Oliver & Company is a 1988 American animated musical comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and inspired by the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. It was directed by George Scribner and written by Jim Cox, Tim Disney, and James Mangold. In the film, Oliver is a homeless kitten who joins a gang of dogs to survive in the streets. Among other changes, the setting of the film was relocated from 19th-century London to early 1990s New York City, Fagin's gang is made up of dogs (one of which is Dodger), and Sykes is a loan shark.
In late 1984 or 1985, Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg held a pitch meeting with the animation staff. After story artist Pete Young pitched the idea to adapt Oliver Twist with dogs, the pitch was quickly approved, and the film quickly went into production under the working title Oliver and the Dodger. Pre-production started with the crew reading Oliver Twist and watching the musical Oliver!, developing the film for six to nine months. After production began in 1986, 300 artists and technicians worked on the film within two and a half years of production.
Along with The Land Before Time, Oliver & Company was released theatrically on November 18, 1988. Oliver & Company received mixed reviews from critics. The music and vocal performances of celebrities were praised, while the animation, designs, its use of computer-generated imagery, and plot received divided reviews. The film however performed very well at the box office, grossing $121 million worldwide against the budget of $31 million.
The film was re-released in theaters in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on March 29, 1996. It was released on home video in North America on September 24, 1996, on VHS and LaserDisc. A DVD edition followed on May 14, 2002, as a special edition. Oliver & Company was later released on Blu-ray Disc on August 6, 2013, to commemorate its 25th anniversary.
Plot
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Outside a shop in New York City, several orphaned kittens are put up for adoption; all of them manage to find homes except for an orange tabby, who begins wandering the streets hoping that someone will take him in. One day, the kitten meets a Jack Russell Terrier named Dodger, who helps him steal food from a hot dog vendor before fleeing with the hot dogs, prompting the kitten to pursue him.
The kitten chases Dodger to a barge, where he watches Dodger sharing the stolen hot dogs with his friends—Tito the Chihuahua, Einstein the Great Dane, Francis the Bulldog, and Rita the Saluki. Their owner, Fagin, is a petty thief indebted to Sykes, a nefarious loan shark, who gives him an ultimatum to repay the money in three days. After the other dogs encounter the kitten, they are confronted by Sykes' two Dobermanns, Roscoe and DeSoto, who threaten to eat the kitten until he claws DeSoto's nose, a deed that earns the kitten respect from Fagin and the dogs.
The next day, Fagin goes to pawn some of his stolen goods, while the dogs and the kitten try to steal more money for him. Through a theatrical ruse, the animals stop a limousine belonging to the wealthy Foxworth family, but their attempt to rob the limo fails, and the kitten is discovered by the family's child Jenny, who is worried that her parents, who are on a business trip, won't be able to return home in time for her eighth birthday. Jenny adopts the kitten, whom she names Oliver, and bonds with him, much to the jealousy of Georgette, the Foxworths' spoiled prize-winning poodle.
Meanwhile, Dodger and the other dogs believe that Oliver has been kidnapped, and they go to the Foxworths' house to "rescue" him. With the help of Georgette, the group take Oliver back to their barge, but Oliver tells them that he wants to stay with Jenny, making Dodger feel betrayed. As Oliver attempts to return home, Fagin stops him from leaving and recognizes from Oliver's new collar and gold name tag that he has been adopted by a wealthy family; seeing this as an opportunity to repay his debt, Fagin decides to hold Oliver for ransom, and he informs Sykes of his plan.
Having found Fagin's ransom note, Jenny and a reluctant Georgette set out to get Oliver back. She meets with Fagin, who is shocked to be dealing with a child; bothered by his conscience, Fagin gives Oliver back to Jenny freely. However, Sykes, who was watching the events take place, abducts Jenny with the intention of blackmailing her family, while ending his deal with Fagin. Oliver, Georgette, and the other dogs sneak into Sykes' warehouse to rescue Jenny with Fagin helping them escape via his trike. Sykes, Roscoe, and DeSoto chase the group into the subway tunnels where Roscoe and DeSoto are fatally electrocuted on the third rail of the subway following a battle between Oliver and Dodger, while Sykes is killed after his car collides with a train on the Brooklyn Bridge.
Following the incident, Jenny and Oliver are reunited. They later celebrate Jenny's birthday with the dogs, Fagin, and the Foxworths' butler, Winston, who learns that Jenny's parents are returning home tomorrow. Oliver opts to stay with Jenny but promises to remain in contact with Dodger and the gang.
Voice cast
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- Joey Lawrence as Oliver, an orange orphaned tabby kitten who is looking for a home. He joins Fagin's gang of dogs before being taken in by Jenny.
- Natalie Gregory as Jennifer "Jenny" Foxworth, a friendly, young rich girl who adopts Oliver.
- Myhanh Tran provided the singing voice for Jenny.
- Billy Joel as Dodger, a charismatic, laid-back Jack Russell Terrier. He displays considerable "street savoir-faire." He is the leader of Fagin's gang of dogs, and is Oliver's first acquaintance, as well as his eventual best friend and surrogate big brother.
- Cheech Marin as Tito, a Mexican-accented Chihuahua in Fagin's gang who serves as the comic relief in the film. He is fast-talking and rapidly develops a crush on Georgette, although she is initially repulsed by him. His full name is Ignacio Alonso Julio Federico de Tito.
- Richard Mulligan as Einstein, a gray Great Dane in Fagin's gang. He is named ironically as he is fairly dull-witted.
- Roscoe Lee Browne as Francis, a Bulldog with a British accent in Fagin's gang. He appreciates art and theatre, particularly Shakespeare. He also detests anyone abbreviating his name as "Frank" or "Frankie" (which Tito frequently does).
- Sheryl Lee Ralph as Rita, a Saluki in Fagin's gang. She is street-wise and very protective of Oliver.
- Ruth Pointer provided the singing voice for Rita.
- Dom DeLuise as Fagin, a lowly but well-meaning thief who lives on a barge with his dogs. He desperately needs money to repay his debt to Sykes.
- Robert Loggia as Sykes, a cold-hearted, immoral loan shark and shipyard agent who lent a considerable sum of money to Fagin and expects it paid back.
- Taurean Blacque and Carl Weintraub as Roscoe and DeSoto, respectively: Sykes' violent Doberman Pinschers who bully Dodger and his friends. Roscoe is the apparent leader, while DeSoto seems to be the more vicious of the two.
- William Glover as Winston, the Foxworth family's clumsy but warm-hearted butler.
- Bette Midler as Georgette, the Foxworth family's prize-winning poodle. Vain and spoiled, she becomes jealous of Oliver but eventually accepts him and Fagin's gang.
- Frank Welker (uncredited) as Louie the Sausage Vendor, an aggressive, bad-tempered hot dog vendor who appears early in the film when Oliver and Dodger steal his hot dogs. He is described by Dodger as "a well-known enemy of the four-legged world," meaning that he hates both cats and dogs.