The Black Cauldron was done and dusted and the Great Mouse Detective was almost wrapped, so Eisner and Katzenberg were finally ready to see their first aniamted productions. But while Eisner was still flirting with the idea of shutting down the animation department, new VP of Animation Peter Schneider was promising bigger and better things.
In a worshop meeting in 1985 to uncover the next big thing, Eisner, Schneider and Katzenberg invited the animation team to pitch future ideas for aniamted films. At this meeting, which was soon called the “Gong Show”, a reference to a popular 70s amateur talent show, story artist Pete Young blurted out “Oliver Twist with dogs!”. Coincidentally, Katzenberg had been developing an idea not unlike this when he was president of productions at Paramount, but he left before it came to fruition. To Pete Young’s amazement, Katzenberg approved the pitch immediately.
Katzenberg called on animator George Scribner to direct the project, now called Oliver and the Dodger, with Young appointed as story supervisoralongside several young story artists, including future Pixar superstar Joe Ranft. Young and the team used the barebones of the Charles Dickens novel and essentially created a new and modern story, starring a collection of streetwise animals and set in 1980s New York City, making this one of Disney’s loosest adaptations to date.
THE STORY
In 1980’s New York City, an orphan cat named Oliver is roaming the city looking for food, when he runs into Dodger, a streetwise mutt who plays friendly at first, but then scares him as a distraction to steal hotdogs. Oliver follows him back to the barge he lives on with his friends, Einstein the Great Dane, Tito the chihuahua, Francis the bulldog and Rita the Afghan Hound, and their master, pickpocket Fagin. Fagin is indebted to a loan shark names Sykes, who gives him three days to come up with the money Sykes wants, or else.
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Initially, the film was going to be much darker than it ended up being, Oliver was going to seek vengeance for the murder of his parents by Sykes’ two Dobermen, Roscoe and DeSoto. After the failure of the Black Cauldron, Eisner and Katzenberg were anxious about the studio releasing another dark story and encouraged the writers to make a more family - friendly picture. Roy E. Disney suggested a plotline involving Fagin trying to steal a rare panda from Central Park Zoo, but the story team felt another narrative would work better in the Dickensian context.
After animators dabbled with CGI on both Black Cauldron and Great Mouse Detective, Eisner saw the potential in it and invested $15 million in a long - term system called Computer Animation Production System., or CAPS, which would soon revolutionise the entire animation department and offer animators the chance to do things they had never done before. For now, it was utilised for around 12 minutes of Oliver & Company.
For the first time ever, Disney sought an all - star cast to perform every character, especially those who they thought personified New York City. For the role of streetwise, smooth - talking Dodger, Scribner envisioned Billy Joel, despite him never having acted in his life. Scribner felt that Joel typified Dodger’s attitude and pitched the idea to him. He auditioned via telephone due to a busy tour schedule. For the title role, child actor Joey Lawrence was cast in his second ever theatrical role, only a few years before becoming a teen heartthrob on NBC’s Blossom. The rest of the cast was filled with more New York natives, like Bette Midler, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Roscoe Lee Browne, Cheech Marin and, for the main villain role, Robert Loggia.
The film was released on 6/11/1988, the same weekend in the U.S. as former animator Don Bluth’s Land Before Time, which debuted at number one with $7.5 million, while Oliver & Company languished in fourth place with $4 million. Though it still proved to be the bigger overall hit, winning $53 million in it’s initial run compared to $46 million for The Land Before Time.
MY VERDICT
Unfortunately, like most things set in the 80’s, this fim is terribly dated, especially in retro songs and a saxophone - heavy score, to say nothing of the HIDEOUS clothes everyone is wearing that look awful even when drawn. That narrative leaves a lot to be desired and the plot, bar a few scenes, is almost nauseating. HOWEVER, this film also features some incredible visuals, especially the flawless recreation of New York City. As a tour of NYC with lost of animals, this film works well, but as an engaging and captivating animated film, it falls short; especially compared to what was coming up next.
Is Oliver & Company a Disney Classic? Some will argue that this is the true beginning of the Disney Renaissance, but the finesse and substance of future films just isn’t there. And again, setting the film in the now - retro 80s is what robs this film of being timeless, which is the cornerstone of a Disney Classic.
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