Review of Oliver & Company (1988) by Mercedes M — 05 Mar 2010

Oliver and Company is Disney's take on the classic Dickens tale, Oliver Twist. Telling the tale of a poor stray kitten, Oliver (Joey Lawrence of Blossom fame) runs into a street smart dog named Dodger (Billy Joel). Dodger brings Oliver into his gang of misfits who are working to make enough money so Fagan, their owner (Dom Delouise), can pay off his gambling debts to Sykes (Robert Loggia). In the middle of one of their cons, Oliver accidentally winds up going home with Jenny (Natalie Gregory) who decides to keep him, much to the dismay of Georgette, the award winning family poodle. Further trouble ensues when Dodger and the gang decide to "rescue" Oliver from Jenny.

I hadn't seen Oliver and Company in years, but the song "Why Should I Worry?" hasn't left me in all those years. My memory of this movie were surprisingly accurate when I re-watched this recently. For the most part Oliver and Company works. I liked the voice acting, and the feel that would have been present in the mid to late eighties was kind of fun to see in the opening sequence. There's nothing quite like walking down the street in high tops with rap blasting on your boombox. The tale itself is an enduring little adventure about friendship and understanding, with a sprinkling of class clash going on (certainly not the first Disney film to tackle the subject).

What I also like to see is the sheer nightmare factor that Disney puts into their villians (in the animated features that take themselves seriously). The endings to Sykes and his Doberman companions are probably some of the darkest and best I've seen in a while.

There are some downsides to the film. The dated feel, while amusing to me, can be rather jarring for someone not as familiar with the time frame of the film. Also the story is not the best that Disney has done, there feels to be a few relationships that require a leap of faith on the part of the viewer with the speed they develop.

Overall, Oliver and Company is a thoroughly enjoyable film that does have its flaws. None of them are major enough to ruin the film, but they are apparent enough to leave this a "B" level Disney film. Considering the caliber of animated films Disney put out, that's not all that bad a place to be.