Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

A Brilliant Conflict

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Most certainly one of the lesser known entries in Disney's canon and unfortunately one of the most forgettable. A modernisation of Dickens' Oliver Twist, a homeless kitten joins a gang of dogs learning to survive on the rough urban streets of the Big Apple. Doesn't sound like Oliver Twist right? Well, Oliver is a ginger kitten, Fagin looks after the dogs, Dodger is the cool canine and Sykes is a loan shark wanting money back from Fagin. The backbone of the source material is embedded within this animation, which is most of its appeal. It's interesting to see how Disney altered the classic novel to develop a more cutesy interpretation. I do believe it worked. The characters were twisted and processed in order to adapt to the gritty environment surrounding them. New York City has never looked so intimidating, the hand drawn animation style enhances that aesthetic appeal which ultimately makes the city its own character. The first ten minutes illustrates this well as we witness Oliver precariously wandering the overcrowded streets. No dialogue, just the hustle and bustle of daily lives. It pulls you in. The story is well paced, moves extremely briskly and does contain some memorable characters. The voice acting, particularly Billy Joel, were believable and matched the movement of the animation. High energy levels and street-smart dialects. So why is it forgettable? 73 minute runtime. Far too short to create a compelling story involving musical numbers. It's so brisk that it never lets you breathe and take in the story. The occasional emotional scenes just can't deliver the impact it's desiring because we have yet to connect we these characters. Oliver is supposedly the main character, yet I'm fairly certain Georgette has the most screen time (including her own song). 'Georgette and Company' would've been more fitting. Overall, it's a perfectly watchable animation that makes full usage of its environment, but one that can't quite achieve the magic of Disney's precious work.

Disney has always been good at providing well-made family entertainment high quality. Oliver & Company is no exception. A fun fast paced adventure which boasts a good voice cast Oliver & Company is the kind of great family entertainment we come to expect from the mouse-house. A modern day retelling of Oliver Twist with an all canine cast this is a fun and exciting movie. Being Disney it works for all ages. The animation is good , the songs are good and the characters are lovable and fun. I highly recommend that any parent show this film to their children. No one does it like Disney ! you will not regret it. It's a movie that the whole family will enjoy. Because when it comes to Disney (especially before 2000)you you can guarantee that a lot of care and skill went into the film. Like the man who started the company Disney always gives (With the exception of those dreadful Disney Channel Original Movies and series and Disney XD original series)a hundred percent !

I had seen the video trailer for this Disney cartoon movie many times, and as time went by I had found out more bits and pieces about it, such as the voice cast and premise, but it is odd I never watched it as a child, I wasn't going to miss my opportunity when it came. Basically it is the famous Charles Dickens story of Oliver Twist, with a twist, cats and dogs, and only a few humans, play the central roles, the plot is a little altered but pretty much the same, and it is set in modern day 1980's New York City. Little orphaned kitten Oliver (Joseph 'Joey' Lawrence) is the only one of a litter not to be taken by passers by, and winds up alone in the Big Apple, but after being tricked to assisting a laid back streetwise Jack Russell Terrier dog named Dodger (Billy Joel) steal a string of sausages from a hot dog stand Oliver is taken in by the dog's gang. The Dodger is part of a small gang of dog pickpockets, and their leader is human pickpocket Fagin (Dom DeLuise), the other dogs friends are Tito the Chihuahua (Richard 'Cheech' Marin), Einstein the Great Dane (Richard Mulligan), Rita the Saluki (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and Francis the Bulldog (Roscoe Lee Browne). The kitten joins the gang, they are selling shoddy good and stealing money and valuable stuff so that Fagin can pay back ruthless shipyard agent and loan shark Sykes (Robert Loggia), during one particular trip however Oliver gets caught in a limousine by it's passenger, little girl Jenny Foxworth (Natalie Gregory), and butler Winston (William Glover). Jenny's rich parents are away travelling the world, so she is allowed to adopt the lonely kitten, but his presence enrages and caused jealousy from family pompous and pampered poodle Georgette (Bette Midler), until Dodger and the gang eventually find them, and take him from the house. Oliver explains he was happy to be treated kindly and have a real home, Dodger feels disheartened and lets him leave, but Fagin hears the kitten has been taken in by someone rich, he comes up with the idea to ransom him so that his owner will pay a large amount for his return, he tells this plan to Sykes as well. Jenny finds the ransom note and follows the instructions, taking Georgette with her, Fagin realises the owner is an innocent little girl and his conscience takes over, but as he gives her kitten back freely Sykes comes out of the shadows and kidnaps the girl to ransom her, Dodger and the gang chase after the villain, until Sykes is defeated by a train collision on the Brooklyn Bridge. In the end Oliver is reunited happily with Jenny, she celebrates her birthday with the animals, Fagin and Winston, the butler tells the girl the news that her parents are returning home from Rome the following day, Oliver chooses to stay in his new home, but promises to stay in touch with Dodger and the rest of the gang. Also starring Taurean Blacque as Roscoe and Carl Weintraub as Desoto. Joel is cool as the singing dog who knows all the tricks of the trade, Midler is great singing and being the spoilt but hard to resist bitch, but for me the best wisecracks and best inimitable performance was from Cheech, his brash tones and urban dialogue made his character the most fun. As for the film itself, the story is told as well as you would expect for a revamping of a classic, and most of the songs are catchy and snappy enough, I agree compared to other Disney films it doesn't have quite the same charm, but if your looking for a cartoon romp for all the family this is a very likable animated musical comedy drama. It was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Original Song for "Why Should I Worry?". Good!

I first purchased this as a present back in 1997(16 years ago)on VHS and to this day I still watch this movie. From the beginning I literally shed an odd tear for the movie's main charcther Oliver(voiced by Joey Lawrence when he was a kid)who is an orphan kitten that was looking for a good home,but nobody wanted him AT ALL. So enter Dodger(voiced by singer Billy Joel)who is a streetwise dog,that looks after Oliver along with his other mutt friends including a irritating dog,a dog that wants to be an actor,a goofy dog and a female dog (who I'm really not kidding here has EYE SHADOW!!). Meanwhile later on in the movie we meet another girl called Jenny who finds Oliver tangled up in wires as Oliver was teaming up with the irritating dog who later has a thing for a poodle(voiced by another singer Bette Midler) that belongs to Jenny.But who will Oliver choose; Dodger the dog and his owner Fagin(voiced by Dom Deluise) and the other mutts or Jenny the sweet and innocent red head that you cannot help but love?Bottom line I loved this movie since I was a child and to this day I still have it on VHS all the time and it never fails to bring a tear in my eye(yes you gotta be a cynical moron not to cry over this movie).The songs were great especially Billy Joel's song Why Should I Worry and the other song In Good Company sung by the little girl Jenny.This movie was witty,cute,sad,entertaining and a feel good movie.For that I'm giving it an 8 out of 10. A 10 is too much as the movie can be a bit silly with the whole talking animals but if your an animal lover and you love 101 Dalmatians,Lady & The Tramp then check it out.