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Parents' Guide to

Newsies

By Charles Cassady Jr., Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Kids go on strike in gritty, historical musical.

Movie PG 1992 121 minutes
Newsies Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

  • Newsies Movie: A group of White young men and boys wearing newsboy caps hang out, holding newspapers.
  • Newsies Movie: Choreographed dance number showing group of young men pointing at the sky.

Community Reviews

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age 8+

Based on 9 parent reviews

Runesong
Runesong Parent of 10-year-old
October 14, 2012
age 8+

An interesting way to introduce a new generation to another time in American history.

Wonderful introduction to the large scale, Broadway style musical & some interesting historical figures as well! The film is loosely based on a real strike by newspaper boys against Joseph Pulitzer, one of America's leading newspaper tycoons. Scenes that imply underage use of tobacco, references to gambling, & dance-like, choreographed, street violence are frequent throughout the entire movie. However, these are historically accurate, if somewhat cleaned up, portrayals of the lives of street orphans in post Industrial Revolution New York City. As the story suggests, this was a time when large cities thrived on the backs of child labor. In fact, children had fewer rights & protections than adult workers who were just starting to organize into labor unions. If no one explains the historical references, it could certainly give younger children the wrong impression about how to handle percieved injustice. With the right information, however, this is a fun way to introduce a time in America's history that may be otherwise unrecognizable to today's youth. In the right context, there are lots of positive messages about personal integrity, standing up for ones principles & for those weaker or less fortunate than ourselves, etc. There are also many opportunities to discuss how people's lives & working conditions have changed in the last 100 or so years. The fact that Christian Bale (Batman) plays one of the leading roles, among several other recognizable child actors, should help generate some curiousity.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
1 person found this helpful.
DThe7
DThe7 Adult
January 18, 2022
age 9+

Good, historical musical

I think this is a good family movie to watch after having a discussion with kids about what it was like in the life of newsboys circa 1900. This is a story about young newsboys finding a solution to their problems. There are a few words and scenes that could have been eliminated to be more appropriate for kids, but overall it's a good story.

This title has:

Great messages
See all 9 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Loosely based on actual incidents, NEWSIES casts New York City daily-newspaper tycoon Joseph Pulitzer ( Robert Duvall) in a most villainous light. Engaged in a circulation war with rival William Randolph Hearst, the greedy Pulitzer raises the rates at which the "newsies" buy the "papes" every morning. The street-savvy kids decide to form a union of all newsboys in the city, to defy not just Pulitzer but also Hearst and anyone who pushes them around. Leading the strike is orphan Jack (Christian Bale), and David (David Moscow), who works to help support his family. Pulitzer refuses to negotiate. He fights back viciously, with hired muscle, "scabs," and, finally, blackmailing Jack. David and his household also become targets, in between the singing.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (9 ):
Kids say (32 ):

Newsies, with its energetic score and large-scale dance gymnastics, hits a note lost between the pop-fantasy and ragtime of Bugsy Malone and the R-rated realism of Gangs of New York. Dramatically there is some surprisingly strong stuff here, and perhaps Newsies would have come across better without the tunes.

Even with an upbeat finale, most grownups come across as the worst kind of abusive authority-figures, domineering and brute-force guardians, although a few adults support the boys. There is pretty strong Goliath-vs.-David sense of injustice and helplessness, with police and hired thugs against the kids. Ruthless, immoral corporations control everything, and mainstream media is not to be trusted -- especially when its own investments are threatened.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the history of labor movements and strikes, plus the larger-than-life characters of Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst, and a certain U.S. president who makes a cameo at the end. There really was a newsboys' strike, and you could fact-check the parts about it this movie gets wrong. Newsies also proposes, loud and clear, that despite its supposed watchdog role, the media is just as corporate as any other business -- and just as nasty and unethical when its interests are threatened. Of course, unions can misbehave as well, for the same reasons, but you don't see that here. How do we look at the media and at unions today?

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