The Movie Diorama Most certainly one of the lesser known entries in Disney's canon and unfortunately one of the most forgettable. A modernisation of Dickens' Oliver Twist, a homeless kitten joins a gang of dogs learning to survive on the rough urban streets of the Big Apple. Doesn't sound like Oliver Twist right? Well, Oliver is a ginger kitten, Fagin looks after the dogs, Dodger is the cool canine and Sykes is a loan shark wanting money back from Fagin. The backbone of the source material is embedded within this animation, which is most of its appeal. It's interesting to see how Disney altered the classic novel to develop a more cutesy interpretation. I do believe it worked. The characters were twisted and processed in order to adapt to the gritty environment surrounding them. New York City has never looked so intimidating, the hand drawn animation style enhances that aesthetic appeal which ultimately makes the city its own character. The first ten minutes illustrates this well as we witness Oliver precariously wandering the overcrowded streets. No dialogue, just the hustle and bustle of daily lives. It pulls you in. The story is well paced, moves extremely briskly and does contain some memorable characters. The voice acting, particularly Billy Joel, were believable and matched the movement of the animation. High energy levels and street-smart dialects. So why is it forgettable? 73 minute runtime. Far too short to create a compelling story involving musical numbers. It's so brisk that it never lets you breathe and take in the story. The occasional emotional scenes just can't deliver the impact it's desiring because we have yet to connect we these characters. Oliver is supposedly the main character, yet I'm fairly certain Georgette has the most screen time (including her own song). 'Georgette and Company' would've been more fitting. Overall, it's a perfectly watchable animation that makes full usage of its environment, but one that can't quite achieve the magic of Disney's precious work.

elicopperman After Don Bluth beat Disney financially with An American Tail, the Disney company put more time and effort into their work to compete with Bluth. Alongside the highly ambitious and legendary masterpiece Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the company released a loose adaptation of Oliver Twist in 1988 called Oliver & Company, which ended up being beaten out by The Land Before Time both critically and financially. The following year, the Disney company would actually beat Bluth with The Little Mermaid (and begin the Disney Renaissance), but that's a story for another day. As for what I think of this film...well, it's not by any means bad, but I think I would have liked this more had I grown up with it, because as a whole, this film is just ok albeit kinda forgettable.The aspect about this film I admired the most was the heart, as it is about a cat named Oliver who sticks by a gang of homeless dogs and their master before getting adopted by a rich girl named Jenny Foxworth, who is soon taken away by a lone shark. While the similarities between Charles Dickens' work are rather obvious, the friendship that Oliver obtains with the dog Dodger is genuine enough and it does give the film a heartwarming mood. Admittedly, the characters themselves aren't really that memorable, and the most that sticks out from them are their voice actors or their one personality trait. Oliver is a lonely kitten who wants a family, Dodger is the streetwise mutt, Fagin is the dopey owner who tries to pay ransom because he got into a bad situation with the lone shark Sykes, and the other dogs...honestly I barely remember much about them. The only secondary characters I remember enough and find amusing are Tito and Georgette due to their quirky and aggressive nature and splendid vocal performances by Cheech Marin and Bette Midler. Oh yeah, and Jenny....uh....well, she's likable enough.Another thing that's rather shocking about this film is how aggressive it can be. The film was actually supposed to be even darker and grittier than what we got, but if you ask me, this one of the more gruesome and dark Disney films out there. Without giving too much away, let's just say that whenever the antagonist Sykes and his dobermans are onscreen, it ain't a pretty sight. Then again, this is the same company that gave us the death of Bambi's mom, Lampwick turning into a donkey, and the death of Mufasa, so why am I surprised?To the film's credit, some of the musical numbers are fantastic. Once Upon a Time in New York City (co-written by the legend himself Howard Ashman) is so beautiful and heartbreaking that it even made me cry, Perfect Isn't Easy is delightfully entertaining, and Why Should I Worry is one of the catchiest and downright dynamite musical numbers you'll ever hear in a Disney movie, aided by the wonderful Billy Joel. That being said, they are pretty dated given how much they sound like products of the 1980s, and the other musical numbers like Streets of Gold and Good Company left much to be desired.Lastly, the animation is pretty good, and the animators definitely had fun crafting lovable characters and smooth movements. Also, roughly 10 minutes worth of Cgi was incorporated into the film, and most of the time it's barely noticeable it blends so well. However, I think New York City was better depicted in Madagascar and The Secret Life of Pets, and the constant advertisements don't help much. Not to mention, at times the actual animation looks kinda stilted and cheap, making the film look like if a movie made by Filmation had they been given a higher budget. I know the film's director worked at Hanna Barbara before, but that's no excuse when your film costs $31 million dollars to make....at the House of Mouse no less.To sum it all up, while there are some very enjoyable moments in Oliver & Company, it didn't offer enough for me to call it memorable. While it has its heart in the right place, the animation is decent enough, some characters are amusing in their own right, and half the songs are splendid, the predictable story, bland majority of the cast and dated material keep this film from rising above being decent if nothing special. I can understand why people would be nostalgic for this movie, and if you happen to love this movie with all your heart, that's great. Besides, even if this movie wasn't for me, I'll always cherish Dodger's street savoir faire.

stenholmgabriel Disney has always been good at providing well-made family entertainment high quality. Oliver & Company is no exception. A fun fast paced adventure which boasts a good voice cast Oliver & Company is the kind of great family entertainment we come to expect from the mouse-house. A modern day retelling of Oliver Twist with an all canine cast this is a fun and exciting movie. Being Disney it works for all ages. The animation is good , the songs are good and the characters are lovable and fun. I highly recommend that any parent show this film to their children. No one does it like Disney ! you will not regret it. It's a movie that the whole family will enjoy. Because when it comes to Disney (especially before 2000)you you can guarantee that a lot of care and skill went into the film. Like the man who started the company Disney always gives (With the exception of those dreadful Disney Channel Original Movies and series and Disney XD original series)a hundred percent !

Jackson Booth-Millard I had seen the video trailer for this Disney cartoon movie many times, and as time went by I had found out more bits and pieces about it, such as the voice cast and premise, but it is odd I never watched it as a child, I wasn't going to miss my opportunity when it came. Basically it is the famous Charles Dickens story of Oliver Twist, with a twist, cats and dogs, and only a few humans, play the central roles, the plot is a little altered but pretty much the same, and it is set in modern day 1980's New York City. Little orphaned kitten Oliver (Joseph 'Joey' Lawrence) is the only one of a litter not to be taken by passers by, and winds up alone in the Big Apple, but after being tricked to assisting a laid back streetwise Jack Russell Terrier dog named Dodger (Billy Joel) steal a string of sausages from a hot dog stand Oliver is taken in by the dog's gang. The Dodger is part of a small gang of dog pickpockets, and their leader is human pickpocket Fagin (Dom DeLuise), the other dogs friends are Tito the Chihuahua (Richard 'Cheech' Marin), Einstein the Great Dane (Richard Mulligan), Rita the Saluki (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and Francis the Bulldog (Roscoe Lee Browne). The kitten joins the gang, they are selling shoddy good and stealing money and valuable stuff so that Fagin can pay back ruthless shipyard agent and loan shark Sykes (Robert Loggia), during one particular trip however Oliver gets caught in a limousine by it's passenger, little girl Jenny Foxworth (Natalie Gregory), and butler Winston (William Glover). Jenny's rich parents are away travelling the world, so she is allowed to adopt the lonely kitten, but his presence enrages and caused jealousy from family pompous and pampered poodle Georgette (Bette Midler), until Dodger and the gang eventually find them, and take him from the house. Oliver explains he was happy to be treated kindly and have a real home, Dodger feels disheartened and lets him leave, but Fagin hears the kitten has been taken in by someone rich, he comes up with the idea to ransom him so that his owner will pay a large amount for his return, he tells this plan to Sykes as well. Jenny finds the ransom note and follows the instructions, taking Georgette with her, Fagin realises the owner is an innocent little girl and his conscience takes over, but as he gives her kitten back freely Sykes comes out of the shadows and kidnaps the girl to ransom her, Dodger and the gang chase after the villain, until Sykes is defeated by a train collision on the Brooklyn Bridge. In the end Oliver is reunited happily with Jenny, she celebrates her birthday with the animals, Fagin and Winston, the butler tells the girl the news that her parents are returning home from Rome the following day, Oliver chooses to stay in his new home, but promises to stay in touch with Dodger and the rest of the gang. Also starring Taurean Blacque as Roscoe and Carl Weintraub as Desoto. Joel is cool as the singing dog who knows all the tricks of the trade, Midler is great singing and being the spoilt but hard to resist bitch, but for me the best wisecracks and best inimitable performance was from Cheech, his brash tones and urban dialogue made his character the most fun. As for the film itself, the story is told as well as you would expect for a revamping of a classic, and most of the songs are catchy and snappy enough, I agree compared to other Disney films it doesn't have quite the same charm, but if your looking for a cartoon romp for all the family this is a very likable animated musical comedy drama. It was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Original Song for "Why Should I Worry?". Good!