Oliver and Company (1988)

The last gasp of Disney Animation's post-Walt malaise before the 1990s Disney renaissance … retains Dickens's seamy milieu, but not his morality-play tableau.

Far from classic but it is interesting to watch for its take on the pre-Disnified New York landscape following the company's real estate foray into the iconic downtown core.

The animation is clumsy, the songs are forgettable, the attempts at late-80s relevance now come across as dated and slightly embarrassing.

I guess I can cut the Mouse House a little slack when it comes to paint-by-numbers mediocrities like Oliver & Company.

More notable for what it isn't than what it is, it's one of the gangly middle children of the Disney animation family, not quite sure how to fit in, or even if it's valued.

Surely one of Disney's weakest full-length animated features, Oliver and Company features terrible, badly dated songs and some shoddy, patchwork animation with precious few dazzling moments.

No review available.

Animated Dickens makes for a surprisingly successful translation, and in my book Billy Joel can do very little wrong.

Cute but forgettable cartoon musical; a solid voice cast does a decent job.