Oliver & Company

Original theatrical release poster

***Oliver & Company*** is a 1988 American animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released on November 18, 1988, by Walt Disney Pictures. The 27th Disney animated feature film, the film is based on the classic 1838 Charles Dickens novel *Oliver Twist*, which has been adapted many other times for the screen. In the film, Oliver is a homeless kitten who joins a gang of dogs to survive in the streets. Among other changes, the setting of the film was relocated from 19th century London to modern-day New York City, Fagin's gang is made up of dogs (one of which is Dodger), and Sykes is a loan shark.

Following the release of *The Black Cauldron*, Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg held a pitch meeting with the animation staff, in which story artist Pete Young pitched the idea to adapt *Oliver Twist* with dogs. The pitch was quickly approved, and the film quickly went into production under the working title *Oliver and the Dodger*. Released on the same day as *The Land Before Time*, *Oliver & Company* was a box office success, but it received mixed reviews from film critics. The film was re-released in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on March 29, 1996. It was then released on home video later that same year, and again in 2002 and 2009 on DVD. The film was released on Blu-ray Disc in 2013, commemorating its 25th anniversary.

## Plot

On Fifth Avenue, an orphaned kitten named Oliver is left abandoned after his fellow orphaned kittens are adopted by passersby. Wandering the streets by himself in search of someone to adopt him, Oliver meets a laid-back mongrel named Dodger who assists the kitten in stealing food from a hot dog vendor. Dodger then flees the scene without sharing his bounty with Oliver. Oliver follows Dodger all throughout the streets until they eventually arrive at a barge, where Dodger shares his meal with a gang of fellow strays: Tito the chihuahua, Einstein the Great Dane, Rita the Saluki, and Francis the bulldog. Oliver sneaks inside and is discovered by the dogs. After a moment of confusion, he is received with a warm welcome. The barge's owner, a pickpocket named Fagin, is indebted to Sykes, a nefarious shipyard agent and loan shark accompanied by his Dobermans Roscoe and DeSoto. Sykes gives Fagin an ultimatum of repaying the money he had borrowed within three days under the threat of imminent violence.

Fagin and the gang, now including Oliver, hit the streets the next morning to carry out petty theft so that Fagin may pawn the stolen goods for money. Through a theatrical ruse, the dogs manage to stop a luxurious limousine owned by the wealthy Foxworth family. The attempt to pillage the limousine fails and Oliver finds himself in the embrace of the Foxworth daughter Jenny, who adopts Oliver to assuage the loneliness brought about by the absence of her vacationing parents. Oliver makes himself at home in Jenny's house, much to the disgust of Georgette, the Foxworth family's pompous and pampered purebred poodle. Dodger and the others manage to steal Oliver from the Foxworth household and return him to the barge. Fagin recognizes from Oliver's new collar that he had been adopted by a wealthy family and desperately decides to hold Oliver for ransom. His anonymously written ransom note reaches Jenny, who sets out to get Oliver back at the pier.

Jenny meets with Fagin, who is shocked that he had been dealing with a little girl. Bothered by his conscience after seeing Jenny distraught over losing Oliver, Fagin gives Oliver back freely. Sykes, whom Fagin had informed of the deal beforehand and was watching from the shadows, drives by and kidnaps Jenny, intending to ransom her and declaring Fagin's debt paid. Dodger rallies Oliver and the other dogs to rescue Jenny from Sykes, but the animals are confronted by Sykes and his Dobermans after they free her. Fagin saves the group with his scooter and a chase ensues throughout the streets and into the subway tunnels. Oliver and Dodger attempt a rescue and struggle with Roscoe and DeSoto, who fall off the car and are electrocuted on the third rail of the subway. Sykes is killed when his car drives straight into the path of an oncoming train. Later, Jenny celebrates her birthday with the animals, Fagin and the family butler Winston, who receives a phone call from Jenny's parents saying that they will be returning from Rome the next day. Oliver opts to stay with Jenny, but he promises to remain in contact with Dodger and the gang.

## Cast and characters

* Joey Lawrence as Oliver: an orange orphaned kitten who is looking for a home. He joins Fagin's gang of dogs before being taken in by Jenny.
* Billy Joel as Dodger, a carefree, charismatic mongrel with a mix of terrier in him. He claims to have considerable "street savoir-faire." He is the leader of Fagin's gang of dogs, and is Oliver's first acquaintance, as well as his eventual best friend and bodyguard.
* Cheech Marin as Tito, a tiny yet passionate Chihuahua in Fagin's gang. He has a fiery temper for his size, and rapidly develops a crush on Georgette (although she is initially repulsed by him). His full name is Ignacio Alonso Julio Federico de Tito.
* Richard Mulligan as Einstein, a gray Great Dane and a member of Fagin's gang. He is named ironically as he is not particularly bright, representing the stereotype that Great Danes are friendly but dim-witted.
* Roscoe Lee Browne as Francis, a bulldog with a British accent in Fagin's gang. He appreciates art and theatre, particularly Shakespeare. He also detests anyone abbreviating his name as "Frank" or "Frankie" (which Tito frequently does).
* Sheryl Lee Ralph (Ruth Pointer, singing) as Rita, a Saluki and the only female dog in Fagin's gang. She is street-wise and takes Oliver under her wing.
* Dom DeLuise as Fagin, a lowly thief who lives on a barge with his dogs. He desperately needs money to repay his debt with Sykes. Because of his economic situation, he is forced to perform criminal acts such as pick-pocketing and petty theft, but in truth he is well-meaning and genial most of the time.
* Taurean Blacque and Carl Weintraub as Roscoe and DeSoto, respectively: Sykes's vicious Doberman Pinschers who have a hostile history with Dodger and his friends. Roscoe is the apparent leader, while his brother DeSoto seems to be the more savage of the two.
* Robert Loggia as Sykes, a cold-hearted, immoral loan shark and shipyard agent who lent a considerable sum of money to Fagin and expects it paid back.
* Natalie Gregory (Myhanh Tran, singing) as Jennifer "Jenny" Foxworth, a kind-hearted, rich girl who adopts Oliver.
* William Glover as Winston, the Foxworth family's bumbling but loyal butler.
* Bette Midler as Georgette, the Foxworth family's prize-winning poodle. Vain and spoiled, she becomes jealous of Oliver but eventually accepts him and Fagin's gang.
* Frank Welker as Old Louie, an aggressive, bad-tempered hot dog vendor who appears early in the film when Oliver and Dodger steal his hot dogs. He is described by Dodger as "a well-known enemy of the four-legged world," meaning that he hates both cats and dogs.

## Production

*Oliver & Company* was the twenty-seventh animated film developed by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and the first one to begin production under the supervision of then-CEO Michael Eisner and studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg; the duo, who had previously worked at Paramount Pictures as chairman and head of production, respectively, joined the company in 1984. After the release of *The Black Cauldron* in 1985, Eisner and Katzenberg invited the animators to pitch potential ideas for upcoming animated features, infamously called the "Gong Show." After Ron Clements and John Musker had pitched *The Little Mermaid* and *Treasure Island in Space*, story artist Pete Young suggested, "*Oliver Twist* with dogs." Katzenberg, who had previously planned on producing a live-action adaptation of the musical *Oliver!* at Paramount, approved the pitch. Under the working title of *Oliver and the Dodger*, the film was originally much darker and grittier with the film opening with Sykes's two Dobermans murdering Oliver's parents, setting the story to focus on Oliver exacting his revenge as detailed in a draft dated on March 30, 1987.

George Scribner and Richard Rich were announced as the directors of the project, while Pete Young was appointed as story supervisor, though Rich was fired from Disney about six months into production, leaving Scribner as the sole director. In this adaptation, Scribner turned Oliver into a naïve kitten, Dodger and the gang into dogs, and Fagin into a human, and encouraged the film to be more street smart. Furthermore, Scribner borrowed a technique from *Lady and the Tramp* by blocking out the scenes on real streets, and then photographing them with cameras mounted eighteen inches off the ground. In this way, the animators would use the photos as templates to provide a real dog's-eye view of the action. As work continued on *Oliver*, Roy E. Disney came up with an idea that Fagin would attempt to steal a rare panda from the city zoo. However, the writers would have problems with the idea, and the panda sub-plot was eventually dropped when Scribner suggested to have Fagin hold Oliver for ransom because he was a valuable, rare Asian cat.

Eleven minutes of *Oliver & Company* used "computer-assisted imagery" such as the skyscrapers, the taxi cabs, trains, Fagin's scooter-cart, and the climactic subway chase. The traditional animation was handled by the next generation of Disney animators, including supervising animators Glen Keane, Ruben A. Aquino, Mike Gabriel, Hendel Butoy, and Mark Henn, as the "Nine Old Men" had retired in the early 1980s. Throughout two and a half years of production, six supervising animators and a team of over 300 artists and technicians worked on the film. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill was the database for the New York City skyline, which was recreated for the film.

### Casting

Because personalities are considered the greatest strength of Disney animated films, the filmmakers sought believable voices to match the movement of the animation. For this film, the filmmakers cast fellow New York natives including Bette Midler for Georgette, Sheryl Lee Ralph for Rita, and Roscoe Lee Browne for Francis. Comedian Cheech Marin was cast as the chihuahua Tito. Because energy proved to be the key to Tito's personality, Marin claimed "I was encouraged to ad-lib, but I'd say I just gave about 75% of the lines as they were written. The natural energy of a Chihuahua played right into that feeling. George [Scribner] was very encouraging as a director: He kept the energy level high at the recording sessions."

Pop singer Billy Joel was recommended for the voice of Dodger by Scribner because of his "New York street-smart, savoir-faire attitude," and auditioned for the role by telephone after being given dialogue. Additionally, Joel confirmed he did the role because it was a Disney movie, saying: "I had just had a little girl. It's a great way to do something that my little girl could see that she could relate to right away," referring to daughter Alexa, born in 1985.

## Music

Main article: Oliver & Company/Soundtrack

## Release

*Oliver & Company* premiered theatrically in North America on November 18, 1988―the same day on which Disney celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Mickey Mouse short, *Steamboat Willie*. It was also the first to be released as a part of a brand new schedule requested by Katzenberg, which called for a new animated Disney film to be released every single year, similar to Walt Disney's intentions for his animated features during the 1940s.

### Marketing

*Oliver & Company* was the first Disney animated film to include real world advertised products. More than 30 company logos and brand names were shown in the film, including Kodak, Dr. Scholls, Sony, Diet Coke, Tab, McDonald's, Yamaha, Ryder, and *USA Today*. However, the filmmakers commented on ABC's *The Magical World of Disney* that this was done for realism, was not paid product placement, and that it would not be New York City without advertising. Instead, Katzenberg urged the marketing campaign to focus on the classic Dickens novel and the pop score, and promotional tie-ins included Sears, which produced and manufactured products with themes inspired from the film, and McDonald's which sold Christmas musical ornaments based on Oliver and Dodger, and small finger puppets based on the characters in a Happy Meal. For its theatrical re-release in 1996, the film was accompanied with a promotional campaign by Burger King.

In the United Kingdom, *Oliver & Company* was not distributed by Buena Vista International, but by Warner Bros. Buena Vista International did, however, release the film on home video.

### Home media

Main article: Oliver & Company/Home media

Despite its financial success at the box office, *Oliver & Company* was not released on home video despite being one of the most requested Disney films. After its theatrical re-release, *Oliver & Company* was released on VHS and Widescreen LaserDisc in the United States on September 25, 1996, for a limited time, and in the United Kingdom in 1997. It was later released on DVD on May 14, 2002. A 20th Anniversary Edition DVD was released on February 3, 2009, and a 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray was released on August 6, 2013. The film is available for streaming on the Disney+ streaming service since it launched on November 12, 2019.

## Reception

### Box office

Opening on the same weekend as Don Bluth's *The Land Before Time*, which debuted at number one in the United States and Canada grossing $7.5 million, *Oliver & Company* opened at fourth, grossing $4 million. Nevertheless, *Oliver & Company* out-grossed *The Land Before Time* with a total gross in the United States and Canada of $53 million compared to the latter's $46 million, making it the animated film with the highest gross from its initial run. It was also the first animated film to gross $100 million worldwide in its initial release. Its success prompted Disney's Senior Vice President of Animation, Peter Schneider, to announce the company's plans to release animated features annually.

On March 29, 1996, Disney re-released the film in direct competition with *All Dogs Go to Heaven 2*, grossing $4.5 million in its opening weekend and $21 million in total taking its lifetime domestic gross to $74 million and its worldwide total to over $121 million.

### Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 50% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 50 reviews with an average rating of 5.26/10. Its consensus states, "Predictable and stodgy, *Oliver & Company* isn't one of Disney's best, though its colorful cast of characters may be enough to entertain young viewers looking for a little adventure."

On the television program *Siskel & Ebert*, Gene Siskel gave the film a thumbs down. Siskel stated, "When you measure this film to the company's legacy of classics, it doesn't match up" as he complained "the story is too fragmented…because Oliver’s story gets too sidetracked from the story in the film that gets convoluted, too calculated for the Bette Midler, Billy Joel crowd as well as little kids." Roger Ebert gave the film a "marginal thumbs up" as he described the film as "harmless, inoffensive." Animation historian Charles Solomon wrote a favorable reviewing concluding that the film "offers virtually ideal family holiday fare. The cartoon action will delight young children, while older ones, who usually reject animation as 'kid stuff,' will enjoy the rock songs and hip characters, especially the brash Tito."

Writing for *People*, Peter Travers opined in his review, "Too slight to rank with such Disney groundbreakers as *Pinocchio* and *Fantasia*, the film is more on the good-fun level of *The Lady and the Tramp* and *101 Dalmatians*. But why kick? With its captivating characters, sprightly songs and zap-happy animation, *Oliver & Company* adds up to a tip-top frolic." Desson Howe of *The Washington Post* noted that the film "retrieves some of the old Disney charm with tail-wagging energy and five catchy songs." Likewise, fellow *Washington Post* film critic Rita Kempley praised the songs and animation, and called it a "happy adaptation of the Victorian classic." Writing for Common Sense Media, Nell Minow gave the film 3 stars out of 5, concluding that the film "can't compete with Disney classics, but [is] still fun."

Barry Walters, reviewing for *The San Francisco Examiner*, panned the film as "a rather shabby transitional work, one that lacks the sophistication of today's 'toons and doesn't hold up to the Disney classics of yesteryear." *Halliwell's Film Guide* called *Oliver & Company* an "episodic film, short on charm, that only now and then provides glimpses of stylish animation." *The Ren & Stimpy Show* creator John Kricfalusi suggested that the film was derivative of Ralph Bakshi's works, and jokingly suggested its use as a form of punishment. Likewise, even some of the Disney animators viewed the film unfavorably considering it "another talking dog-and-cat movie."

### Accolades

 Young Artist Award
 Golden Reel Awards