BACKGROUND
The 1980s were a troublesome time at Disney, particularly for the Animation Department.
Although The Black Cauldron (1985) was the “problem child” of Disney Animation during this decade, it was not the only issue the department faced. As well as dealing with an art form that was continuing to be expensive and received little respect from audiences, there was also a major upheaval in the form of new management, namely that of new Chief Executive Officer Michael Eisner, new Chief Financial Officer Frank Wells, new Chairman of Walt Disney Studios Jeffrey Katzenberg, who all arrived in 1984, coming from different film studios, and new president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, Peter Schneider in 1985.
It was a hard time. The dismal failure of The Black Cauldron (1985) and the mediocre success of The Great Mouse Detective (1986) meant there was a lot of pressure piling on to those animators working on Oliver & Company, a strange adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist, but with dogs and a cat. It was at least a unique adaptation of the novel, which had already become a musical, its subsequent 1968 film, as well as television series and other film and stage productions. But the animators weren’t excited, instead feeling anxious about their job security, and the new management mostly just wanted to make money. Audiences weren’t expecting much, having almost given up on seeing something spectacular from Disney Animation ever again, with the releases since Walt Disney’s death rarely living up to the spectacle and enchantment of the Studios’ early years.
But despite the incredibly mixed reviews and a lack of enthusiasm, Oliver & Company did in fact do well financially, and has managed to garner a cult following. I personally like Oliver & Company. I used to watch it a lot after school while I did my homework; it had a short enough runtime at just over an hour that it fit perfectly into the time I had between getting home from school and eating dinner! I also watched other shorter Disney animated films, like The Sword in the Stone (1963) and Robin Hood (1973) at this time too, and because I used to watch them so frequently, I guess I found an appreciation for them that perhaps the average person does not have.
PLOT
Oliver & Company begins with an aerial shot of Manhattan Island, before moving to the streets of New York City, where a box of kittens has been left. The box states “Kitties Need Home 5.00”. There must be some sort of honesty box, because although, one by one, the kittens are taken away, we never see anyone pay for them! After a couple of days, just one remains – a little ginger kitty – with the box now stating that the kitten is free to a good home, however, the last kitten is not taken away, but left in the box in the middle of a rainstorm. The kitten meows at passers-by but they either ignore him, or don’t hear him. After the kitten is almost flushed down into the sewer by rushing rainwater, almost killed by feral dogs, who chase him down an alley, and almost scared to death by thunder and lightning, it eventually settles down to sleep on top of a stationary truck’s wheel.
The next morning, the kitten is woken up by the truck moving and quickly jumps off. It begins searching for people to presumably either take him away from this horrible place or feed him, but, except for one toddler who is quickly dragged away by its mother, the kitten is largely ignored again. He stumbles upon a hot dog cart, and tries to beg for food but is shooed away by the miserable seller, Louie. A dog comes over to the kitten; his name is Dodger. He tells the cat that they need to team up to steal the hot dogs. Dodger barks at Oliver, scaring him so that he will run up Louie and distract him. This does the job, with Dodger taking the sausages. He walks away, leaving the kitten to fend for itself, but the kitten follows Dodger to a construction site, and all over New York City, telling him that half of those hot dogs are his, as per their deal.
Eventually, after Dodger’s big song-and-dance number where he shows off about how cool he is, they arrive at the docks, with Dodger unaware that the cat has been following him all along. On a rundown boat, a ragtag team of dogs live: the hyperactive Chihuahua, Tito, the high-class bulldog, Francis, the no-nonsense Saluki, Rita, and the nice but dim Great Dane, Einstein. They spend their time trying to find treasures that their owner, Fagin, can pawn to pay back a debt he currently has. Unfortunately, since they are only dogs, these “treasures” mostly amount to shredded wallets and random broken items; not enough to pay back debt. As Dodger is recounting his “terrifying” tale of how he outsmarted a “psychotic” monster to bring them food for dinner, something crashes through the roof of the boot – it’s that cat. Soon, Fagin arrives home, and is greeted by his dogs. He looks at their loot from the day and is disappointed by what he finds, saying Sykes won’t be happy with that. But really, what did he expect? How can dogs know what will and won’t pay off his ridiculous debts? Give them a break, man.
Anyway, Fagin goes up to see Sykes, the loan shark he needs to pay back. He tells Fagin he has one last chance; he has three days to pay back what he owes – or else. At the same time, Sykes’ Dobermans, Roscoe and DeSoto, stay with Fagin’s dogs, to keep them in line, and flirt with Rita, who rebuffs them every time. They soon smell the cat, with the cat scratching DeSoto’s nose as a warning. Fagin’s dogs surround and protect the kitten, and Sykes’ dogs are soon called away. Fagin returns to the room, feeling down and hopeless, with no idea how to pay back the money. The dogs rally around him, and Fagin is introduced to the cat, who is dubbed an official member of the gang. After a quick bedtime story, everyone settles down to sleep. The kitten moves off Fagin’s lap at one point and snuggles up next to Dodger. Cute.
The next day, Fagin and his dogs head into the city once more, with Fagin driving his three-wheeled scooter and the dogs sitting in the shopping trolley that is attached to it – very inventive. Fagin sends the dogs out to either find some way of making money or to steal something expensive, whilst he attempts to pawn items he’s “found”. The dogs teach the cat the tricks of their trade by seeing firsthand their plan to steal a limousine. Einstein hits the car, making the driver stop, with Francis putting on a theatrical display in front of the car, pretending to have been hit. Tito and the cat are sent inside the limo to hot-wire it. Except something goes wrong, because as Tito is working with the electrics, the cat gets scared by movement in the back of the car and falls onto the keys, which are in the ignition. The car goes haywire and Tito is electrocuted, and shot out the window. The cat gets stuck in wires, and is rescued by the passenger, a little girl called Jenny. The other dogs run away and meet up in an alley, only to find the cat was left behind. Tito and Dodger follow the car to find him.
The limo pulls up to a house on Fifth Avenue. The dogs make a plan to retrieve the kitten later on. Meanwhile, Jenny convinces her driver and butler, Winston, that her parents, who are away on a conference, wouldn’t mind her keeping the cat. Sure enough, they call soon after and say she can keep it. She names him Oliver – this is the first time the kitten’s name is mentioned in the film. Winston knows this will annoy their pampered, prize-winning poodle, Georgette. Sure enough, when Georgette comes downstairs and finds the cat eating “Oeufs á la Jenny, avec Cocoa Krispies” out of her bowl, no less, she is furious and tries to get the cat thrown out of the house. Speaking of Jenny’s strange cat food concoction, I’m sure most kids thought whatever it was she made looking amazing, because it’s basically a chocolate pudding or mousse, with chocolate cereal and whipped cream on top, which sounds great to me, but little Oliver shouldn’t be eating it because chocolate is toxic to cats, and most cats are actually lactose intolerant so shouldn’t have dairy. So, if you are looking for recipes for this amazing “cat food” online, and surprisingly, there are many of them, then please only give it to humans, not to your pets! Georgette is also seen eating a box of chocolates later on; don’t feed your dogs chocolate either.
Back to the story. Jenny and Oliver spend lots of time together, where she takes him to Central Park, to eat ice cream and sit in a rowboat and carriage; Oliver even “helps” her as she practises the piano. Jenny also gets Oliver a collar and tag, with his new name and new address. Oliver is very happy in his new home. But the next day, whilst Jenny is out at school, Fagin’s dogs break into the house. They find Georgette first who is furious to have strange dogs near her, but is only too pleased to hear that they want to take Oliver. Georgette is delighted to have the house all to herself again. When Oliver is returned to Fagin’s boat, he is upset at the others for taking him back because he was happy. Dodger is annoyed and tells Oliver to just leave then. As Oliver is about to leave, Fagin comes home, with his three days almost up and picks up Oliver. He sees Oliver’s tag and, believing that Oliver belongs to some rich person, writes a letter to the owner, asking for a ransom to get their cat back. Fagin posts it through the door.
Jenny sees the letter and is devastated to find that Oliver has been stolen. Her and Georgette head off in the rain over to the docks following Fagin’s terribly drawn map. At the docks, Fagin meets with Sykes. Sykes is expecting his money and when he finds that Fagin doesn’t have it, he orders his dogs to attack Dodger. Fagin babbles out his plan to use Oliver as a ransom, at which point Sykes calls off his dogs and tells Fagin it’s not a bad plan and gives him a few more hours. As Fagin waits for the rich cat owner, he sees Jenny and her dog looking very lost and upset. He realises that Jenny is the owner of Oliver and that there is no point trying to extort money from her, since she hasn’t got much, only what’s in her piggy bank. He returns Oliver to her, but little does he know that Sykes has been watching this exchange. Sykes drives towards them and grabs Jenny, throwing her into the car. He tells Fagin his debt is repaid.
The dogs and Oliver go to Sykes’ office and see Jenny tied up there; Sykes is on the phone to her parents, telling them to pay up. Tito is told to cut the security cameras, whilst the others dress up as a pizza delivery man to trick Sykes into coming out of the room; the dogs get inside and hook Jenny up to a wire above. Tito uses his electrical skills to get it to move upwards, but Sykes sees and jams the box, sending them down a slide. They are cornered with Sykes’ dogs about to attack. Jenny and the gang are soon rescued by Fagin in his scooter, and they rush off. Sykes and his two dogs follow behind in his car. Fagin thinks he can lose Sykes by going into the subway in Times Square, and yet, Sykes drives his car down into the tunnel and follows Fagin onto the train tracks. Sykes bumps the scooter, throwing Jenny onto his car. As Sykes tries to grab her from the roof, Oliver jumps over and bites his hand; Oliver is tossed into the back of the car, with DeSoto and Roscoe ready to attack. Dodger jumps into the car to save Oliver, but is himself attacked by Sykes’ dogs and thrown out of the back window, with one dog hitting the tracks. Oliver scratches the other dog who also hits the electrified tracks. Ouch.
Jenny reaches out to Fagin to save her, but Sykes pulls her back, so now Tito is driving the scooter, and no-one is driving Sykes’ car. Oliver and Dodger jump onto Sykes, giving Jenny the chance to jump towards Fagin. At the same time, Tito is driving the scooter directly into the path of an oncoming train, leaving Georgette to completely freak out on him. At the final moment, Tito pulls the scooter on to the railings of the Brooklyn Bridge and Sykes throws Dodger and Oliver off him – but is then struck by the train…Once the train has gone, Tito gently reverses the scooter off the railings and back on to the pavement, where Dodger comes out of the shadows carrying a seemingly lifeless Oliver. Jenny rushes to him, and he suddenly comes alive again.
A day or so later, it is Jenny’s birthday. At her fancy house, Oliver, Jenny, Winston, Fagin, Dodger and the rest of the dogs are having a party to celebrate. Winston gets a phone call from Jenny’s father saying that they will be home tomorrow – finally! Fagin watches wrestling on TV with Winston, only to lose a bet and have to make a swift getaway since obviously he has no money. Jenny receives gifts from all the dogs, like a lovely fish bone, broken tennis racket, and a beaten-up shoe, and says goodbye to Fagin, and the other dogs. Georgette decides to give Tito, or Alonso as she calls him, a makeover to meet her “grooming standards”. Tito rushes out of the house, dressed as a sailor, saying that Georgette is crazy and he doesn’t want to see her again! The dogs say goodbye to Oliver, with Dodger and Oliver having a particular moment, before he catches up with Fagin and his scooter by jumping all over cars and garbage trucks, like he does. The rest of the gang sing “Why Should I Worry?” with him, and the film ends with a final aerial view of NYC.
CHARACTERS & CAST
Oliver is the little ginger kitten that seemingly nobody wants to adopt. He has a very difficult start in life, with everyone ignoring him or not noticing him. When Oliver becomes a part of Fagin’s gang of dogs, though they accept him and protect him, more or less, it’s clear that he doesn’t really fit in and isn’t sure this is where he wants to be. It’s not until Jenny takes him in that Oliver starts to be happy with his life, as she clearly adores Oliver and I bet he ended up being a very spoilt little kitty! Oliver is very tough, by scratching and biting dogs and humans much larger than himself to either protect himself or save someone else. He’s also cute so you can’t help but root for him, especially after the New York streets seem to be too much for him to handle.
Oliver is voiced by an eleven or twelve-year-old Joey Lawrence. As a child star, he appeared in series such as Gimme a Break! (1983-87) and Blossom (1990-95). He also starred alongside his two brothers in the series Brotherly Love from 1995 to 1997. Oliver & Company was the first time one of the Lawrence brothers was cast in a Disney project. Later, Matthew Lawrence would be chosen for a voice part in the Disney English dub of Kiki’s Delivery Service (1998), and Andrew Lawrence would voice T.J. Dettweiler in the series Recess and its spin-offs. Nowadays, Joey Lawrence is probably best known for starring alongside Melissa Joan Hart in the ABC sitcom Melissa & Joey (2010-15).
Dodger starts off being quite arrogant and overly confident in the film. When he meets Oliver, he clearly just wants to use him to get food for himself and has no intentions of sharing. He talks a good game, but some of his stories are very much exaggerated, and made to make him look cooler and braver than he actually is. But Dodger is a very loyal dog, protecting Fagin, the rest of the dogs, and eventually Oliver, from harm, usually from Sykes and his Dobermans. Dodger is also carefree and relaxed, letting worries wash over him, which is good for me to see because I am the complete opposite, though I’d much rather be like Dodger. But then life is easier for dogs generally, isn’t it?
Singer-songwriter and six-time Grammy Award winner Billy Joel both voices and provides the singing voice for Dodger. This was an incredibly big name to have in the cast of a Disney animated film at the time, and they certainly used his name a lot in the marketing of the film’s release to get as many people to see it as possible! At the time, Billy Joel was famous for releasing hits such as “Piano Man” in 1973 and “Uptown Girl” in 1983. Oliver & Company was Joel’s acting debut. Director George Scribner was initially sceptical about whether Joel would be right for the role, but after an audition over the phone, Scribner thought he was great[1]. After this role, Joel continued to focus on his music. In June 2023, Joel announced that his residency at Madison Square Garden will end in July 2024.
Then, there’s Fagin. Though the novel Oliver Twist shows Fagin to be an outright crook, teaching his boys to steal from others and not caring much about their welfare, the Fagin in Oliver & Company has been humanised somewhat. I don’t see him as a thief, although I know he tells his dogs to go out and steal items for him, so that in itself is morally wrong, even if he doesn’t personally steal himself. To me, he seems to be someone who is down-on-his-luck, who had to take money from Sykes and is now struggling to pay it back. Fagin is threatened with violence or even death by Sykes, so how can you not feel bad for him? I think Fagin seems like a nice guy really, who cares for his dogs, but struggles to hold down a job and make money.
Maybe it’s just his voice that makes Fagin seem so lovable, and that is the work of actor and comedian Dom DeLuise. DeLuise starred alongside his friend Burt Reynolds in various films such as The Cannonball Run (1981) and Smokey and the Bandit II (1980). He also appeared in Mel Brooks movies, like Blazing Saddles (1974). Outside of this, DeLuise had much experience in voice acting, having voiced the characters of Jeremy in The Secret of NIMH (1982) and Tiger in An American Tail (1986). Disney were pleased to get DeLuise to voice a character for one of their films, as these two previous films he had voice acted in were for Don Bluth[2]. Bluth had been an animator at the Disney Studios but left in 1979 to set up his own animation studio, taking many animators with him. Disney felt they had “poached” DeLuise, however, DeLuise reprised his roles as Jeremy and Tiger in their subsequent spin-offs throughout the 80s and 90s. But for me, I know Dom DeLuise from only Oliver & Company and just one episode of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996-2003), where he played Cousin Mortimer in Season 3 Episode 4 in 1998. DeLuise passed away in 2009 at the age of 75.
Sykes is the evil and scary loan shark who Fagin must owe a lot of money to warrant this kind of attention from an obviously very busy and successful man, judging by his shiny Cadillac. Sykes is willing to resort to violence to get what’s owed him, but he can be charming, albeit in a menacing way, when he’s trying to get someone to listen to him, like Fagin in their first encounter in the film, or when he’s talking to Jenny after kidnapping her. He’s a Disney villain that nobody really talks about, despite having quite a brutal death, which is disappointing because I think he’s a good one.
The role of Sykes was initially offered by Michael Eisner to Marlon Brando; however, Brando declined the role as he thought the film would bomb[3]. Instead, they cast Robert Loggia, who had starred in films such as three films in the Pink Panther series and Scarface (1983) by the time he was cast by Disney. The same year as Oliver & Company’s release in 1988, Loggia also starred as Mr. MacMillan, the owner of MacMillan Toy Company, in Big (1988), a massively successful movie, where Loggia won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor. I had no idea Mr. MacMillan was Sykes until just now, and I am surprised, in a good way! Loggia passed away in 2015 at the age of 85.
Finally, for the primary characters, we have the kind and caring seven-year-old Jenny. Though she has a nice house and rich parents, Jenny is actually very lonely before she meets Oliver as her parents seem to be very busy with their jobs and fly out of the country often for work. Jenny is even told that they won’t be home for her birthday, which upsets her a lot. They do come home the very next day, apparently, but that’s besides the point. She doesn’t have her parents around, their poodle Georgette is pretentious and not very cuddly, and Winston is their highly professional butler, so Jenny has no-one she can really talk to. She needed Oliver to give her some sort of stability and friendship in life, outside of school, where I assume she has friends, but we don’t get to find out. Her birthday party consists of just Oliver, Fagin, and his dogs, so maybe she doesn’t! Jenny is a sweet girl, and a very deserving and devoted owner to Oliver.
Former child actress Natalie Gregory provides the speaking voice for Jenny. In 1985, she starred as Alice in the 1985 made-for-television film Alice in Wonderland, which aired on CBS in two parts. After the release of Oliver & Company, Gregory then played the part of Annie in the former Epcot attraction Cranium Command, which opened at the Wonders of Life pavilion in October 1989 before closing in January 2007. I miss that attraction so much…
For the more minor characters, there are still so many impressive names in the voice cast. Firstly, actress and singer Bette Midler voices poodle Georgette. Georgette is quite vain and bossy, thinking herself better than Fagin’s dogs because she is a show dog, having won numerous awards. She hates the spotlight being taken away from her by Oliver, but when they have to set out to save Jenny, she gets on board with the dogs’ plans, though she isn’t much use! Bette Midler has released numerous albums, performed in many Broadway productions such as Fiddler on the Roof as Tzeitel in 1967 and Hello, Dolly! as Dolly from 2017 to 2018, and starred in various screen roles, like Big Business (1988) and The First Wives Club (1996). For Disney, she introduced “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” segment of Fantasia 2000 (1999) and most famously, starred as Winifred Sanderson in the Halloween movies Hocus Pocus (1993) and its sequel Hocus Pocus 2 (2022).
Cheech Marin provides the voice of the energetic and highly flirtatious Tito the Chihuahua. Tito is quite fiery and easy to anger, but because of Tito’s small stature, nobody takes him seriously when he wants to fight. Tito is tasked with biting through lots of electrical wires, which seems very unfair, but apparently being electrocuted is his top skill! He’s the funniest of all the characters, and has some great lines, “If this is torture, chain me to the wall” and “Get off my back woman, I’m driving”, being his best. Marin was well-known for his comedy act Cheech & Chong alongside Tommy Chong during the 1970s and 1980s. Since his role in Oliver & Company, Marin has returned to Disney to voice other characters such as Banzai in The Lion King (1994) and Ramone in the Cars franchise (2006-present). Other roles he may be known for are: “Uncle” Felix in the first three Spy Kids films (2001-2003) and Officer Salino in the under-appreciated movie Christmas with the Kranks (2004).
The last three names to mention are the dogs Rita, Einstein, and Francis, who are the three with the least amount of screen time. Rita is streetwise and feisty. She tries to care for Oliver by teaching him the way of the streets. Looking at the source material, I presume Rita is meant to be like Nancy in Oliver Twist, a maternal figure of some sort to Oliver before he meets his forever family. Rita’s voice is provided by Sheryl Lee Ralph. At the time, she was best known for performing as Deena Jones in the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls in 1981. She later returned to Broadway to play the role of Muzzy in Thoroughly Modern Millie in 2002. Presently, she stars as Barbara Howard in the critically acclaimed ABC comedy series Abbott Elementary (2021-present). Sheryl Lee Ralph won a Primetime Emmy Award for this role in 2022. She is amazing. But, like Dom DeLuise, I also know her from an episode of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996-2003)! This time it is Cousin Zsa Zsa, who appears in Season 4 Episode 13, which aired in 1999.
Richard Mulligan is the voice of Einstein, the slow but kind Great Dane. His big skill is banging into things, and somehow not getting too injured! Mulligan won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1980 for his recurring role as Burt Campbell in the sitcom Soap (1977-81), a parody about daytime soap operas. Mulligan was also known for playing Dr. Harry Weston in the sitcom Empty Nest (1988-95), where he once again won the Primetime Emmy for Lead Actor in 1989. Mulligan died in 2000. Roscoe Lee Browne provides the voice of the highly cultured and posh bulldog Francis, who can be seen watching a production of Macbeth on television during our first introduction to Fagin’s dogs. He has some fun lines, like Tito, such as: “Isn’t it rather dangerous to use one’s entire vocabulary in a single sentence?”. Like Richard Mulligan, Roscoe Lee Browne also appeared in the sitcom Soap (1977-81) as Saunders. He also won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Performer for his role as Dr. Barnabus Foster, which he performed from 1986 to 1987 in The Cosby Show (1984-92). Throughout his career, he also performed in numerous productions of Shakespeare plays. Roscoe Lee Brown passed away in 2007.
MUSIC
That’s the voice cast, but the artists on the soundtrack are just as impressive. Huey Lewis, lead singer of the band Huey Lewis and the News, whose hit song “The Power of Love” was written for and played within the blockbuster film Back to the Future (1985), performs the opening number “Once Upon a Time in New York City”. The song says to hang on to your dreams, even when times get tough, which is fitting since New York City is named the City of Dreams. It’s a lovely song, my favourite on the soundtrack. It’s kind of melancholy to begin with and then more hopeful by the end. I also like how it references Oliver in the lyrics, despite the fact he has no name at this point in the film! The song itself was written by Barry Mann and Howard Ashman. This was the first song that Ashman wrote for a Disney animated feature, before going on to collaborate with Alan Menken on music for The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast (1991)[4]. Barry Mann has had success writing both his own songs and alongside his wife Cynthia Weil. Weil and Mann wrote the song “Christmas Vacation” for the film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989).
The next song is performed by Billy Joel as Dodger and is called “Why Should I Worry?”. It’s an upbeat pop song that Dodger performs as he tries to outrun Oliver across the streets of NYC, over a construction site, on to cars, even on to a piano dangling in mid-air! He really doesn’t worry about anything. It suited Disney to give Joel a big number in the film, since singing is what he is best known for. I like the song and its sequence; it’s good fun. In this scene, you can see cameos of Peg, Trusty and Jock from Lady and the Tramp (1955), as well as Pongo from One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), when all the dogs in the city rush to follow Dodger as he sashays down the street. The song is also reprised at the end of the film by all Fagin’s dogs. This song was written by Dan Hartman and Charlie Midnight. The two were a longtime songwriting duo. Separately, Hartman wrote and released the disco song “Relight My Fire” amongst others, and Charlie Midnight has worked with numerous artists and on movie soundtracks, including on The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), and songs for the Nickelodeon band Big Time Rush.
The third song, “Streets of Gold”, is performed by Rita, but not by Sheryl Lee Ralph. Instead, Ruth Pointer, of The Pointer Sisters who had hits with the songs “I’m So Excited” and “Jump (For My Love)”, sings the song. It’s not clear why the two performers are different. It’s possible that Ruth Pointer agreed to sing for the soundtrack, but did not want the full voice part, or couldn’t do it due to previous commitments. Either way, it’s a great song, with Rita telling Oliver how to survive on the streets, although it’s short, stopping just as it’s about to get going. The soundtrack version is much longer than the film version though. It was written by Dean Pitchford and Tom Snow. Pitchford wrote the lyrics for three songs for the 1980 film Fame, including the title song “Fame”, which won both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song. As well as writing the screenplay, Pitchford also collaborated on the music for Footloose (1984), with some of the songs, including “Let’s Hear It for the Boy”, being co-written with Tom Snow. Tom Snow wrote songs for numerous artists and movies, but most interestingly for me he co-wrote three songs for The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (1998): “One of Us”, “We Are One”, and “Love Will Find a Way”.
“Perfect Isn’t Easy” is Georgette’s big theatrical number. It sounds Broadway, it looks Broadway, and it’s performed by a Broadway star: Bette Midler. She’s amazing from start to finish here, even having to do a huge yawn at the start of the song, and then she’s barking by the end of it! At this point in the film, Georgette does not know about Oliver so she’s basically just singing about how wonderful she is and how everyone, even birds and squirrels, not just dogs, are in love with her; it’s brilliant. This was the song I used to rewind the VHS for all the time, but as I’ve gotten older, “Once Upon a Time in New York City” became my favourite song and this is now my second. The winding staircase Georgette walks down at the end of her number was actually created using computer-animation. The song was co-written by Barry Manilow, Jack Feldman, and Bruce Sussman, who regularly worked together, for example on Don Bluth’s film Thumbelina (1994), the highlights of their career, I’m sure, and on the Grammy Award-winning song “Copacabana”. Feldman also collaborated with Alan Menken on songs for the musical Newsies, and co-wrote with Tom Snow on those three songs from The Lion King II (1998). We all know Manilow as both a singer and songwriter, specifically for his hit songs like “Copacabana”, “I Write the Songs” and “Mandy”.
The final song, “Good Company”, was not sung by Jenny’s voice actor but by Myhanh Tran. It is likely that Natalie Gregory’s voice was not strong enough to handle the song here. “Good Company” is a sweet song, played over a sweet scene, of Oliver and Jenny going all over New York together and having the best day ever. It’s probably not the most exciting film in the soundtrack, and the only one not to have some big name attached to it, either as the performer or in the songwriting team, but it matches the sentiment of the sequence. I particularly enjoy the instrumental bit in the middle of the song. The song was written by Ron Rocha and Robert Minkoff, whose name you may recognise for his work at Disney. Minkoff co-directed The Lion King (1994) with Roger Allers, and was supervising animator for Olivia in The Great Mouse Detective (1986) and provided early designs for Ursula in The Little Mermaid (1989). He later left the Disney Studios and instead directed live-action films like Stuart Little (1999) and its 2002 sequel, and then Disney’s The Haunted Mansion (2003). He returned to animation to direct Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014).
The last thing I will say about the soundtrack is that the score was composed by J.A.C Redford, and I really like the piece titled “Pursuit Through the Subway”; it’s pretty obvious where in the film this plays! For some reason, this always gets me. I think it’s because it’s the first real bit of peril you see in this film, which has mostly just been funny, fluffy entertainment, but to be chased by a madman through the subway and almost get hit by an upcoming train, whilst said madman is trying to kidnap a little girl is a lot to take in! The music feeds in to the feeling of threat and it is kind of stressful! And then it’s all really sad, because we think Oliver’s dead, and then it’s all happy again when it turns out he’s not. That one piece of music sends you on a total emotional rollercoaster.
PRODUCTION
The new management at The Walt Disney Company decided that to get fresh, new ideas for movies, they should organise meetings where animators were free to pitch their ideas; they called it “The Gong Show”, after the televised talent contest of the same name that ran through the 1970s and 1980s. In a similar fashion to the buzzers that the judges use on the …Got Talent series, an act would be gonged if they were particularly bad and had to leave the stage. In this case, the animators’ ideas were the acts and either they were gonged or greenlit. Pete Young was the Disney employee to suggest making Oliver & Company, simply stating it would be Oliver Twist, but with dogs; Katzenberg approved the idea.
Other than the basic premise of an orphan being found by a group of pickpockets before finding a home with a rich family, and then being pursued by a villain, and the use of some character names, Oliver & Company is clearly very different to Dickens’ novel. Instead of setting it in 19th Century London, Disney’s film takes place in 1980s New York, and feels very contemporary. I think it was best for Disney to take this approach in moving the adaptation far away from the often-depressing work of Dickens and make it more relatable to a contemporary audience. It gives you the basic idea of the novel, without having to deal with any of the difficult, grim, problematic, and sometimes quite violent, themes!
However, this was still not a simple story to adapt. The team chose to set their Oliver Twist in America and in present day, yet there were many creative discussions that went on during the film around the plot, leading to rewrites and many wasted drawings. There was a whole different plot idea about the dogs stealing a panda from the zoo that was developed, but obviously was not continued, and an initial idea for this to be some sort of sequel to The Rescuers (1977). Richard Rich, who had directed the infamous The Black Cauldron (1985), and George Scribner were named as the directors of Oliver & Company, but halfway through production, Rich was removed from the project, leaving Scribner as the sole director.
Not only were story and personnel changes causing problems for the film, but there was an overall lack of morale within the Animation Department at the time. This was partly due to audience reactions and financial results of The Black Cauldron (1985), and to some extent, The Great Mouse Detective (1986), which was considered a huge step forward for Disney Animation, but had been outperformed by Don Bluth’s An American Tail (1986), which coincidentally was also about a mouse. The animators had been moved from their dedicated animation building at the Burbank Studios, as ordered by the new management team. The artists were forced to move to Glendale, which was an uninspiring place to work to say the least. By the summer of 1985, the whole animation department had been moved there. The crew working on The Great Mouse Detective (1986) were some of the first to move to Glendale, with the team working on Oliver & Company being the last.
Roy E. Disney stated at this time that he wanted a new animated film to be released every year, putting even more pressure on the already stressed animators, though this is something that Disney have managed to do ever since, with few exceptions. The new management of Eisner, Wells, Katzenberg, and Schneider were firmly settled in their new positions by the time Oliver & Company was being created and steaming ahead with their ideas of working, but at the same time another big film, a hybrid of animation and live-action was being developed: Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), directed by Robert Zemeckis, with executive producer Steven Spielberg. The animated portion of this film was not completed in California, but in London. Peter Schneider, president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, was flying back and forth between the two studios, boasting about the success of one to the other, building up some sort of rivalry between the two, perhaps to boost both sides’ work. In the end, Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), released in June 1988, was hugely successful at the box office and with critics, boosting the morale of all the Disney animators[5].
After much discussion over the story, and with the shocking passing of screenwriter Pete Young who originally pitched the idea, the final screenplay for Oliver & Company was co-written by James Mangold, who went on to direct movies such as The Wolverine (2013), Logan (2017), and Ford v Ferrari (2019). Other big Disney names who worked on the story included Mike Gabriel, who went on to co-direct Pocahontas (1995); Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, who went on to co-direct Beauty and the Beast (1991), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and Atlantis: The Lost Empire; and Kevin Lima, who went on to direct Tarzan (1999) and Enchanted (2007). Animators Mark Henn, Glen Keane and Ruben A. Aquino also worked on Oliver & Company as Supervising Animators. They would go on to design and animate characters like Princess Jasmine, the Beast, Ariel, and Simba[6].
Despite being predominately hand-drawn, Oliver & Company was actually the first Disney animated feature to have a specific department solely for computer animation. Computer animation was used for things like buildings, trains, cars, including Sykes’ car, and Fagin’s weird scooter. This was a leap forward for Disney in using this technology, which had only been used in small sequences for previous movies The Black Cauldron (1985) and The Great Mouse Detective (1986). Pixar had only just made their fully CG-created short Tin Toy in August 1988, so it was still a technology in its infancy[7].
The location for Oliver & Company is New York City. Animators shot photos of NYC streets as reference material, shooting photos from 18 inches off the ground to represent a dog’s perspective. It is also worth mentioning that famous landmarks such as Manhattan Island, Times Square, Central Park, and Fifth Avenue all feature in the movie. The World Trade Center is another one. To represent New York City authentically, Oliver & Company is the first Disney animated feature to use product placements. Brands seen include Coca-Cola, Sony and USA Today. It’s worth noting that this advertisement was unpaid and was added purely to give a sense of reality to the setting[8].
RECEPTION
Oliver & Company was theatrically released on 18th November 1988, the exact same day as The Land Before Time (1988), another Don Bluth film, with Spielberg and George Lucas as two of the executive producers. The Land Before Time topped the box office during its opening weekend, however in the end, Oliver & Company beat out The Land Before Time, raking in $53 million compared with $46 million. This showed to the Disney animators that their effort was finally paying off[9]. Having said that, it is likely that some of this success would have been boosted by a huge marketing push from Disney, with their links to McDonald’s and the names of their all-star cast being just two elements that were helpful to them.
However, box office figures aren’t everything, because critically Oliver & Company did not do well. Many reviews said that the movie was predictable, the animation was basic, and that it did not compare to the heights of Disney Animation. Some did like the music and characters, others did not, saying this movie was only going to be popular with children. Oliver & Company was then not seen again for eight years, when it was re-released theatrically in 1996, before finally being released on VHS. DVD and Blu-Ray editions have since been released in the years that followed and it is also available to view on Disney+.
LEGACY
So how does Oliver & Company do at the theme parks? Well, it’s probably not much of a surprise, but not well. It doesn’t look like the characters ever did traditional meet-and-greets, but they were seen on a pre-parade float at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World around the time of the movie’s initial release. These floats were more or less the same at both parks, featuring costumed Dodger, Oliver, Georgette, Tito, and Francis, with an actress playing Jenny. The song “Why Should I Worry?” played as it went past. During the broadcast of Walt Disney World’s Christmas Day Parade in 1988 there was also a featurette about the making of the movie. At Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, there used to be a castle show called Disney Mania, which ran from 1989 until 2001. It involved a costumed Dodger “singing” “Why Should I Worry?” for a time, but only from 1989 to 1992.
After that, there is very little else to say. I have seen one photo of Francis, Tito, Dodger, and probably Georgette and Oliver, in a car together during a parade at Tokyo Disneyland sometime between 1988 and 1990. Supposedly the film was popular in France, but I cannot find anything showing Oliver & Company being represented at Disneyland Paris. Perhaps there were some characters involved in the park’s opening in 1992, but I am not sure. As Oliver & Company was not popular with audiences, and Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland opened much later than these other parks, in 2005 and 2016 respectively, it is no surprise that nothing referencing Oliver & Company has appeared there.
As part of the celebrations for Disney100, collections called Disney100 Decades were being released throughout the event. The collection for the 1980s included a plush of Oliver and a plush of Dodger, which were available in 2023. Other than that, you will be lucky to find anything else celebrating the film, outside of the occasional pin or anniversary ornament. It unfortunately just didn’t do well enough with the general public to warrant a whole line of constant merchandising, unlike other prominent animated films.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It is disappointing that more people don’t enjoy Oliver & Company. It has many good points, like its amazing cast of vocal and musical talent, its lovable characters, and its moments of heart. It really isn’t a bad film, it’s just underappreciated. It launched the Disney Renaissance Era, with those involved going on to do amazing things just a year later.
The nostalgia of the 1980s continues to be referenced, through fashion and screen, with it interesting the younger generations in particular. As Oliver & Company is most definitely an 80s movie, who knows, maybe there will be a whole new appreciation for this film so that others can correct the mistake of the older viewers who have since forgotten it.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Disney, “The Making of Oliver & Company”, from Oliver & Company (1988) 20th Anniversary Edition DVD (2009).
[2] Credit: Sam Scott, ‘Things Only Adults Notice In Oliver and Company’, Looper.com, 16th October 2022.
[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Oliver & Company (1988)’, pp. 79-81.
[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Oliver & Company (1988)’, pp. 79-81.
[5] Credit: Don Hahn, Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009).
[6] Credit: Kiki Evans, ’10 Things You Didn’t Know About Oliver & Company’, CBR.com, 29th March 2021.
[7] Credit: Sam Scott, ‘Things Only Adults Notice In Oliver And Company’, Looper.com, 16th October 2022.
[8] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Oliver & Company (1988)’, pp. 79-81.
[9] Credit: Don Hahn, Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009).
The Disney Purist 