{"id":32998,"date":"2014-04-08T09:22:33","date_gmt":"2014-04-08T13:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/?p=32998"},"modified":"2022-02-06T00:06:31","modified_gmt":"2022-02-06T05:06:31","slug":"movie-review-oliver-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/movie-review-oliver-company\/","title":{"rendered":"Movie Review: Oliver and Company"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Oliver
DVD Cover Copyright Disney<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Based loosely on Charles Dickens\u2019 1837 novel Oliver Twist<\/i>, Oliver and Company<\/i> was released on November 18, 1988. The 73-minute film was the 27th<\/sup> full-length animated feature in Disney history and the last full-length animated movie to be released by Disney prior to the commencement of the company\u2019s Animation Renaissance.<\/p>\n

Oliver and Company<\/i> was rereleased to theatres on March 29, 1996. I first saw the film as a five-year old child during this rerelease, a status that I wasn\u2019t aware of for another decade. Yup; I was young and ignorant.<\/p>\n

Relationship to Oliver Twist <\/i>and Plot Summary<\/b><\/p>\n

The flick loosely translates Dickens\u2019 Victorian work to a 1980s New York City setting. Both versions feature an orphan named Oliver attempting to find a loving home in a cruel world. In Oliver and Company,<\/i> said home is that of a girl named Jenny.<\/p>\n

Some of the characters, including Oliver, Fagin, Bill Sykes (Bill Sikes in the book), and Dodger (the Artful Dodger or Jack Dawkins in the book), will be familiar to those who\u2019ve read the novel, albeit hardly to the letter. In Oliver and Company<\/i>, Dodger and Oliver still try to steal for Fagin, but they\u2019re not young boys. Instead, Oliver is an orphaned cat, and Dodger is a dog.<\/p>\n

Also, the main villains, Fagin and Sykes, aren\u2019t on the same page in the film. Sykes is a loan shark who will do anything in his power to obtain the money Fagin owes him. Nothing, not even New York\u2019s subway system, will deter this determined villain!<\/p>\n

Themes<\/b><\/p>\n

The two main themes in Oliver and Company<\/i> are redemption and love.<\/p>\n

Aside from Jenny, who is totally good, and Sykes, who is pure evil, all of the film\u2019s major characters possess complex personalities embedded with correctable flaws. Most notably, and in sharp contrast to his demeanor in Oliver Twist<\/i>, Fagin shows both a heart and a moral compass. While Fagin kidnaps Oliver in an attempt to raise the money he owes Sykes, Jenny\u2019s welfare proves to be more important to him. Fagin displays so much concern for Jenny in the film\u2019s latter scenes that I didn\u2019t even realize he was a villain when I first saw the movie.<\/p>\n

Regarding love, the film shows that positive actions towards others are more important than physical transactions. I doubt that the dinner Jenny concocted for Oliver upon taking him in was the tastiest creation, and I know the birthday gifts that Fagin and his dogs gave Jenny weren\u2019t expensive. However, the physical quality of these things didn\u2019t matter to Oliver and Jenny because, as articulated in an old saying, \u201cit\u2019s the thought that counts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sykes<\/b><\/p>\n

The loan shark isn\u2019t Disney\u2019s most noteworthy villain, but he\u2019s arguably among its cruelest and scariest antagonists. He\u2019s loud and demonstrative in his mannerisms, and his kidnapping of Jenny is heartbreaking and infuriating.<\/p>\n

Sykes is also realistic. With the possible exception of driving on the side of a bridge, all of his actions can plausibly occur in the real world. This realism may make Sykes more disturbing than other Disney villains such as Ursula and Jafar to some viewers.<\/p>\n

Elements<\/b><\/p>\n

Visuals and humor enhance Oliver and Company<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Throughout the movie, we encounter New York City landmarks such as the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, and the lake in Central Park. We also see ads for real products, including Coca Cola and USA Today<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Many of the characters exhibit humor. Dodger possesses an uncanny ability to capture his peers\u2019 attention through music, Francis the bulldog has a better knack for poetry than many humans, and Tito the Chihuahua is always hyper, especially when he encounters supposed aliens. Additionally, I find Jenny\u2019s dog Georgette to be amusing in the ways she pampers herself. Man, is she captivating!<\/p>\n

Music<\/b><\/p>\n

With Billy Joel, Bette Midler, and Huey Lewis doing much of the honors, the music in Oliver and Company<\/i> is more akin to 1980s popular music than it is to classic Disney. Still, I enjoy this soundtrack because Joel, the voice of Dodger, is one of my favorite musicians.<\/p>\n

The film commences with Lewis singing \u201cOnce Upon a Time in New York City.\u201d Highlighting both Manhattan generally and Oliver\u2019s dire situation specifically, this song tells us that \u201cdreaming is still how the strong survive.\u201d I like the song itself, but I don\u2019t think it really sets up the ensuing plot. I don\u2019t see any of the characters as \u201cdreamers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joel\u2019s key number in the flick is the upbeat \u201cWhy Should I Worry?\u201d After an initial rendition early in the film, this song is brilliantly reprised during the final scene. The latter inclusion ends the movie with a bang.<\/p>\n

Moving down the conga line of famous singers, Midler voices Georgette and sings \u201cPerfect Isn’t Easy.\u201d This song doesn\u2019t appeal to me. I find the corresponding visuals of Jenny\u2019s haughty dog showing off to be more enticing than the song itself.<\/p>\n

Finally, I think \u201cGood Company\u201d is the film\u2019s most heartwarming number. The lyrics are limited, but coupled with sights of Jenny and Oliver enjoying life together throughout Manhattan, the words contribute to a beautiful song.<\/p>\n

In the Parks<\/b><\/p>\n

No attractions or regular character meets based on Oliver and Company<\/i> are currently offered at either Walt Disney World or Disneyland.<\/p>\n

Overall<\/b><\/p>\n

Though Oliver and Company<\/i> isn\u2019t Disney\u2019s best effort, I find it to be an enjoyable watch with a good mix of action, fun music, and heartwarming moments.<\/p>\n

What do you think of Oliver and Company? Let me know in a comment!<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sponsored Ad:<\/strong>\u00a0 Would you like to help support The Mouse For Less website in continuing their mission of being THE Disney vacation planning resource?\u00a0 You can do so by purchasing Oliver and Company<\/em>\u00a0from our affiliate link through Amazon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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  • https:\/\/www themouseforless com\/blog_world\/movie-review-oliver-company\/#:~:text=The two main themes in personalities embedded with correctable flaws<\/li><\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Based loosely on Charles Dickens\u2019 1837 novel Oliver Twist, Oliver and Company was released on November 18, 1988. The 73-minute film was the 27th full-length animated feature in Disney history and the last full-length animated movie to be released by Disney prior to the commencement of the company\u2019s Animation Renaissance. Oliver and Company was rereleased…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":32999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-disney-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32998"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82623,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32998\/revisions\/82623"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}