Customer Reviews

Oliver & Company [VHS]

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

During the 80's, the studio hit an artistic, creative, and commercial slump. However, I still find that I quite enjoy Disney's 80's films, many of which experimented with computer animation, non-musical storylines, and different source materials. One of my favorite pre-Little Mermaid 80's Disney films is Oliver and Company. Boasting a soundtrack filled with great songs and a wonderful cast of characters, Oliver and Company finally gets the DVD treatment, albeit a less-than-stellar one.

For one, the transfer is good, but it could be much better and it has a fair amount of grain.

The bonus features could have been much better as well. A few fluff EPK-type featurettes, which are nice, but still fluffy, are sadly enough the meat of the bonuses. Also included, fortunately, are the original trailer, original TV spot, and the 1995 re-release trailer. Two sing-alongs are included as well as two classic Disney short cartoons.

Overall, it's nice to see Oliver and Company on DVD at last. This is probably the best DVD edition Disney will give it for at least a while, so if you're considering picking it up, go for it.

Poor, abandoned kitten Oliver is homeless on the streets of 1980s New York City, until he meets a streetwise dog named Dodger. The cool canine takes Oliver under his wing and, with the help of the rest of his all-dog pickpocket gang, begins to teach him how to survive on the wrong side of the law. But when one of their con jobs goes awry, Oliver ends up in the hands of a sweet, lonely, little rich girl named Jenny. Suddenly, Oliver is living the high-life in a Fifth Avenue penthouse, much to the chagrin of Jenny's prize-winning, pampered poodle, Georgette. When the old gang shows up to rescue Oliver from his ritzy new life, they're disappointed to find that he wants to stay with Jenny. Their human ringleader, Fagin, however, is more than happy to send Oliver home, if he can get a healthy ransom in the process. Fagin isn't really a bad guy, he's just one step above homeless and has a really nasty loan-shark breathing down his neck. Jenny shows up on the dark and dangerous docks to pay Oliver's ransom and rescue her little kitty, and her sadness is too much for Fagin to take, but loan-shark Sykes has no troubles from a conscience and sees a chance to make even more dirty money. He snatches up Jenny and plans to hold HER for ransom! Suddenly, Oliver, Dodger, Fagin and the gang find themselves on a desperate rescue mission to save Jenny from the ruthless Sykes and his bloodthirsty Doberman Pinschers, Roscoe and Desoto, and even Georgette is getting in on the heroic action!

There's no doubt about it, Disney's wonderfully charming classic "Oliver and Company" is one of the most dated animated films you'll ever see. Of course, that's a big part of its charm. What could be more "`80s" than 1980s New York City? How about the music of Billy Joel and Huey Lewis? I know they were two favorites of mine in the `80s! Okay, to be honest, Billy Joel and Huey Lewis aside, the `80s is something you look back on and mock rather than view fondly, especially the clothes, and Oliver and Company captures that aspect, along with many others, perfectly. So, it's dated. Everything is, really. Call it nostalgia. Anywho, as strongly `80s as "Oliver and Company" is, it rises above it! It is simply a great film! That's something that's easy to forget if you haven't seen it in a while. "Oliver and Company" is Disney's twist on Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist," and it is an EXCELLENT modernization! All the best characters are there, and the cast is star-studded! The piano man himself, Billy Joel, voices the artful Dodger, a canine so cool he puts Snoopy to shame (we still love ya, Snoopy)! The hilarious Cheech Marin is Tito the Chihuahua, animation alumnus Dom Deluise is Fagin, the divine Bette Midler is one of Disney's funniest characters as Georgette, Robert Loggia is the excellently slimy villain, Sykes, and a very young Joey Lawrence plays Oliver, just to name a few! With seamlessly incorporated computer animation and painstakingly acquired "dog's eye view" shots of New York City, "Oliver and Company" was the film that kicked off Disney's big comeback as an animation heavyweight, though this cute little film was easily forgotten in the wake of Disney's mega-hit, "The Little Mermaid," the following year. But don't let that stop you from enjoying the magic of "Oliver and Company" yourself! Even the soundtrack is terrific, despite that it is powerfully "80s." And, it's amazing how well Disney has translated "Oliver Twist" into a tale about cats and dogs on the streets of New York without losing the heart of the tale and its underlying messages. The DVD is fantastic as well, especially for a single-disc Disney release! This is the way DVDs should be! In addition to the widescreen presentation of the film, you get a behind the scenes featurette from the original theatrical release, 2 shorter featurettes, a TV spot, theatrical trailers, a scrapbook gallery of art and other materials, 2 sing-along-songs, and the best part: You get two classic Disney shorts! Included as extras are "Puss Cafe," a hilarious Pluto cartoon where the pup goes up against two troublesome felines invading his backyard, and "Lend a Paw," the Oscar winning Mickey Mouse short in which Pluto saves a kitten from drowning and quickly regrets it. Outstanding stuff, and an amazing selection of extras for a single-disc Disney DVD! Rediscover this Disney Classic on DVD today! You won't regret it!

This Disney release is a joy - especially considering the poor film-only DVD releases of late on Region 2 format.

Oliver and Company has been given a quality treatment and the DVD boasts the new technology with an animated menu and sound (not just a static picture). From the menu you can choose your various options including the well-endowed Bonus Features section.

The Bonus Features are fitting and plentiful including a lovely animated short (cartoon) called `Puss Café' from Disney's Golden Age. The 14 page extensive gallery with conceptual art, character development and layouts makes for good viewing and is a rare peak in to the wonderful making of the film progress which is also documented in an ample featurette.

In addition to these features Disney have also included a short featurette on the theatrical re-release of the film as well as a featurette on the animation of Disney animals throughout Disney history - a gem of a bonus on this disc.

In true Disney style, as on R1 DVD releases, the DVD also has two Sing Along features.

The presentation, detail and consideration that has gone in to this DVD release sets a high standard for the new wave of UK DVDs from Disney. The included documentaries feature interviews with Bette Midler and Billy Joel et al. and are padded with interesting information which fans will welcome.

This film is a historic one for Disney - just note the trial of CGI and rebirth of Disney magic under the omniscient eye of Roy Disney in his foundation attempts to regain dwindling love for the House of Mouse.

A winning feature with no flaws - and many paws.

Oliver & Company was the last film of Disney's so-called "dark age" during the '80s, an era that started back in 1979, when the great financial failure of "The Black Hole" led the company into great monetary problems which somewhat affected the quality of the projects that followed. This 1988 film produced by Walt Disney Pictures wore the tag-line of "The first Disney movie with attitude", something that may have made it popular back in the late '80s but that somehow fell as the years passed. Frankly, the"attitude" may just be the reason the film doesn't pass being mediocre and why it'll probably take a very long time for it to become any sort of a real classic. The film lacks in many aspects, especially artistically.

Very loosely adapted from Charles Dickens' timeless novel, "Oliver Twist", "Oliver & Company" follows the adventures of a small kitten named Oliver in his search for a home and a family to which he can belong. Oliver first meets Dodger, a street-wise, "cool" dog (voiced by Billy Joel) who introduces him to Fagin's band of canine thieves. Fagin is a homeless man who is in debt with the evil ganster, Sykes. His group of dogs, the attractive Rita, the elderly Einstein, the art-loving Francis and the wanna-be-cool (or insufferable) chihuahua, Tito, try to help him out by stealing throughout the dangerous streets of New York City. In one of their adventures, Oliver is accidentally taken away by a rich girl named Jenny (who bares a more than obvious resemblance to Penny from the previous 1977 hit film, "The Rescuers"), and the little kitten can't help but to finally feel at home in his new 5th Avenue mansion; even if he must deal with the six-time national champion dog, Georgette. When Oliver is "rescued" and brought back once again to his previous home with Fagin and his gang, all of them become part of Sykes's wicked scheme to recover his lost money; at the same time, all of their lives might be in great danger.

Definitely one of Walt Disney Pictures's weakest efforts since Walt Disney's Nine Old Men left the company in the late '70s. Though the animation is mostly good, Disney did try for a realistic New York City, adding touches such as dirt, trash, advertising, vandalized walls... all together creating a very unappealing setting indeed. Perhaps, and I'm not sure if many would agree, a more idealistic view of New York City, even if less accurate, would have worked better and given the film a better outlook. The scenes taking place in 5th Avenue or Central Park are definitely among the best in terms of visual appeal. The next, and perhaps even worst, flaw is the insufferable voice acting. Though often praised as grand, I personally think that the choices were very poor. Yes, Billy Joel, Bette Midler and others are wonderful singers and actors, but that doesn't necessarily guarantee good voice acting. The wanna-sound-cool Cheech Marin takes the cake as the most insufferable, unbearable, annoying, repulsive Disney voice actor ever and his role here as Tito is definitely the very worst (He went by rather unnoticed in "The Lion King" as Banzai, one of the hyenas); I couldn't help but cringe whenever Tito opened his mouth. The songs are mostly good but a bit on the overrated side; only "Once Upon a Time in New York City" and "Good Company" come off to me as great, the rest are only so-so. So in the end and overall, the film is enjoyable to watch from time to time, even with its lack in the artistic and sound department, it does have a number of endearing characters, good animation and an interesting and rather unusual plot. Very different from what the term "Disney classic" has meant in the company's good years, but still tolerable. Recommended.

I really adore this movie. It's been one of my favorites for a while. The songs are really good and I've memorized them all. My favorite song is definitley "Once Upon a Time in New York City". It matches my voice perfectly which is odd because it's also my favorite song.

It's difficult to define an era of Disney as lesser or greater than another. The 1980's are thought of as a lesser era, yet they produced The Fox and the Hound, The Great Mouse Detective, and The Little Mermaid, three classics of the Disney canon. That three out of six movies released by the studio in ten years weren't classics doesn't show how low Disney had gone as much as it proves how high their standards had been previously.

Oliver and Company is a cute movie, but it is also thoroughly mediocre. Young kids will love it, as young children like every animated movie. But, unlike most Disney movies, Oliver and Company doesn't hold up for adults. I watched it for the first time in ten years last night, and my attention wandered away on several occasions. The characters aren't as well-developed, their interactions aren't as enjoyable, as in other Disney films. What this feels like is a Disney movie going through the motions, which is the way you can tell the bad ones from the classics.

This 1988 was the 27th animated feature to come from the Walt Disney Company. It is somewhat loosely based on the Charles Dickens Oliver Twist story. Set in New York City, this tale is about Oliver (voiced by teen star Joey Lawrence), a homeless kitten who is befriended by Dodger (Billy Joel), a loveable mutt who leads a gang of dogs that must scrounge the NYC streets to get by. The gang is owned by Fagin (Dom Deluise), a down-on-his-luck man who is in debt to a ruthless loan shark named Sykes (Robert Loggia). During a bungled petty-theft attempt, Oliver is adopted by a rich young girl named Jenny (Natalie Gregory). Oliver is quite happy to be in a loving home, but the gang misses him and thinks they need to "rescue" him. Once they get him back, Oliver admits he was happy with Jenny; Fagin sees this as his opportunity to blackmail Jenny's family for the money to repay Sykes. However, even this gets bungled as Fagin's heart warms to Jenny's pleas to get Oliver back. Just as Fagin is about to "do the right thing," the evil Sykes swoops in with his Dobermans and kidnaps Jenny for his own reward. You'll have to watch the film to see how it ends!

Somehow, "Oliver and Company" just doesn't have the total hallmark of quality that you would expect from a Disney animated film. The characters and story are just fine, but the animation is inconsistent. This was the first Disney film to use computer animation to a higher degree, and the experimentation shows. The style of the movie attempts to mimic the look of 101 Dalmatians (Two-Disc Platinum Edition) and The Aristocats (Special Edition), but ends up resembling a Saturday morning cartoon instead. As for the character animation, the emotion and depth that you would expect from Disney is definitely apparent. Oliver the cat is extremely loveable and expressive, and Tito bears all the fun and sass you would expect from a character being voiced by Cheech Marin. My overall opinion of the animation is that it would appear that it was a fresh young team not quite as experienced as the "old regime" of the "Nine Old Men" who created the classic DIsney library that we all know and love.

There are plenty of fun characters here though; Bette Midler voices Georgette, a snooty and vain poodle owned by Jenny who is jealous of Oliver, the family's newcomer. Tito the Chihuahua is my favorite; Cheech Marin's voice and the animators combined their talents to create a very memorable character who has taken a liking to Georgette, although she initially wants nothing to do with a street dog. Dom DeLuise is characteristically a little over-the-top with Fagin, making it a little difficult to feel much sympathy for his situation. In previous live-action versions of this tale, Fagin is a scoundrel but the actors playing him also give him enough charm and heart that you definitely feel a connnection. Billy Joel does an amazing job as Dodger; Disney was unsure whether he had the chops to do a voice-over; his phone-in audition convinced them, and he is a masterstroke of casting.

There is plenty of talent in this film; Huey Lewis sings the movie's first song played over the credits, "Once Upon a Time in New York City." Georgette's big number, "Perfect Isn't Easy," sung by Midler, was co-written by Barry Manilow. Ruth Pointer of the Pointer Sisters also lends her singing talents to the cast.

The sub-par for Disney animation shouldn't disuade you from watching this film; it truly is a cute movie with a heartwarming tale and memorable characters. This 20th Anniversary Edition also has a handful of fun extras:

Backstage Disney:

* The Making of Oliver & Company (5:30): This vintage documentary (most likely made at the time of the film's release gives a short overview of what went into the creation of the film. Taking 2.5 years to make and over 120,000 cels, this featurette works hard to convince audiences that traditional Disney animation is alive and well, and that computers are just a new tool with which the animators can expand their craft. "Don't look for computers to replace human animators at Disney." Roy Disney pops in to evoke his Uncle Walt, and explains how the animators pushed the computers to their limit by asking what they were capable of. Glen Keane, the supervising animator, explains the part CGI played in Bette Midler's big number, coming down a staircase. Keane breathlessly explains that without computers, the shot of Midler could never have been done in the past. I find this hard to believe when Iooking at the marvels created in the past by Disney's original animation team.

* Disney's Animated Animals (1:27): Another vintage featurette that is more fluff than anything else.

* Oliver & Company Scrapbook: 14 "pages" that show Concept Art, Story Development, Character Development, Behind-The-Scenes photos, and Publicity. This is a solid extra.

* Publicity Materials: Original Trailer (1988), TV Spot (1989), Re-release (1996), and "Return of a Classic"

* Fun Film Facts: 9 "pages" of behind-the-scenes info.

Music & More:

* 2 sing-a-longs: "Why Should I Worry" and "Streets of Gold"

Bonus Shorts:

* "Lend A Paw," a 1941 Mickey Mouse cartoon featuring Pluto, who discovers a cute little kitten that quickly takes Pluto's place in Mickey's home. Plagued by jealousy, Pluto's conscience has a battle, as a Pluto Devil and Angel attempt to sway the poor dog to their side. Pluto's jealousy initially wins out, causing Mickey to kick him out of the house. When the kitten falls down the well, Pluto is given the opportunity to redeem himself; which side will he choose?!?

* "Puss Cafe," a 1951 Pluto short that shows a less loveable Pluto than the previous short; this time around, he must defend his territory again from two cats who want to steal his food.

The one new extra is a game, "Oliver's Big City Challenge."

Technical specs: Video is widescreen (1.66:1) and enhanced for 16x9 TVs; Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, with Spanish & French language tracks. Both audio and video are good; the audio doesn't really give the speakers much of a workout, and definitely has a "vintage" feel to it.

I saw this movie last night ( Again) and I loved it!I hadn't seen since I was little, and I'm 12 now. My favorite song is, "Why should I worry?" but I think the 1st song dragged on and on ( and I don't like songs that do that) You may be suprised, but Dodger's not my favorite dog! I love Rita because she reminds me of my best friends, Callie and Kirstie. I can't believe someone called Tito annoying! he's my 2nd favorite!

Great disney movie! Great songs by Billy Joel, Huey Lewis and The News and others. Oliver, a homeless kitten, meets Dodger (voiced by Billy Joel) and his gang. Soon, Oliver is living on 5th Avenue living the life until he is "rescued" by Dodger and the others.

If I could, I would rate this film 3.5 stars. It was okay. Not as good as other Disney movies, but okay. However, the characters were great. I personally liked Tito and Francis best. Georgette was also great. Tito was a spunky, fearless chihuaha (I know that's spelled wrong) and Francis was an intelligent-talking dog with a taste for high-class items. Then Georgette was an egomaniacal ("Perfection is Me") pampered poodle whom is also hilarious.

As for the other characters, they were good, too. The homeless guy, Fegin, was okay, just kind of pathetic. I didn't like the part when he wrote that ransom note and lied to Jenny about finding Oliver. It just didn't seem . . . right for a "good" guy to do.

The movie as a whole? Well, like I said, not as good as the other Disney movies, but it defintely has something going for it: great, rememberable characters.