Newsies is a 1992 Disney musical drama film starring Christian Bale, David Moscow, and Bill Pullman. Robert Duvall and Ann-Margret also appeared in supporting roles. The movie is widely claimed to have gained a cult following after its initial failure at the box office. The film marked the directorial debut of choreographer Kenny Ortega (Dirty Dancing and High School Musical) and featured the music of composers Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Enchanted, Tangled) and J.A.C. Redford (Oliver & Company and A Kid in King Arthur's Court). Although the film was not originally intended to be a musical, it contains twelve songs and multiple dance sequences (for which the young cast trained for approximately ten weeks). Musical highlights include "Carrying the Banner," "Santa Fe," "Seize the Day," "The World Will Know," and "King of New York." Newsies is loosely based on the true story of Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York City. Thousands of homeless and orphaned children that were selling newspapers to make money to buy food are living in newsboys' lodging houses, including 17-year old Manhattan newsboy Jack "Cowboy" Kelly (Christian