Oliver & Company - Movie Review

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Disney's animated version of Dickens' Oliver Twist, Oliver & Company, is a true oddity in the Disney canon. For starters, the animation style is completely different from anything else in its repertoire. Obviously inspired by Ralph Bakshi (of Felix the Cat fame), the movie features garish perspectives, serious abuse of zoom (in almost every scene), and an attempt at urban grittiness which Walt Disney never knew in his entire life.

And yet here it is, Oliver & Company, wherein an orphaned kitten falls in with a crowd of dogs-cum-hustlers, only to end up adopted into a rich girl's house. A kidnappng and rescue plot (pushing the boundaries of the G rating) ensues -- ironically, it's the best part of the movie.

It's all very precious and, at 74 minutes long, mostly harmless, but the animation, story, and voice acting never unfortunately gel into a real movie. The static, flat backgrounds combined with the ridiculous, nonstop zooming make you think you're watching Saturday morning cartoons on access TV. And dig the voice cast -- Billy Joel, Bette Midler, and Dom DeLuise have probably never appeared in the same movie since -- and that's a good thing, I'm certain of it.

Facts and Figures

Year: 1988

Run time: 74 mins

In Theaters: Friday 18th November 1988

Production compaines: Walt Disney Pictures, Silver Screen Partners III

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 2.5 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 43%
Fresh: 15 Rotten: 20

IMDB: 6.7 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director: George Scribner

Screenwriter: Jim Cox, Timothy J. Disney, James Mangold

Starring: Joey Lawrence as Oliver (voice), Billy Joel as Dodger (voice), Cheech Marin as Tito (voice), Richard Mulligan as Einstein (voice), Roscoe Lee Browne as Francis (voice), Sheryl Lee Ralph as Rita (voice), Dom DeLuise as Fagin (voice), Taurean Blacque as Roscoe (voice), Carl Weintraub as Desoto (voice), Robert Loggia as Sykes (voice), Natalie Gregory as Jenny (voice), William Glover as Winston (voice), Bette Midler as Carlo (voice), Deborah Gates as Additional Voice (voice), Charles Bartlett as Additional Voice (voice), Jonathan Brandis as Additional Voice (voice), Kal David as Additional Voice (voice), Marcia Del Mar as Additional Voice (voice), Victor DiMattia as Additional Voice (voice), Judi M. Durand as Additional Voice (voice), Greg Finley as Additional Voice (voice), Javier Grajeda as Additional Voice (voice)

Also starring: Jim Cox, James Mangold