Oliver & Company (1988)

User Review

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  TheMovieDiorama

  6 / 10

  Oliver and Company needs more "hot dawg" meat to its "New Yark City" setting. 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.

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