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.
Oliver and Company (1988)
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Reviews Counted: 23
Fresh: 9
Rotten:14
Average Rating: 5.4/10
Runtime: 74 mins
Genre: Childrens
Synopsis: This animated Disney film, loosely based on Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist," revolves around a cute orphaned kitten named Oliver, who is given shelter by a streetwise gang of dogs. A human beggar... This animated Disney film, loosely based on Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist," revolves around a cute orphaned kitten named Oliver, who is given shelter by a streetwise gang of dogs. A human beggar named Fagin does his best to provide for these homeless (and tuneful) animals. But Fagin has a problem: he owes the wicked loan shark Sykes a lot of dough, and has only three days in which to cough it up. Oliver and the pooches take it upon themselves to help Fagin out of the doghouse. Meanwhile, Oliver is adopted by a lonely (and rich) girl named Jenny -- who Sykes later kidnaps. Can Oliver and his canine cohorts find a way to save both Fagin and Jenny? [More]
Starring: Joey Lawrence, Billy Joel, Cheech Marin, Bette Midler
Starring: Joey Lawrence, Billy Joel, Cheech Marin, Bette Midler, Dom DeLuise, Robert Loggia, Roscoe Lee Browne, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Richard Mulligan
Director: George Scribner
Director: George Scribner
Screenwriter: Jim Cox, Timothy J. Disney, James Mangold, Roger Allers
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Release:
May 28, 2002
Reviews for Oliver and Company
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.
Animated Dickens makes for a surprisingly successful translation, and in my book Billy Joel can do very little wrong.
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