Oliver Twist

***Oliver Twist*** is a 1955 American animated musical adventure comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. The TBD Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske, and features the voices of Kevin Corcoran, Larry Roberts, Sherry Jackson, Stan Freberg, Les Tremayne, Hans Conried, Peggy Lee, Mel Blanc, Mickey Rooney, Barbara Luddy, Larry Storch, and Paul Winchell.

Based on the 1838 novel of the same name by Charles Dickens, *Oliver Twist* tells the story of Oliver, a pure-hearted orphan 6-year-old boy who runs away from the workhouse he was born and falls into the clutches of a gang of thieves led by the diabolical Fagin. During that time, Oliver befriends one of Fagin's associates, a streetwise and good intended pickpocket called "the Artful Dodger" and his pure-hearted 6-year-old daughter, Bet.

*Oliver Twist* was released to theaters on June 22, 1955, to box office success. It was the first animated film to be filmed in the CinemaScope widescreen film process, as well as Disney's first animated film to be distributed by their Buena Vista division. It initially received generally mixed reviews by film critics, but critical reception for the film has been generally positive in modern times. It was later adapted into a stage musical in Broadway in 1960. A live-action/CGI hybrid remake premiered on November 12, 2019, as a launch title for the Disney+ streaming service.

## Production

### Animation

#### CinemaScope

Originally, *Oliver Twist* was planned to be filmed in a regular full frame aspect ratio. However, due to the growing interest of widescreen film among movie-goers, Disney decided to animate the film in CinemaScope making *Oliver Twist* the first animated feature filmed in the process. This new innovation presented additional problems for the animators: the expansion of space created more realism but gave fewer closeups. It also made it difficult for a single character to dominate the screen so that groups had to be spread out to keep the screen from appearing sparse. Longer takes become necessary since constant jump-cutting would seem too busy or annoying. Layout artists essentially had to reinvent their technique. Animators had to remember that they had to move their characters across a background instead of the background passing behind them. Yet the animators overcame these obstacles during certain scenes such as Oliver rescuing Bet from Fagin during the climax.

More problems arose as the premiere date got closer since not all theaters had the capability to show CinemaScope at the time. Upon learning this, Walt issued two versions of the film: one in widescreen, and another in the Academy ratio. This involved gathering the layout artists to restructure key scenes when characters were on the edges of the screen.

### Differences from the novel

There are quite a few differences between Dickens' novel and the film. Many of these involve some dark content being toned down. Perhaps the biggest changes in the film are the Artful Dodger being aged up as an adult character instead of a young boy, Bet being aged down to Oliver's age and reworked as the Dodger's daughter and Oliver's love interest, the additions of a fewer new characters such as Fagin's pet Siamese cats Si and Am, and Oliver's pet mouse Rickie and pet dog Skippy, and the removal of the funeral house subplot, as well as the removal of characters such as the Widow Corney, the Maylie family, Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry, Noah Claypone, and Charlotte; with the removal of the latter four, the film has instead Oliver escaping from the workhouse at nightime just before Mr. Bumble was able to sell him to Monks. Due to the removal of Claypone, the film has Fagin discovering Nancy informing on him and Sikes by himself (instead of sending one of his gang members to spy on her) while wandering around the streets, and due to the absence of the Maylies, Oliver is not left during the burglary, rather he is abandoned in the forest where he is rescued by Dodger and Nancy.

The film opens with four minutes of Oliver's backstory. TBD

Due to allegations of antisemitism about the character of Fagin in the novel, Disney decided to tone down the character's exaggerated profile from George Cruikshank's illustrations in the first edition of the novel, as well as removing the mentions of him being Jewish to avoid offence. Fagin was designed to be breadless and bald and wearing a pair of glasses (although remaining his large nose), looking more as a human version of Dr. Otto von Scratchansniff from the Yakko, Wakko and Dot cartoons. He is also shown as more villainous than he was in the novel, as he lies, manipulates and uses the children, without caring one ounce about them, and is downright mean and abusive to both Oliver and Bet. While it's not that off from the original book's Fagin (the film makes a lot more obvious about his villainy), the film is one of the few adaptations of *Oliver Twist* to remain Charles Dickens' original interpretation of Fagin, as most of the novel's other adaptations usually portray him a sympathetic character. Despite Fagin is not explicitly identified as Jewish, however, his villain song, "You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two", has a Jewish melody.

Nancy is even more of a mother figure to Oliver than in the original novel (in which she seemed to not express any concern at all for him until after she and Sikes bring him back to Fagin's). In the film, she is seen constantly looking after him, Bet and the other children in Fagin's lair, and tending to their needs, treating them better that Fagin does (she even kisses Oliver tenderly at one point during the "I'd Do Anything" song sequence, stopping just short of telling the boy that she loves him).

In the novel, it is left ambiguous as to how Oliver and Mr. Brownlow are related. As in many versions, Mr. Brownlow is made Oliver's grandfather, however, unlike in most versions, this relationship is more implied than explicitly stated.

The Artful Dodger is not deported to Australia and, in addition to being an adult, he acts as a father figure to Oliver and is given a larger role in the later events in the story by deciding to save Oliver after discovers Fagin, Sikes and Monks' plot to kill Oliver. Also, it is Dodger (instead of Charley Bates, whose role is smaller in the film than the novel) who turns against Fagin after discovering that Sikes killed Nancy, and decides to turn to give up Fagin and Sikes to the police with the help of Fagin's children, who got tired of Fagin's abuse. Finally, it is a pardoned Dodger (rather than Oliver) who visits Fagin in prison. Fagin does not suffer hallucinations but instead angrily refuses to talk with Dodger, blaming him for his capture by bringing Oliver into their lives. Dodger then gives Sikes' abused dog to Charley once he leaves the prison where Fagin is locked up. When Oliver and Mr. Brownlow return home to continue their lives, they are joined by Bet, whom Dodger decided to let go with them while he leaves for Australia.

## Release

*Olivier Twist* was originally released to theaters on June 22, 1955. An episode of *Disneyland* called "A Story of Children" aired before the film's release. The film was also reissued to theaters in 1962, 1968, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1986, 1990, and 1999. *Oliver Twist* also played a limited engagement in select Cinemark Theatres from February 16–18, 2013.

## Other media

### References in other Disney media

* A segment dedicated to Fagin is featured in the 1956 one-hour television special *Our Unsung Villains* and later a new version of the segment was featured in the 1977 follow-up *Disney's Greatest Villains*.
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