Oliver & Company

This movie has an unmistakable 1980s vibe that gives it a certain charm. Viewers familiar with "Oliver Twist" will find it interesting how Dickens's story is adapted around dogs and their owners in modern-day New York City.

Billy Joel impresses as the voice of Dodger, a mutt with New York attitude. He's joined in the cast by Cheech Marin, Bette Midler, and Dom DeLuise (as a derelict Fagin).

The best character, in my mind, is the city itself. This is definitely a New York City movie, tapping into the city's personality and capturing many of the landmarks in the animation.

The movie has a visual aesthetic that is not quite like the style of other Disney films, which is kind of cool. There's some great character animation, such as with the imposing villain Sykes (Robert Loggia). CGI framework is used effectively throughout the film to animate cars and things.

OLIVER & COMPANY is definitely a product of its time: the late 1980s. The movie is dated by the clothing worn by the humans, the models of the cars, the music (smooth and synthesizery, with the main title song sung by Huey Lewis), the gritty urban look, and even the character designs (see the hot dog vendor or the hairspray-loving canine Rita).

In a superficial way, OLIVER & COMPANY reminds me of THE RESCUERS. Both have a unique aesthetic "feel" that strays from the classic Disney style and seems to capture the sensibilities of the times. OLIVER is as quintessentially 1988 as THE RESCUERS is 1977. (Both films also portray contemporary New York City, involve animals helping a cute little girl, and explore some dark and emotional territory.) OLIVER & COMPANY is dated, but gloriously so.

The next animated film released by Disney would be THE LITTLE MERMAID (1989), which launched the company's 1990s renaissance of timeless masterpieces, shaped by Alan Menken's Broadway-influenced musical direction. It's interesting to see the quaint, contemporary style of OLIVER, knowing that Disney would soon go off in a different direction.

With no nostalgic ties to this film, I can say that it's a decent flick, although it wouldn't crack even my top 20 Disney movies. Love the NYC stuff. Joel's "Why Should I Worry?" is a musical highlight. The story has a surprising emotional impact and the climax is both dark and exciting.

This film has a very modern "New York City" style that sets it apart from Disney's other works. The premise of the film, Oliver Twist with dogs, is great and it is executed well with a lot of good characters and jokes.

Truth be told, Oliver & Company isn't one of Walt Disney Studio's most compelling titles, but it's still plenty of fun. It has a wonderful soundtrack featuring great talents such as Billy Joel, Bette Midler, Huey Lewis, and Ruth Pointer. All of the musical numbers in the film are well-staged, nicely animated, and have fun tunes to carry them along. "Why Should I Worry?", Billy Joel's song and the film's show-stopper of sorts, is the most popular. While I like that song a lot, my personal favorites are "Once Upon a Time in New York City", the opening song sung by Huey Lewis, and "Perfect Isn't Easy", Bette Milder's song to go along with the character she voices: Georgette, a spoiled poodle.

The story itself isn't quite as strong as it could've been (which is why I award the movie an eight as opposed to a nine or a ten), but it still offers a lot of sweet, charming, heart-filled, and suspenseful moments. The characters also aren't *all* the way there, but they're still good as they are, and their voice actors do their jobs well. Each character has traits that make them appealing, even if they aren't the strongest characters in the Disney canon.

I'll end by saying that Oliver & Company is a very enjoyable Disney feature. Children will certainly be entertained by it, especially if they love cats, dogs, and fun musical numbers. Adults can enjoy it too if they appreciate the worlds of animation and Disney enough. Because of the film's level of fun and charm, I give it an eight. If the story and characters had been even better, I would've given it a nine or a ten.

I know it sounds weird because this movie was made when I was a child, you'd think I would've seen it at an earlier age. But I never did and my friend had the movie, I was curious and wondering why I never had the chance to see it. But I'm glad that I just got to see this movie, it was so much fun and I just missed the old time animation. It had great music by the awesome Billy Joel and the animals were just so adorable.

Basically, Oliver is an orphan kitten the big city of New York and meets a smooth street smart dog, Dodger. When Oliver follows Dodger to his layer of other dogs who are led by a homeless man, Fagin, they decide to keep Oliver. But when Oliver is learning the street smarts, a little girl sees him and takes him home where he gets a nice loving place to stay, not to mention extremely wealthy. But the guys want him back and kidnap him to pay back the mean Mr. Sykes.

I thought this was a great introduction of Charles Dicken's immortal classic for the kids. Not to mention that it was clever and witty, the music is memorable and there are some very funny moments that both kids and adults could get a kick out of. Believe me, this movie is good fun, but I'm still trying to find out why I didn't see it sooner.

8/10

"Oliver and Company" is a wonderful and fun adventure! Despite a by-the-numbers plot, the film does its best to provide the fun and adventure that it can. Adding to the fun and adventure is the animation and, especially, the really charming animals. Come on, who does not want an Oliver toy!