Oliver & Company is a 1988 American animated musical buddy comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released on Novem...
Oliver & Company is a 1988 American animated musical buddy comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released on November 18, 1988 by Walt Disney Pictures. The 27th Disney animated feature film, the film is inspired by the classic Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, which has been adapted many other times for the screen. In the film, Oliver is a homeless kitten who joins a gang of dogs to survive in the streets. Among other changes, the setting of the film was relocated from 19th century London to late 1980s New York City, Fagin's gang is made up of dogs (one of which is Dodger), and Sykes is a loan shark.nnOliver & Company began production around 1987 as Oliver and the Dodger.nn Joey Lawrence as Oliver, an orange orphaned kitten in search of a home.n Billy Joel as Dodger, a carefree, charismatic Jack Russell Terrier.n Cheech Marin as Tito, a tiny yet passionate Chihuahua in Fagin's gang.n Richard Mulligan as Einstein, a gray Great Dane and a member of Fagin's gang.n Roscoe Lee Browne as Francis, a bulldog with a British accent in Fagin's gang.n Sheryl Lee Ralph (Ruth Pointer, singing) as Rita, a Saluki and the only female dog in Fagin's gang.n Dom DeLuise as Fagin, a lowly thief who lives on a barge with his dogs.n Taurean Blacque and Carl Weintraub as Roscoe and DeSoto respectively, Sykes's violent Doberman Pinschers who have a volatile history with Dodger and his friends.n Robert Loggia as Sykes, a cold-hearted, immoral loan-shark and shipyard agent.n Natalie Gregory (Myhanh Tran, singing) as Jenny Foxworth (Jenny is short for Jennifera kind-hearted, rich girl.n William Glover as Winston, the Foxworth family's bumbling but loyal butler.n Bette Midler as Georgette, the Foxworth family's show-winning poodle.n Frank Welker as Old Louie, an aggressive, bad-tempered hot dog vendor.nnTrack listingnn "Once Upon a Time in New York City" - Huey Lewis; written by Barry Mann and Howard Ashmann "Why Should I Worry?" - Billy Joel; written by Dan Hartman and Charlie Midnightn "Streets of Gold" - Ruth Pointer ; written by Dean Pitchford and Tom Snown "Perfect Isn't Easy" - Bette Midler ; written by Barry Manilow, Jack Feldman, and Bruce Sussmann "Good Company" - Myhanh Tran ; written by Ron Rocha and Robert Minkoffn "Sykes" (score)n "Bedtime Story" (score)n "The Rescue" (score)n "Pursuit Through the Subway" (score)n "Buscando Guayaba" - Rubén Bladesn "End Title" (instrumental)nAfter the release of The Black Cauldron in 1985, Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg invited the animators to pitch potential ideas for upcoming animated features, infamously called the "Gong Show". After Ron Clements and John Musker suggested The Little Mermaid and Treasure Island in Space, animator Pete Young suggested, "Oliver Twist with dogs". Originally intending to produce a live-action adaptation of the musical Oliver! at Paramount Pictures, Katzenberg approved the pitch. Under the working title of Oliver and the Dodger, the film was originally much darker and grittier with the film opening with Sykes's two Dobermans murdering Oliver's parents, setting the story to focus on Oliver exacting his revenge as detailed in a draft dated on March 30, 1987. George Scribner and Richard Rich were announced as the directors of the project, while Pete Young was appointed as story supervisor, though Rich left about six months into production, leaving Scribner as the sole director. In this adaptation, Scribner turned Oliver into a naïve kitten, Dodger and the gang into dogs, and Fagin into a human, and encouraged the film to be more street smart. Furthermore, Scribner borrowed a technique from Lady and the Tramp by blocking out the scenes on real streets, and then photographing them with cameras mounted eighteen inches off the ground. In this way, the animators would use the photos as templates to provide a real dog's-eye view of the action.nOliver & Company was the first Disney animated film to include real world advertised products. More than 30 company logos and brand names were shown in the film, including Kodak, Dr. Scholls, Sony, Diet Coke, Tab, McDonald's, Yamaha, Ryder, and USA Today. However, the filmmakers commented on ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney that this was for realism, was not paid product placement, and that it would not be New York City without advertising. Instead, Katzenberg urged the marketing campaign to focus on the classic Dickens novel and the pop score, and promotional tie-ins included Sears, which produced and manufactured products with themes inspired from the film, and McDonald's which sold Christmas musical ornaments based on Oliver and Dodger, and small finger puppets based on the characters in a Happy Meal. For its theatrical re-release in 1996, the film was accompanied with a promotional campaign by Burger King. Less
