Carryin’ the Banner: Critical Essays on the Newsies Film and Broadway Adaptation
Newsies, both as a film in 1992 and a Broadway show in 2012, has been a sleeper hit for all of its existence. Disney wrote the film off as a failure when it took roughly $15 million to make and only grossed $2.8 million – and yet, the film found a wide, willing, and devoted audience through VHS rentals and Disney Channel showings. The Newsies Broadway show was originally intended to be a licensed adaptation for high schools and colleges - and yet, the built-in audience was so eager for a Broadway adaptation that Disney Theatrical Productions decided to make the gamble.