The Making of Oliver & Company/ Disney's Animated Animals/Oliver & Company Scrapbook/Publicity Materials: Original Trailer/2 sing-a-longs: "Why Should I Worry" and "Streets of Gold"/"Lend A Paw,"/"Puss Cafe,"/"Oliver's Big City Challenge."

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.***

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."

Image & Sound:

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.

Final Words: