Oliver and Company Review: Disney Marathon

Spoilers

Disney has a tradition of looking at a successful classic story and thinking to themselves “Hmm, I like it but it’s not Disney enough” so they just change all of the characters into animals. This happened with Robin Hood, The Great Mouse Detective and now Oliver & Company a movie based on Oliver Twist, now featuring dogs and cats. This is the last movie of the Disney bronze age. A time period of movies nobody really cares about but as I’ve established throughout these reviews, actually has some pretty alright movies in it. I’d say there wasn’t a huge quality drop after Walt’s death like many claim there is. Well other than Aristocats. After this we get to the films people have actually seen. Yippie. So, let’s finish the dark ages of Disney as I review Oliver & Company.

The film opens with the song “Once Upon A Time In New York City” and it’s catchy. It narrates exactly what is happening to the point where I found it quite funny though. What is happening though? Well, an orange kitten named Oliver is in a box with his fellow kittens, ready to be adopted. Since redheads are discriminated against nobody picks Oliver and the rain melts away his box leading to him living on the streets now. The song stops and we cut to the next morning. A dog named Dodger (voiced by the one and only Billy Joel who sung classics like “We Didn’t Start the Fire”) tells Oliver that he can help him get some hot dogs if they work together. Once the two pair up to steal the hot dogs Dodger runs off with all of the loot. This is where one of the most underrated Disney songs ever plays. Dodger sings the song “Why Should I Worry” performed by Billy Joel of course and it’s a catchy song about not caring, as if you’re streetwise you can do whatever you want. I’ve been listening to this song on repeat since I finished this movie, definitely give it a listen if you haven’t already. Dodger is great, he’s carefree, effortlessly cool, and as already mentioned, voiced by Billy Joel.

Oliver as a character is forgettable. He hasn’t really got much agency and just ends up going along with whatever is happening for most of the movie. There’s not much more to say, he’s probably the most forgettable character in a movie named after him.

Oliver follows Dodger into his hideout where we meet the rest of Dodger’s gang. Tito, Einstein, Rita, and Francis. Quick fire round on these characters, go. Mexican stereotype + being horny over any lady dogs + getting easily annoyed = Tito. I don’t like him, he’s annoying and mildly racist. Einstein is super forgettable; I can’t remember his deal. Francis is the posh dog because he’s British, I guess. Rita is the woman. That is her character. Done. They all think Oliver is a spy but Dodger tells them he’s cool. Their owner Fagin comes in. He notifies the dogs that the loan shark Bill Sykes is after him yet since the dogs failed to steal much money today, he doesn’t have enough to pay the loan shark. Fagin goes out to see Bill who is a great villain just because of how intimidating he is in this one scene. He sits in his car and almost kills Fagin twice just with his car door. He almost decapitates him in the door window and eventually uses the car door to push Fagin into the ocean. He gives Fagin three days to get him the money or he’ll kill him. Bill’s dogs Roscoe and DeSoto mess with Fagin’s dogs, destroying their TV and once they see Oliver they chase after him. Oliver ends up scratching one of them (I can’t remember which one, they both look the same), making them even more angry but before they can get to Oliver Dodger and the rest of the doggies protect Oliver.

Fagin is the best part of this movie. Fagin is a petty criminal who at first seems a bit morally ambiguous but turns out to have a heart of gold. He immediately welcomes Oliver into the gang, even reading him and the dogs a bedtime story. He’s always down on his luck but doesn’t let any of that stop him from being a great guy.

Oliver ends up cuddling into Dodger as thanks for protecting him from Roscoe and DeSoto earlier and giving him a home. This scene looks cute but I felt was unearned. Dodger has done more bad than good to Oliver at this point so I don’t think Oliver should regard him as a parent / guardian yet which is what this scene implies.

Oliver who is now part of the gang goes out on a crime spree with the other dogs and Fagin. Fagin goes off to scam someone and the dogs and Oliver go elsewhere to commit some crimes. This is where Rita sings the song “Streets of Gold” it’s pretty good, to be honest this whole soundtrack is a bop. It’s her explaining how great the gang is, and that they can get whatever they want.

They notice a limousine and I really don’t know what their plan is. Einstein pretends to have been hit by it which could have been used to get money if they were people. Then Tito and Oliver attempt to do something in the car, apparently it was to steal a radio but I didn’t remember them mentioning anything like that in the movie and I only watched the film a few days back. Tito gets electrocuted out of the car and Oliver ends up being taken by the little girl in the back of the limo, Jenny. This is where the movie stops being good for the most part. Until this point it’s a fun story of a cat joining a gang of criminal dogs. The next section of the film is dedicated to Oliver being adopted by some little girl. Yay.

Jenny lives in a mansion with her butler Winston and a dog called Georgette. Georgette is the only good things about these Jenny scenes. She’s a spoiled poodle who gets tired of all of the attention Oliver is getting. She thinks she is perfect and is an entertaining character because of that. She sings the song “Perfect Isn’t Evil” which just like the rest of the soundtrack is great.

We get a scene of Oliver and Jenny bonding with the song “Good Company” playing over it which whilst not as good as the rest of the soundtrack is still really good. Oliver ends up seeing Jenny as his real family, Oliver you cheating whore you just left a much more entertaining family go back there please.

Meanwhile Fagin’s dogs plan to break Oliver out, believing that he has been kidnapped. The breakout scene is pretty great, although there’s a bit too much of Tito being a creep to Georgette. Georgette helps them break out Oliver as a way to get rid of him. They essentially kidnap Oliver and take him back to Fagin.

Oliver tells them he wants to go back to Jenny which pisses Dodger off, but before he can abandon the best part of the film Fagin walks in and realises that a rich family has adopted Oliver due to his collar. Fagin goes to Bill and tells him his plan to sell Oliver back to the family, Bill says that this is Fagin’s last chance. Fagin sends a letter to the rich family telling them he has Oliver and won’t give him back without money.

When Jenny arrives and Fagin realises that he’s just stolen the pet of a little child he gives Oliver back without charging anything. I love Fagin so much; I love characters that have done bad stuff in the past but are the nicest people in the world now and have truly changed even though their past still haunts them. Definitely one of the reasons I love Iroh from Avatar so much. Bill kidnaps Jenny wanting to hold her ransom to her wealthy family. He tells Fagin to consider their account closed.

Instead of ignoring Bill and going on with his day, now a free man from the loan sharks, Fagin decides to rescue Jenny with his dogs, Georgette and Oliver.

This scene is great, it starts with a breakout scene which escalates into an escape scene once they’re caught. The heroes run away from Bill and his two dogs throughout New York City. During this scene Fagin and Company (that’s what the movie should have been called) murder Bill and his doggos (yikes). After this they do a fake death scene with Oliver. I don’t even know what was meant to have fake killed Oliver either, this scene is shit. Disney always does this; they pretend to kill one of the main characters after the films climax but never go through with it so you know they’re definitely alive. Just please kill someone. Please.

After returning Jenny home Winston and Fagin become friends, Tito and Georgette end up together which Tito regrets when she wants to give him a makeover (err). And Oliver ends up living with Jenny but stays friends with Dodger and co and everything ends well. Well, until inevitably the police find Bills body and a lengthy investigation will link Fagin to the murder and he’ll be arrested and his dogs probably put down for being dangerous dogs involved in the murder, but we’ll ignore that inevitable future.

The movie looks great. It’s one of the best animated versions of New York City, and interestingly one of the only animated movies to not edit out the twin towers after 9/11. Its vibrant, colourful and the use of product placement weirdly enhances the film. New York is one of the few places where I find product placement really works. What is New York other than a giant advert for products after all.

The bronze age of Disney seems to love having movies that could have been so much more. If you remove Jenny and make it a movie exclusively about Oliver joining a criminal dog gang with a heart of gold it would have been so much better. Have a few more scenes with Bill as he’s great when he appears. Get rid of Tito. Give Oliver a character and now we have a great film.

It’s such a mixed bag that I went between giving it a 4/10 to a 7/10. I’ll settle on a 6 / 10 which I think it deserves but I can tell why people have such mixed opinions on this movie. Tomorrow it’s time for the Disney Renaissance. Next up we have The Little Mermaid.

6 / 10