Newsies

Mostly Spot Conlon, but some of the other guys (and the actors that played them) too :) Enjoy!

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

Newsies: a Novel, page 2.

I've seen a few people point out before that there's no mention of David getting anything from the Jacobses spare pennies while Sarah and Les do, but do y'all understand that this is the single most middle-kid-coded line Jonathan Fast could have possibly included in the Newsies novelization?

[blam-in-the-blame]

Is is there any canonical evidence that race sells in brooklyn/at the sheepshead races, or is it totally fanon? Bc geographically, it makes no sense, yall.

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

It's based on historical fact!

The real Racetrack Higgins was actually from Brooklyn and newspapers from the time describe him as being "known to race-goers" and a "fixture" at the Sheepshead Bay Race Track.

Additionally in the 1992 film, Race's line in King of New York is

A permanent box at Sheepshead races

and Max Casella described Racetrack as a "lone wolf" in the DVD commentary when talking about the character's preference for selling at the track in Brooklyn.

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

did jack kelly exist irl?

I am honored to be receiving this question because it seems to pop up periodically in this fandom every few years

The short answer? No.

The long answer? Can be quite complicated actually.

More recent sources straight from Disney tend to stick to the story that Jack Kelly was a complete work of fiction, or will passingly own to the fact that he was partially inspired by the real-life strike leader Kid Blink and stop there. However, the Newsies novelization mentions "Jack" as a name borrowed from a real newsboy along with the familiar list of Kid Blink, Racetrack, and David (inspired by "Dave" Simons).

Newsies: a Novel, page 137.

In it's introduction, the official MTI Newsies Production Handbook says that Jack Kelly was inspired by "newsies leaders Kid Blink and Morris Cohen." Morris Cohen was the union president after Kid Blink and Dave Simons stepped down following accusations that they'd turned scab. [Evening Telegram, 27 July 1899, p. 8.]

This is corroborated by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White themselves, who created Jack Kelly in the first place. According to my source, to Bob and Noni, Jack "is an amalgam of David [Simons], Kid Blink, and Morris Cohen" and both of Jack's names (alias and legal name) had no historical basis other than that they wanted the name to sound Irish.

That said, a "Jack" Sullivan and a Jack Kelley did in fact exist...

"Jack" Sullivan

The New York Daily Tribune, 21 July 1899, p. 10.

Early on in the strike, "Jack" Sullivan is named as being the leader of the Arbitration Committee. A later 1905 Sun article credits Sullivan with organizing and carrying through the newsboys' strike, although in actuality there were several newsboy leaders and "Jack" Sullivan was rarely mentioned in the papers at the time of the strike.

The New York Sun, 2 December 1905, p. 3.

Jack Kelley

"Jack Kelley" is most notably mentioned in the following 1905 article in which he raises money for the grave of fellow newsboy "Dutch" Johnson.

The New York Tribune, 16 May 1905, p. 10.

While it's a stretch, in my opinion, to say that either or both of these boys "inspired" the fictional Jack Kelly given the aforementioned statements, it may be that "Jack" Sullivan and Jack Kelley influenced the creation of Jack Kelly.

We know that Bob and Noni did copious research and consulted primary sources from the strike, so it is possible that they happened upon a few articles that mentioned "Jack" Sullivan and/or Jack Kelley and those names stuck out to them when it came down to naming their characters. This could explain why the novel says that the name "Jack" was borrowed from a real boy, just to cover all their bases.

If you're interested, I've previously made a post listing the other fictional newsies inspired by real boys which you may find here!

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

so if you ever wanted to look at newsies 1992 frame by frame...

you can

[davidphelpsss]

What a Cutie!!

[papes-and-capes]

“Ain’t it a fine life carrying the banner tough and tall.”

[papes-and-capes]

“No. Who says you're fakin' it?”

[one-highfalutin-sonuva-gun]

Newsies: Big Cheese and Small Fry

Big Cheese and Small Fry are best friends who do everything together, including scabbing.

Despite their names, Big Cheese is the little one, while Small Fry is the larger one.

Big Cheese may be small but he makes up for it with his big brain, while Small Fry is the muscle of the operation.

The two use each other's different strengths to make up for what the other lacks. Fry is there for Cheese when he's in a fight because he ain't afraid to use his fist,

while Cheese helps Fry make up a headline if they hate the headline.

And if all else fails, they can always put an egg in their shoe and beat it.

[one-highfalutin-sonuva-gun]

Newsie: Moonlight

Moonlight is a Manhattan Newsie by day, and by later in the day, he's moonlighting as a Brooklyn Newsie.

He doesn't put much effort into disguising his Brooklyn work uniform from his Manhattan one. He only hides his forehead and hair under his Newsie cap, and switches to a collarless off-white shirt.

Moonlight always looks stern and rarely smiles or has any fun, but when he does, he still looks serious.

He has every reason to be serious, because this is do it or die, this is war!

After going over the wall, Moonlight chooses to side with and become a full-time Brooklyn Newsie.

[papes-and-capes]

“I’m The King Of New York”

[papes-and-capes]

Jack Kelly + Freezing Up

[davidphelpsss]

Jack “Here we go again” Kelly

[one-highfalutin-sonuva-gun]

Newsie: Dizzy

Dizzy is a Newsie who's confused about a lot of things. He dresses in a green-grey vest with dark lines around the edges, over a blue-grey shirt.

Like Dutchy, he doesn't have much going on upstairs.

When he's out selling papes, his thoughts begins to stray and so does his sales.

Dizzy doesn't get along with Little Birdie, because it's like looking in the mirror except seeing someone who's intelligent and well put together.

Or if you pause it at the right time, it looks like they get along a little too well.

Dizzy lets them laugh in his face because he doesn't care. He just laughs right back, and keeps on laughing, at anything.

He's terrified when a younger Newsie latches onto his neck. The random little boy is somehow his responsibility now.

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

SEE WHAT YOU DID JACK KELLY

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

👀🔥?

[curpong]

Do you guys prefer Jatherine or Jarah and can you explain why?

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

I prefer Jarah!

Initially, I'll freely admit, this was because I disliked Jatherine. I very much disliked the way Katherine and Jack were introduced to each other, aka the unwanted advances from Jack and the way Katherine seems to change her mind about him in the second act purely for the convenience of Harvey Fierstein's "love story." The UK production did a much better job portraying them, but as they're written in the script and as they were originally portrayed, I just couldn't get behind them at all.

As the years have passed, I've grown to appreciate Jarah for reasons beyond simple contrast with the alternative, and I don't think they are properly appreciated nearly as often as they deserve.

You simply can't fully understand Jack Kelly without first understanding Sarah Jacobs and the profound impact she has on him. I've spoken on this point before so I'll summerize here, but it's Sarah who is always able to coax the truth out of Jack, and it's Sarah who disillusions him of his truth improvement and plants the seed that makes him realize that he does indeed have something worth staying for.

On the other side, Jack gives Sarah a cause to fight for. You just can't lie to Sarah. She sees the truth of Jack's reailty and the impact of the strike so clearly that it is she who reignites it and maintains hope when everyone else becomes discouraged or embittered. Sarah has dreams to right the injustices she encounters every day, and Jack is a catalyst that inspires her to act.

I also think people overlook how disarming kindness can be, especially when you've been lacking it. Remember, even David regards Jack with suspicion when they first meet! Meanwhile, Sarah extends to Jack nothing but grace, and you have to imagine how incredible that must be to him.

Now, Jack and Sarah admittedly don't have much onscreen time together for a proper "love story", but I would argue that this was intentional. Newsies is fundamentally a story about love, but the emphasis is placed on family. Not romance. Jack doesn't stay in New York because of some girl. He stays because his eyes have been opened to the love that surrounded him all along, and he gains the love of the Jacobs family as a whole in the process.

As a last note I'll say that both Jatherine and Jarah have their places, and one wouldn't work as a substitute for the other within the framework of their own respective stories. To contradict myself, I don't think romance in any way shape or form was at all necessary to Newsies! But at the end of the day, I do hold an opinion in favor of Jarah.

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

David starts the day being annoyed by Jack

Mush starts the day by annoying Jack

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

don't think about Michael Sullivan. don't do it.