Oliver & Company
| Oliver & Company | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | George Scribner |
| Written by | Charles Dickens (book Oliver Twist) |
| Produced by | Kathleen Gavin (production manager) |
| Starring | Joey Lawrence Billy Joel Natalie Gregory Dom DeLuise Cheech Marin Bette Midler |
| Edited by | Mark A. Hester Jim Melton] |
| Music by | J. A. C. Redford |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
Release dates | November 18, 1988 March 29, 1996 (re-release) |
Running time | 73 minutes |
| Countries | United States Japan |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $53,279,055 |
Oliver & Company is an 1988 animated movie produced by Walt Disney Pictures and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures. The twenty-seventh movie released in the Disney animated features series, it was released on November 18, 1988, and is loosely based on Charles Dickens's book Oliver Twist, which has been made many times for the screen and television. In this version, Oliver is a dog, Fagin's gang is made up of dogs, and the story is set in modern-day New York City.
It was re-released in the USA, Canada, and the UK on March 29, 1996.
This is Disney's fifth animated movie to take place in the present day of its release (1988), being set in New York City.
The Story
Template:Spoiler Oliver is an orange orphan cat lost in New York City, when a mongrel (dog of mixed breed), named Dodger, finds him. When Oliver gets some sausages for him (from a hot dog seller named Louie), Dodger leaves the cat behind and runs to the barge of his poor owner, Fagin the pickpocketer. Inside Fagin's barge are four other dogs, which he also owns: Tito the chihuahua, Einstein the Great Dane, Rita the afghan hound, and the serious bulldog Francis. When Oliver breaks in, those dogs (including Dodger) go into a fit of fighting and confusion over their visitor. After Fagin breaks it up, he goes outside on a quay, only to find out that he must pay his agent, Sykes, some money within three days. In order to get the money, Fagin, his dogs, and Oliver set out into the city streets the next day. While the poor man is unlucky trying to sell his useless stuff, the animals encounter a limosine that is driven by Winston, a butler. They put on an act to get his attention. In the end, Tito gets "barbecued" after interfering with the limosine's dashboard, and Jennifer finds the cat, who is tangled up in the wires nearby. Taking Oliver home at Fifth Avenue, she makes friends with him. Thus, the cat is lucky to be adopted twice in two days. The next morning, Fagin's dogs return in order to get Oliver back to their barge, much to the upset of Winston and his pet poodle, Georgette. But as they do so, Oliver feels he cannot fit in with his other friends. Yet he is Fagin's best hope, because of the gold tag on his collar. So he writes to the "Very Rich Cat Owner" at Oliver's address in hopes of getting Sykes' money faster. As Jenny reads that letter after she comes home from school, she and Georgette go to the docks to get Oliver. Jenny gets him back, thanks to Fagin, but then Sykes kidnaps her for the sake of the ransom that the pickpocketer has to pay in twelve hours. It is up to Fagin and his dogs to save both Jenny and Oliver from the wrath of Sykes and his Dobermans, Roscoe and DeSoto. Template:Endspoiler
Production
This was the first Disney movie to make heavy use of computer animation, since previous movies The Black Cauldron and The Great Mouse Detective used it only for special sequences. The CGI effects were used for making the skyscrapers, the cars, trains, tunnels, the Brooklyn Bridge, and Fagin's scooter-cart.
It was also the first animated Disney movie to create a whole bunch of new sound effects to replace many of their original classic sounds, which would be used occasionally in later Disney movies. This included some sounds the audience was familiar with for years, including Pinto Covig's original Goofy yell. However, the Disney television animation studio continued extensively using the classic Disney sound effects for several years.
Also, Lady and the Tramp's Jock, Trusty and Peggy, as well as Pongo from 101 Dalmatians, make cameo appearances during Dodger's "Why Should I Worry?" musical number at the start of the movie.
Cast
- Joey Lawrence as Oliver
- Billy Joel as Dodger
- Natalie Gregory as Jennifer "Jenny" Foxworth
- Dom DeLuise as Fagin
- Cheech Marin as Ignacio Alanzo Julio Fredrico De Tito
- Bette Midler as Georgette
- Robert Loggia as Sykes
- Richard Mulligan as Einstein
- Roscoe Lee Browne as Francis
- Sheryl Lee Ralph as Rita
- William Glover as Winston
- Taurean Blacque as Roscoe
- Carl Weintraub as DeSoto
- Frank Welker as Louie
Crew
- Directed by George Scribner
- Produced by Kathleen Gavin (production manager)
- Animation screenplay by Jim Cox, Timothy A. Disney and James Mangold
- Art director Dan Hansen
- Production stylist Guy Deel
- Production consultant Walt Stanchfield
- Character design by David Gabriel, Andreas Deja and Glen Keane
- Computer animation by Tina Price and Michael Cedeno
- Computer graphics engineer Tad Gielow
- Effects graphics by Bernie Gagliano
- Original score by J. A. C. Redford
- Music supervisor Carole Childs
- Assistant director Tim O'Donnell
- Casting by Mary V. Buck and Susan Edelman
- Edited by Jim Melton and Mark Heston (film) and Segue Music (music)
Awards
- Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for "Why Should I Worry?" (Nominated)
- Young Artist Award for Best Family Feature Film - Animation (Nominated)
- Golden Reel Awards for Best Sound Editing (Won)
Soundtrack
The instrumental score for Oliver & Company was composed by J. A. C. Redford, and the movie's music was supervised by Carole Childs. The first song heard in the movie, "Once Upon a Time in New York City", was written by lyricist Howard Ashman. Billy Joel, in addition to voicing Dodger, fittingly performed the character's song in the movie.
The track list below represents the 1996 re-release of the Oliver & Company soundtrack. The original 1988 release had the same songs, but with the instrumental cues placed in between the songs in the order in which they appeared in the movie. Using the numbering system in the list below, the order the tracks on the 1988 release would be: 1, 2, 6, 7, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11.
1996 soundtrack listing
- Once Upon a Time in New York City - Huey Lewis; written by Barry Mann and Howard Ashman
- Why Should I Worry? - Billy Joel; written by Dan Hartman and Charlie Midnight
- Streets of Gold - Ruth Pointer ; written by Dean Pitchford and Tom Snow
- Perfect Isn't Easy - Bette Midler ; written by Barry Manilow, Jack Feldman, and Bruce Sussman
- Good Company - Myhanh Tran ; written by Ron Rocha and Robert Minkoff
- Sykes (instrumental)
- Bedtime Story (instrumental)
- The Rescue (instrumental)
- Pursuit Through The Subway (instrumental)
- Buscando Guayaba - Rubén Blades
- End Title (instrumental)
Songs
- "Once Upon A Time In New York City"
- "Why Should I Worry?"
- "Streets of Gold"
- "Perfect Isn't Easy"
- "Good Company"
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