A couple of things have led me to this post.
First: my inability to load a video to blogger, which led to youtube, which led to youtube searches.
and
Second: a four hour nap at 7 pm tonight (woops, it's two am now and I might be up for a while); that being said my best work is done in the wee hours of the morn when the candle burns from both ends (whatever that means).
What can i say? Sometimes the stars align and a post is born.
So I was on youtube and decided to search for the film Newsies--it's been on my mind as of late and since itunes doesn't have the soundtrack a girl has to make do however she can.
My friends. Let's be serious for a moment. Have you seen this film?
option a: no
my response to option a: no?! (shock and indignation). Amend this immediately. Our very friendship hinges on this.
option b: Of course, any mid-eighties to early-nineties child worth their salt has.
my response to option b: Ahh, good man/woman. So right. And the code to contra, they all know the code to contra (though the time period might lean a bit earlier on that end--eighties, not so much nineties)
Are you still reading this? Are you as confused as I am? Bear with me--it is two in the morning.
Okay, so seriously if you haven't seen the movie, I've included a brief clip below to wet the palate.
And if you have seen it, then this is just to tickle your fancy.
1. Okay sooo...I don't know anything about dancing. but I'm pretty sure this dancing is sick--sick in new millennium vernacular meaning, off the chain.
2. Christian Bale was an insanely good looking teen.
3. And now, this is where the post turns serious: why doesn't Disney make films like this anymore? This movie was about the newsboys strike of 1899 in New York City (source: good-ole Wikipedia), meaning...this movie was actually about something--something important and meaningful and exciting.
Hanna Montana, Lizzie Maguire, High School Musical. Are you kidding me?! Disney, what happened? When did you become so...so...vapid. Okay, so no, Newsies wasn't a rousing commercial success (but helloooo...you shouldn't have released it on the same day as Fern Gully {I could have told you that}). Disney, this isn't just about Newsies--this is about a time when you stood for something--when the stories meant something--when it wasn't all direct to dvd junk--or about the promotion of one child star at the expense of all else. I long for Cinderella and Mulan (did you see Mulan? oh, another truly exceptional animated film--one of the last greats. Or what about An American Tail with the much beloved Feivel. Okay so yes, Pixar is still making the greats, Finding Nemo (a personal favorite). But Pixar left you Disney--think about it. Remember the glory days when Walt (bless his soul) would fire animators for almost imperceptible errors in continuity? The man had standards. Bring those standards back.
All I'm saying is when my kids grow up on Disney films, as they will, they will be the films of yester year. So in ten years or so I'm gonna need you to unlock that magical vault in a really big way. Because Wizards of Waverly Place: the movie, part 345 just ain't gonna cut it.
Postscript: ironically enough the choreographer and director of Newsies is the man in charge of the High School Musical movies. Obviously, the man has chops. And listen High School Musical has a time and a place, but it is what it is, you know?
Post-postscript: another great movie from back in the day that's worth another visit, The Sandlot. Quite, quite funny. And yes it made by Fox.
pppppps: Is this not the sweetest thing you've ever seen?