and couldn't really distinguish any differences
between the DVD's Dolby track and Blu-Ray's DTS. My rule when
assessing audio is simple: "If it's balanced and I can hear clearly,
I can enjoy it." Sometimes I'm forgiving towards older films, where
hisses and other noise sometimes intrude. For recent films, say from
the last thirty years, such issues shouldn't be apparent, and
thankfully, I've not yet run into a disc with a noticeably-bad audio
mix.
For those interested in hearing Jack Kelly with a
Spanish accent, a 2.0 Spanish track is also offered. Likewise,
subtitles are available in English, French, and Spanish. On the Blu-Ray,
the audio commentary is also available as a subtitle option.