Newsies and More!

Jeffrey Katzenberg pressuring Bob and Noni into making Sarah the love interest just for the sake of having one (rip Charlie, disney said no newsgirls)

Sarah's song What Will Become of the Boy? getting cut early in production because "it wasn't relevant to the story" (biggest lie ever told)

Sarah's stage song The Truth About The Moon getting cut along with her character and Harvey Fierstein generally disrespecting her in interviews.

Harvey Fierstein changing the Jacobses name to "Baum" making them less explicitly Jewish and somehow nobody went back to the film and went "hey actually they do have a surname" (assuming they thought they didn't have one)

Adding to the previous point, it has been said that their surname was changed to avoid confusion with the stage character Mr. Jacobi. You know. An entirely new character. But no, change the established family's name instead.

(On a similar note, I'd bet Racetrack's cigar on David being referred to as "Davey" 99.9% of the time so that people wouldn't confuse him with the David and Goliath references...)

Esther Jacobs being turned into "Ms. Baum" and then being cut anyways.

Mayer Jacobs being cut and his injury changing from his arm to his leg??? This one really gets me guys because in the grand scheme of things the specifics of Mayer's injury doesn't really matter so why change it???? It's such an odd detail to get wrong and if anything Mayer's leg being injured seems like a weird choice when one of your characters literally has a bad leg and is still able to work. (Mayer could have taken up piecework with Esther and Sarah while he healed if he still had use of both of his hands!)

David and Les surviving the Jacobs purge but at what cost?

Who stole Les's sword and who do I need to beat up for giving him a broken arm on Broadway?

David's role and importance in the newsical significantly diminished when he was originally the deuteragonist. His character arc was slowly and painfully cut down with a blunt axe.

No solo for David in the newsical when literally every other primary character including Pulitzer has one.

Sarah and David regularly being reduced to their relationships with Jack.

Sarah being the subject of so much undue hate dished out over decades and the lie that she was added to the film "last minute" because it was "too gay" continuing to be told when it is one of the easiest things in the world to debunk!! Sarah was created by Bob and Noni in draft one alongside the rest of her family and I'm tired of her very existence being disrespected in the name of Javid (both Jack and David would hate it btw)

Sarah being treated as an extension of David or as a plot device rather than as a real person.

David being regularly turned into a caricature of two or three traits that he may or may not even canonically display.

People pitting David and Crutchy against each other for the title of Jack's best friend??? You can have more than one best friend???

People still treating the Jacobses Jewishness as a headcanon or plain not knowing they're Jewish at all when it should be a very basic fact after 34 years.

"She doesn't have a personality" Oh sureee but that one background character that you gave a whole backstory to, when they really only have 2 seconds of screen time, has a fully developed personality right? Im convinced we didn't watch the same movie like :/ Absolutely no hate to people who love their background characters but you cannot love them and then say this stupid stuff about Sarah. You just can't.

"She gets in the way of Javid." This one really pisses me off especially because it's so common for people to say. It baffles me because is Sarah just a love interest? Does she not have a whole personality to you? Or are you just gonna skip over that so you can ship Jack and David? Do not get me wrong I adore Javid, the ship itself is very wonderful but I hate the Javid shippers who hate on Jarah. Just shut up.

After the rally turns into a raid, after the newsies are arrested, after Denton takes a step away, after Jack looses hope, and after David looses trust, there's Sarah.

Sarah discovers Denton's discarded, grease stained article not because it's convenient but because she is the right person to find it. Sarah alone among our primary cast of characters remains heartened despite the discouraging turn that the strike has taken.

When she does find the article wrapped around Les's unfinshed lunch, she immediately knows or assumes that it's Les who put it there. She cracks a smile before composing herself and adopting a more authoritative, big-sister voice when she asks him what it is. Les's innocent explanation earns another smile and it's clear that Sarah is endeared by his squirrel-like habits even if she had intended to discipline him.

Sarah's expression changes again when she realizes what it is she's really holding in her hands, doing a double take as she recognizes Denton's article.

Sarah rushes to David where he's busy brooding at the window and tries to make him listen to the words that reinforce the harsh reality of the strike that Sarah has recently discovered herself. But it isn't enough. (Not yet.)

When David storms out, Les turns to Sarah for reassurance.

Perhaps David's rotten mood is the reason why Les tags along with Sarah the next morning rather than with David.

Sarah kindly greets some of the women on the street as she walks with her basket of finished piecework. Historically, tenement workers sold homemade lace to department stores for use in mail-order or ready-made clothing and textiles. Thus it can be confidently assumed that Sarah's chore that morning was to sell her and Esther's work at a department store.

Sarah likely does so often, and likely goes out on errands often, based on her familiarity with the women. If her first interaction with Jack is anything to go by, Sarah doesn't shy away from making new acquaintances! There may be dozens of people who live along Sarah's usual routes that enjoy talking to her or just exchanging a friendly word when she passes by.

When Sarah finds herself confronted by the Delancey brothers, her first reaction is that of annoyance. She may not recognize them, and unfortunately the experiences of women haven't changed much in 127 years. It's whenever she realizes that they recognize her that she understands they are deliberately singling her out.

I'd like to just take a moment to appreciate her looks of utter distain:

Sarah immediately begins to fight back, but it's only after one of her attackers turns his attention to Les that she begins to shout. Her priority is no longer protecting herself, but also protecting Les. When Les is tossed into a pile of milk churns, that's whenever Sarah shoves whichever Delancey off of her and decks him in the face.

When David arrives on the scene, Sarah tells him to run, once again prioritizing her younger brothers' safety. After all, she knows that the Delanceys are really after David because they told her as much. When David naturally doesn't heed Sarah's warning, Sarah grabs Les and continues shouting, at this point hoping to draw the attention of someone passing by. In which she succeeds.

Help arrives in the form of Jack Kelly. And, after the Delanceys have been dealt with, the first thing Sarah does is hug him. She's understandably shaken, and the hug is on the surface in thanks for his help. But if you consider that the last time that she saw him was before he turned scab, it's a hug that's equally of forgiveness.

The Delanceys taunt Jack that "he'll be back in the refuge by suppertime" and Sarah stops Jack short of chasing after them as they flee with their tails between their legs. In Sarah's eyes, Jack would have taken their bait by impulsively rushing after them. She protects him too by forcing him to take a breath and assess the situation.

Sarah couldn't very well risk anything more happening to Jack. Not when she has an article to show him and a visit to make...

___

@make-friends-with-the-rats

Now, if you’re askin’ “who’s Bob the Second?,” you’re in for a treat.  I got a whole piratical library for ya:

PART THE FIRST – in which the I, the dashin’ Captain One-Eyed Ballatt, an’ my noble crew battle the Dread Pirate Crutchy.  You’ll also find out what happened to Original Bob.

ILLUSTRATION – a battle scene by famed nautical artist @coffee-rack.

PART THE SECOND – in which I meet my pet shark, Sharky Ned.

PART THE THIRD – a cautionary tale for about mermaids.  (Davey Not-Jones, the Sailin’ Mouth, likes a story with a moral.)

But our rat-befriendin’ pal didn’t send a carrier-parrot note askin’ me to rehash old stories.  No, they called for new adventures—new horizons that ain’t ever been sailed before.  And I ain’t the type to deny a tale.

Now, this weren’t too long after Part the Second, ’cause our cook Racebeard’s stove was still lyin’ deep in Davy Jones’ locker.  (Sharky Ned had tried to fetch it, but there’s even limits to what a shark can dive.)  I was first mate under Red Jack Kelly at the time, and the Villainous Snyder was still chasin’ him all over the world.  The Nell was a good ship an’ true, but she was stolen, and the Villainous Snyder’d stop at nothin’ to get her back—an’ to make matters worse, King Pulitzer was fundin’ Snyder’s expeditions.

Us?  Our only fundin’ was what we made through our talents, like sharpshootin’, cannon-shootin’, sword-wieldin’, ship-boardin’, an’ vaudeville.  And with Snyder close behind, it weren’t wise to carry lots o’ treasure to weigh us down.  Problem was, we’d just buried our latest haul ahead o’ the storm that nearly killed me, an’ we didn’t have enough to buy a new stove at the next port.  So all we could eat was raw potatoes, which ain’t very tasty, an’ raw bilgerat, ’cause nobody’d told us to make friends with ’em, as we sailed off to try to find more treasure, or maybe the mythical island o’ Santa Fe.

We were four days past the storm when we spotted land, an’ were we ever happy to see a restaurant!  But the problem was, we couldn’t speak the same language as the waiters, an’ that made sayin’ “have you ever heard of Santa Fe, do you have stoves to buy on credit, and have you seen the Villainous Snyder” real difficult.  So, fed but disappointed, we kept sailin’.

We were eight days past the storm when Cutthroat Boots, our lookout, yelled “Avast!  I see glintin’ ahead!”

I climbed up in the crows’ nest with him, an’ sure enough, a bright FLASH! FLASH! was comin’ over the waves!  “Red Jack!” I hollered, “There may be a treasure there, arr!”

Can you guess what we found?  Gold bricks?  Piled rubies?  A trove o’ dime novels?  No, it was some guy on the beach, turnin’ his head to an’ fro so the sun gleamed on his hair like a signal beam.

“Who’re you?” Red Jack demanded.

“Bumlets the Fierce,” the guy said.  It turned out he’d been washin’ his hair in the ocean when a big wave pulled him in, an’ since then, he’d been tryin’ to get back home.  An’ best of all, he said he could speak the same language as at the restaurant!  He said he weren’t sure about stoves, but at least he could ask ’em ’bout Santa Fe.

So we started sailin’ back, when all o’ a sudden, somethin’ dark cut across the sky!  Was it a bird?  Was it a flyin’ fish?  No, it was the biggest kite you ever saw, with two fellas hangin’ onto it!

Crash!  Smash!  They hit the deck, an’ wood an’ canvas splintered all over.  (Red Jack would want you to know that it came from the kite, not the Nell.  He says Nell’s indestructible.)

“Goedemorgen,” said the yellow-haired one o’ the fellas.

“Guten morgen,” said the dark-haired fella.

(Actually, they said some other words too, which weren’t fit to print in a schoolbook.  Gussie, if you’re readin’ this, your granma can thank me.)

Red Jack said “WHAT!”

So then the yellow-haired fella said, “Greetings, sailors!  My esteemed colleague and I apologize for the unfortunate collision upon your vessel; however, you have contributed to furthering the course of science!”

“Yeah, okay,” said Red Jack, who goes more for history.  Physics ain’t always in his favor, ya know.  “Who’re you?”

“Dutchy,” said the yellow-haired fella.

“Dutchy what?  The Mad Scientist?”

“No,” Dutchy said with a grin, “just Dutchy.”

“Pardon me,” said the dark-haired fella, Dutchy’s esteemed colleague, “has anyone encountered my spectacles?”

We all looked around in the wreckage.  “Here!” Bumlets the Fierce said, an’ handed ’em over.

As soon as he did, we all gasped—which is piratical behavior, if you’re a pirate while doin’ it.  “SPECS THE FOUR-EYED RUM-SWILLER?!?” we yelled.

“Who?” said Bumlets the Fierce.

“Red Jack?!” Specs the Four-Eyed Rum Swiller hollered, now that he could see us clear.  “One-Eyed Ballat?!  Cutthroat Boots?!  Racebeard?!”

“I thought you were goin’ to architecture school,” I said.  Specs helped build the Brooklyn Bridge, after all—but that’s a story for another time.

“Nah,” Specs said, “it wasn’t fun once you guys sailed away—at least, until I met my esteemed colleague.”

“Quite,” Dutchy said.

Red Jack kicked at the kite scraps.  “So now you’re buildin’ flyin’ machines?” “Crashing machines, thus far,” said Dutchy, “but we remain optimistic!”

“Quite,” Specs agreed.

“How about stove machines?” Racebeard asked.

Well, it turns out canvas an’ wood can’t turn into a stove—not for lack o’ tryin’—but we got back to the restaurant, an’ Bumlets the Fierce negotiated a payment plan for the finest o’ ships’ stoves, guaranteed not to push any crew members overboard an’ into the arms o’ a shark, prob’ly.  And at the next island, they didn’t speak Bumlets the Fierce’s language, but they spoke Dutchy’s!  And they told Red Jack Santa Fe was Thataway.

So, off we sailed—Cutthroat Boots in the crows’ nest, Red Jack at the wheel, Dutchy an’ Specs the Four-Eyed Rum Swiller cruisin’ above the waves, Sharky Ned swimmin’ behind to bring ’em back once they fell.  Flash! flash! went Bumlets the Fierce’s hair, givin’ ’em a beacon to follow.

I'm of course a little biased towards the inclusion of my best guy Bumlets but you also mentioned one of my favorite headcanons/ideas that I don't think I've talked about much and that's inventors/mechanical geniuses Specs and Dutchy!!

everytime i draw bumlets, i always gotta staple my hands on a table not to draw him beautifully