Alas, some of the best old Disney movies are terribly underrated. Films such as Basil: The Great Mouse Detective, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and A Goofy Movie are very unjustly buried by the bigger budgeted critics-favourite animations eg. Aladdin, The Lion King. Oliver & Company, one of my favourite Disney films, if not actually my favourite, is a perfect example of a Disney film that is terribly underrated. Oliver is also a perfect example of how Disney films can be separated into categories. Historically, there are two kinds of movies that Walt Disney has made, although each kind was brilliant in its own way. There were timeless fairy tales that he would tell in his own unique perspective and vision. And then there was classic literature that he would adapt to a contemporary setting, of which Oliver is a fantastic example.
Based on the timeless classic Oliver Twist, it sets its story in 1980s New York, with the majority of its main characters as animals. Superior storytelling, unbelievable animation, great songs, wonderful characters and tremendous vocal performances, by name stars such as Bette Midler, Cheech Marin, the hilarious Dom DeLuise, and the undoubtedly talented Billy Joel, who stars in his first acting role as the cool deuteragonist of the film, Dodger, make this is an unique and utterly brilliant Disney film that is special in every way.
The film starts with poor Oliver (voiced by Joey Lawrence) abandoned on the tough streets of 1988 New York City. However, his life is turned around when he is befriended by cool and jaunty Dodger (voiced by Billy Joel), who introduces him to his gang: a group of criminal dogs, led by human pickpocket Fagin (pricelessly voiced by Dom DeLuise), who is in serious debt to the malicious Sykes (voiced by Robert Loggia). The gang consists of thespian bulldog Francis (Roscoe Lee Browne); the loyal Great Dane, Einstein (Richard Mulligan); mad and determined Chihuahua, Tito (Cheech Marin); and sassy female Rita (Sheryl Lee Ralph). When Oliver is adopted by a lonely rich girl, Jenny, his fellow pet, the pampered Georgette (hilariously voiced by Bette Midler) becomes jealous and orders Fagin’s gang to remove him. After a series of misfortunate events, Oliver, Dodger, Georgette, Fagin and his gang must band together to save the kidnapped Jenny from the evil clutches of the money-seizing Sykes.
So, as you can tell from its plot, it’s not one of Disney’s most joyful and childish cartoons, which is probably where its’ appeal lies for this reviewer. Of course, dark cartoons are allowed an element of humour. I discovered this recently. When making our 30-minute cartoon Operation Alley Cat, which is very dark in nature, we asked comedic double act David Wallace and Alan Orr of PACE Theatre Company to provide the voices of supporting characters Nicky and David the Siamese twin cats, asking them to improvise most of their lines in order to perfectly capture their trademark banter. Upon reading the script for the first time, neither Alan nor David initially saw how they could be comedic characters in the dark context of the film but later saw how, when encouraged to ad-lib during the recording sessions, letting their imaginations go wild. And let me tell you, they gave us exactly what we were hoping for, and much more! And the hilarious amount of middle names Alan improvised for his character makes me feel embarrassed that my full name is Mark Joseph Flood. I do feel bad teasing some jokes when the movie is nearly 2 years away from being released, but anyway, humour is displayed in Oliver mainly through the supporting characters of Tito, Einstein, Francis, Fagin and even Georgette and Dodger to some extent.
Directed superbly by George Scribner, and written by Tim Disney, James Mangold (who would later direct the mediocre 2010 summer blockbuster Knight and Day) and Jim Cox (who has also written classics such as The Rescuers Down Under and FernGully: The Last Rainforest, and produced Over the Hedge), Oliver and Company never ceases to entertain its audience once in its electrifying and thrilling 70 minute running time. Its climax (which I’m not going to ruin, but you MUST see it) always leaves its watchers breathless.
The film also makes fantastic use of computer generated imagery (the technology was just emerging at the time). After being used in The Black Cauldron and in the explosive climax of Basil: The Great Mouse Detective, the technology comes of age in this film, blending stunning computer effects with hand-drawn animation, combining to make an immensely staggering final image, which was considered almost revolutionary in 1988. The film is packed with fantastic songs, including “Streets of Gold”, “Good Company” and “Once Upon a Time in New York”, but the best by a long shot is Dodger’s wonderful, jaunty song “Why Should I Worry”, performed by the hugely talented Billy Joel.
The characters positively shine with three-dimensionality and likeability. While Oliver is extremely likeable as the young hero, Tito is a laugh and a half, and Fagin is hysterical as the main comic relief of the film (thanks to the great vocals of Dom DeLuise), it is Dodger who is the standout of the film, with his jaunty, chilled-out personality and unforgettable voice of Billy Joel.
What must also be noted from the screening in Medicinema was that the film (which was actually the projection of my DVD of the film, sorry for spoiling that for you, folks that were expecting the big 35mm prints foraged out from the Disney vault) was in fact projected in CinemaScope 2:35:1, cinematic widescreen, rather than the film’s usual aspect ratio of television widescreen 1:66:1. While chopping little bits (almost entirely unnoticable) off the top and bottom of the image, it gave the film a much more cinematic feel and dimension that can only really be experienced fully in the cinema, as when we take home a movie actually filmed in CinemaScope, we just get the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, which are just annoying.
With its toe-tapping songs and eye-candy visuals, Oliver and Company is a real treat, especially when it comes to family entertainment. Not only that, it conveys its morals with so much heart that it is hard not to get very involved in the coolness and likeability of a film that proves to the world that no one can beat pure Disney heart and warmth.
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