Fagin

### Personality

Kind, caring, cowardly, friendly, gentle, nice, generous, good-hearted, clumsy, and shrewd

### Description

Skinny half bald man with orange-red hair and a pink nose wearing a green raincoat, red undershirt, red hat, brown gloves with fingers cut in half, blue pants, and sneakers

### Occupation

Pickpocket thief
Dodger and the gang's owner

### Goal

To save himself and his dogs from Sykes; later, to rescue Jenny from Sykes

### Pets

Dodger (dog)
Tito (dog)
Einstein (dog)
Rita (dog)
Francis (dog)
Oliver (cat) (formerly)

### Friends

Oliver, Dodger, Tito, Einstein, Rita, Francis, Jenny, Winston, and Georgette

### Quote

"So, big smiles, get out there...and fetch!"

**Fagin** is a character in Disney's *Oliver & Company*. He is a pickpocket and the owner of Dodger, Tito, Einstein, Rita, Francis, and Oliver (formerly). He was voiced by the late Dom DeLuise.

## Description

Fagin is a skinny half bald man with orange-red hair and a pink nose wearing a green raincoat, red undershirt, red hat, brown gloves with fingers cut in half, blue pants, and sneakers.

Despite being a thief, Fagin is actually a good man driven to drastic measures to repay a debt to his evil boss, Bill Sykes. Incidentally, he appreciates the love and attention of his dogs and sometimes sees them as his own children. At one point, he proves to be somewhat illiterate as shown when misspelling a few words on a map he drew for a ransom rendez-vous point with Oliver's owner, Jenny Foxworth, who remains unknown to him yet.

At the end, he proves to be brave and not without a sense of honor and morality, playing a strong part in saving Jenny from Sykes.

He is shown to be kind, caring, cowardly, friendly, gentle, nice, generous, good-hearted, shrewd, and clumsy.

## Appearances

### *Oliver & Company*

At some point in his life, Fagin has borrowed an unknown large amount of money from a loan shark named Bill Sykes for an unknown reason and now, after an unknown period of time, is forced to pay it back.

One night, on the day of the deadline, Fagin returns to his barge with a box of dog biscuits, which he presumably either bought or stole earlier in the day for his dogs: Dodger, Tito, Francis, Einstein, and Rita. After telling his dogs to stop the play-fight, Fagin tries to remind them that Sykes will be here any minute for the money he owes him, which he unfortunately doesn't have since he somehow spent all of it on something, therefore, leaving him completely broke and unable to pay Sykes back, only to receive a warm welcome from his dogs instead to make him forget about his worries as they proceed to lick him affectionately after noticing the box despite his protests. However, their happiness is short-lived when they hear a honking noise outside, knowing this means that Sykes has arrived, so, he asks his dogs to bring him the "loot" box. Unfortunately, Fagin is disappointed by the junk his dogs brought for him as "loot" to pay back Sykes and before he can examine Oliver whom he discovers inside the box, Sykes' two Dobermans, Roscoe and DeSoto suddenly barge in and shoo him out to talk to their master while they taunt his dogs as Oliver hides from them.

Once he meets up with Sykes in his car at the docks, Fagin tries to pay him back with the junk his dogs brought him as a minor compensation, but the latter is dissatisfied and throws the box into the bay. When Sykes points out to Fagin that he doesn't grasp the severity of the situation, Fagin tries to convince him otherwise before accidentally breaking one of his side mirrors and dropping it into the bay. As Fagin is about to fall while panicking, Sykes violently grabs and drags Fagin back and then, calmly explains to him the outcome of his situation, stating that people like Fagin who don't pay him back the money they owe him on time eventually get hurt or worse as he tortures Fagin by strangling him with his closing car window and smoking in his face as a means of demonstration.

However, after desperately begging for more time, Fagin is given only three more days to pay Sykes back as the latter threatens him, his dogs, and his home through his act of mercy. Even more worried than before, Fagin states he's having a bad day until Sykes honks his horn to call his dogs back, which startles Fagin, causing him to lose his balance and fall off the dock and into the bay.

Later, Fagin walks in all wet and sad, lamenting over the three days he has been given by Sykes as his last chance to pay him back or suffer the consequences that may befall both him and his dogs. Feeling sorry for their master, his dogs do everything they can to cheer him up. Rejoiced after they fetch his slippers, help him relax his feet, cover him up, and feed him a dog biscuit, Fagin thanks his dogs; much to their joy. Having seen DeSoto's nose, Fagin asks who did it, to which Dodger reveals Oliver to him. Impressed with Oliver's bravery and after accepting him into the gang, it's time for bed but Einstein insists Fagin read them a bedtime story first. At first, Fagin is reluctant as he is too tired but after hearing Einstein's sad whining, he changes his mind and chooses to read only one chapter for tonight. After Francis brings the lamp and Tito fixes it in Fagin's direction to help him read better, Fagin begins reading. During the reading, Fagin asks Francis to demonstrate what a real bark sounds like when the latter "criticizes" the former's own barking demonstration with a slight glare. Later, Fagin is seen sleeping next to Einstein and Oliver before Oliver later chooses to sleep next to Dodger instead.

The next morning, Fagin drives the gang including Oliver through the streets in his scooter as he leaves Dodger responsible for Oliver. After crashing in an alley, Fagin instructs his pets to get out and search for food while he tries to find a way to earn or even steal money within the next two days before the deadline, unaware that both Oliver and his dogs have agreed to help him with his financial problems instead. Later, during the day, Fagin tries to sell some of his broken items at a pawn shop, but to no avail.

At the end of the second day, Fagin, depressed, returns home and brings Oliver back inside just the latter was leaving due to wanting to go back to his new home. Fagin is about to lose faith and hope after how his previous attempts to earn or steal money have failed until he suddenly rejoices when he notices the address inscribed on Oliver’s collar that reads: "5th Avenue", meaning that where he currently comes from, his new owners must be rich, therefore, inspiring Fagin to come up with a plan to hold Oliver for ransom while writing a ransom note to his owners, which just might help him pay his debt to Sykes at last.

At night, after dropping the ransom note at the 5th Avenue address, at Sykes' warehouse, Fagin goes over his ransoming plan while pretending that Dodger is Sykes before entering the building. Once inside and after Sykes is done with a private phone conversation with an unknown hitman about a possible upcoming murder, Fagin, slightly intimidated by the latter, discusses his plan rather awkwardly at first, which causes Sykes to quickly lose his patience and order his dogs to attack with one snap of the fingers. During the attack, Fagin discusses his plan properly and loudly this time as he shows him Oliver as proof while Dodger protects Fagin and fights the Dobermans off. Convinced, Sykes snaps his fingers again to order his dogs to cease the attack. Lying injured and unconscious with severe (but invisible) injuries, both Fagin and Oliver come to Dodger's aid after Sykes offers Fagin 12 more hours as his last chance and feeds biscuits to his dogs.

Later, on the same night, Fagin waits impatiently and worriedly with his dogs for the arrival of Oliver's new owner at the rendezvous spot until he is suddenly approached by a little girl named Jenny Foxworth and her dog, Georgette, having mistaken them for the F.B.I. when surprised from the back at first. Oblivious to the fact that Sykes and his dogs are watching them from a distance in his car, when Fagin learns that Jenny is in fact, Oliver's new owner but with very little money in a piggy bank she brought as payment to get Oliver back, Jenny begins to cry and Fagin has a hard time deciding whether to give up the ransom and follow his good heart or not while feeling guilty as he watches Jenny and Georgette leave with great sadness in their eyes.

Finally, Fagin does the right thing, pretends to find Oliver in a box, and returns him to Jenny; much to both his and the latter's joy. Unfortunately, their happiness is cut-short when Sykes, having seen the whole thing, drives straight towards Jenny to make his move, kidnaps her, and throws Oliver out the window while ignoring Fagin's pleas to do otherwise. Before driving away, Sykes tells Fagin to keep his mouth shut and to consider their account closed. When Oliver and the dogs dash straight to Sykes' warehouse to rescue Jenny without hesitation, Fagin orders them to stay and get on his scooter, but to no avail.

After Oliver and the dogs rescue Jenny at Sykes' warehouse despite certain difficulties, Fagin arrives in his scooter breaking through a window just in time to save and drive everyone out to safety just before Sykes could order his dogs to attack again with one snap of his fingers after cornering them until the latter tries to catch up to them in his car. Thinking Sykes won't bother following them any further, Fagin drives everyone down into a subway station but Sykes, driving like a madman, pursues them nonetheless. Once they drive into a tunnel with Sykes still in hot pursuit, Sykes deliberately collides his car with Fagin's scooter, causing Jenny to fall and land on the hood of his car. Fagin continues driving as Oliver jumps in to save Jenny by biting Sykes' hand when the latter tries to pull Jenny back in, only to end up thrown in the backseat and cornered by Roscoe and DeSoto. Then, Dodger jumps in to rescue Oliver by fighting off and allowing Roscoe to fall to his death on the electric railway caused by the friction between Sykes' ruined car tires and the railway itself before Oliver comes to Dodger's rescue by scratching and allowing DeSoto to also fall to his death in the same manner when the latter tries to kill Dodger in vain as payback for Roscoe's death. Then, Dodger saves Oliver again just in time before meeting the same fate as well.

On the Brooklyn Bridge, Fagin comes to Jenny's aid with Einstein to help make sure he doesn't fall as the latter calls for help while Tito takes command of the scooter. Suddenly, a train is heard and seen heading their way. When it looks like Sykes has got the upper hand by grabbing Jenny's leg and pulling her back in, Oliver and Dodger arrive just in time to save her by jumping on and fighting Sykes off, thus, enabling Jenny to jump back into Fagin's scooter. Luckily, Tito manages to save everyone at the last minute by driving them up to safety on one of the bridge's cables while Oliver and Dodger stay behind to fight Sykes off. After Sykes throws Dodger and Oliver off, the train approaches and finally collides with Sykes still in his car, thus, killing him and sending both him and his car down the Hudson River. Then, Tito drives everyone safely back down before Jenny runs out to search for Oliver, only to find a sad Dodger approaching with a supposedly lifeless Oliver in his mouth. At first, everyone thinks he's dead but when Jenny hears a soft meow coming out of Oliver, everyone minus Georgette, still in shock from the chase, quickly rejoices when they see that their little cat friend is still alive. Then, Fagin and his dogs begin to befriend Jenny.

The next day, back at Jenny's house, Fagin and Winston celebrate Jenny's 8th birthday with Oliver and the dogs minus Tito and Georgette as both he and Winston sing "Happy Birthday" to Jenny.

Later, in the kitchen, Fagin and Winston are watching a wrestling match on T.V. as each one bets on a fighter. During the bet, however, Winston receives and answers a call on the telephone while asking Fagin to keep it down. After learning that Jenny's parents are on the phone and promising to keep their secret about coming back home the next day (apparently earlier than expected) a surprise, both Fagin and Winston focus their heads on the match again. When Winston's fighter wins, Fagin is asked by Winston to pay him the ten-spot he owes him as agreed on their bet, but the former uses the time as an excuse to exit and flee back home while snatching an apple on the way since he's obviously broke, to which Winston suspiciously but calmly agrees to. Once the gang has given Jenny birthday presents (garbage actually), to which she is kindly grateful to as reminded by Winston, Fagin and Jenny bid each other a touching good-bye.

Outside the mansion, after Fagin starts up his scooter, Winston gets accidentally smudged by its smoke exhaust. After Oliver and the gang bid a fond farewell to each other until the next time they meet, both Winston (wiping some smudge off of his face), Jenny, and Oliver watch as Fagin and his dogs (singing a reprise of "Why Should I Worry") head back home in his scooter.

### *House of Mouse*

In the episode "House of Genius", Fagin appears along with Kaa, Ronno, Governor Ratcliffe, Bongo, one of the 99 dalmatian puppies, Johnny Appleseed, Cinderella, Ratigan, Prince Charming, Sonia, a Rhino, Pecos Bill, Colonel, and Tigger while waiting at the entrance for a seat and table.

In "Goofy's Menu Magic", Fagin appears with the same characters (except for Cinderella, Prince Charming, the Rhino, Pecos Bill, and Tigger replaced by Genie, a Centaurette, Tito, Pinocchio, Baloo, and Rachel instead) waiting to get their next "magic" meal served by Goofy.

## Trivia

* Fagin was based on Fagin from *Oliver Twist*, the Dickens novel that inspired the animated film. However, in the original novel, Fagin was a greedy, selfish, careless, and child abusive villain who was later captured and sentenced to be hanged.
* It is never explained how a poor man like Fagin came to be in possession of such valuable purebreds like his dog friends, although it is possible that he either stole them or found them as strays and took them under his wing at some point.
* In one of the earliest stages of production, the artists came up with four possible places for Fagin and his dogs to live in. The first was an old abandoned subway station, the second was a condemned building near the docks, which in the past had been a very famous theater, the third was in the sewers beneath the Plaza Hotel, and the fourth was his barge, which ended up being chosen for story purposes.
* Fagin wears four (presumably stolen) watches on his left arm. One of them has a picture of Mickey Mouse on it.
* Although it is stated in the film that Fagin owes money to Sykes, it is never mentioned what the exact amount was or when Fagin borrowed the money. It is unknown how Fagin came to do business with Sykes in the first place as well.
* Dom DeLuise, Fagin's voice actor, was actually famous for voicing several characters from Don Bluth's movies until his death such as Jeremy in *The Secret of NIMH*, Tiger in *An American Tail*, Itchy in *All Dogs Go to Heaven*, and Stanley in *A Troll in Central Park*. He already had roles in several other animated films by this point, but this was the only time he got the chance to voice a character in a Disney film. He loved the role so much, he kept ad-libbing lines that ended up being included in the film.
* In the original script, there was a flashback scene which explained that Fagin ended up owing money to Sykes, after borrowing it to participate in an illegal poker tournament in Chinatown, where he lost everything.
* The man Fagin tries to pawn his watch to is a caricature of Peter Schneider, then vice-president of Disney animation.
* During the chase, where Jenny is hanging on the front of Sykes' car, she yells Fagin's name for help. Slightly later, Fagin yells for Jennifer to jump. The two never introduced themselves earlier in the film, yet know each other's names.
* During the chase on the bridge, Fagin's scooter jumps from the railway tracks to the bridge support wires. After it makes the jump, there's a medium shot of Dodger and Oliver attacking Sykes. In this shot, the scooter can be briefly seen on the left of the screen riding on the bridge supports. The previously full scooter is now completely empty (with not even a driver).
* Fagin may have a gambling problem, as seen with his bet with Winston, despite not having any money. This would explain why he needed money from Sykes in the first place, to pay off his debts.