The 1970s and 1980s were a dark era for Disney Animation. Although the company had a few success stories many of the films released during this time are considered sub-par. Apart from ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh’, none are considered huge Disney hits. Many have a cult following such as ‘The Fox and The Hound’ and ‘Robin Hood’, whilst others fall into the forgotten films, loved by few. Then there’s ‘Oliver and Company’. The film has a great cult following, ‘Why Should I worry?’ is included on Disney albums and it even had a re-release in the 1990s during the renaissance years. So where does this film stand? Why is there little information or merchandise for poor ‘Oliver and Company’? Why is it never considered part of the renaissance but was the second highest grossing Animated Disney film of the 1980s? Should this film start a new category of Disney animated films, The Forgotten Classics?
Previously
Leading up to the film, Disney Animation was going through a hard time. Walt Disney had passed away in the mid 1960s and ‘The Jungle Book’ is his last animated film he had a hand in the production of. It took three years for the next film to arrive. ‘The Aristocats’ has mixed reviews and this is often put down to the fact it was the first without Walt’s input. ‘Robin Hood’ took a long time during production and animation was rushed or often traced from previous films. Although ‘The Rescuers’ and ‘The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh’ did well, ‘Winnie the pooh’ was essentially a packaged film, ‘The Rescuers’ did go on to have a sequel and nearly had a television show. All Disney Animations had to offer was four films, this wasn’t highly unusual, in the 1950s From ‘Cinderella’ to ‘Sleeping Beauty’, there was only five, but it was the pacing of these films. ‘Winnie the Pooh’ and ‘The Rescuers’ came out practically weeks of each other. Then Disney Animation seemingly disappeared. In the years between 1978 and 1984, Disney released no animated films. During this time the world was given two follow on ‘Star Wars’ films, ‘ET’, ‘The Secret of Nimh’, ‘The Never Ending Story’ and ‘The Muppets Movie’. All of these family films took over the field. Although ‘The Secret of Nimh’ and ‘The Never Ending Story’ have cult followings, the other films have lived on in pop culture. When Disney released ‘The Fox and the Hound’, it had some success but the family film charts was too dominated and Disney Animation just didn’t meet the mark. ‘The Black Cauldron’ followed in 1985, considered the low point of The Disney Dark Ages and of Disney animated films; this film almost closed the studios. By this time The Animators had been moved off the Disney Lot, the same lot that the department had helped to build.
During the production of ‘The Black Cauldron’, Jeffrey Katzenberg became the new Chairman of Disney Studios, and with his appointment came the fresh air that Disney Animations desperately needed.
The Idea
Each year different people could now present ideas for future films, from these ideas came ‘The Little Mermaid’, ‘Aladdin’, ‘The Lion King’ and … ‘Oliver and Company’. The film is based on The Charles Dickens book ‘Oliver Twist’. Nearly all adaptations of books at this point had been set in the time they were written or set in within the story. ‘101 Dalmatians’ was a contemporary story because it was a contemporary book, whereas ‘Peter Pan’ was set many years before the film’s release. With family films doing well set in the present day, maybe it was time Disney brought a 150 year old story to present day New York City. The high fashion of London during the 1960s gave gravitas to ‘101 Dalmatians’. In the 1970s Paris was considered the high end of fashion, this is almost emphasised in ‘The Aristocats’, by the 1980s, America was now the highlight of the world, New York became the most fashionable setting on earth. With Films now being constantly set there, Television and Movies moved away from the quaint turn of the century setting that had dominated the mediums. Suburbs were no longer the powerful status symbol. In the 1980s it was all about city living, big business and shoulder pads. Bringing a story set in the dirty side of a city in the early to mid 1800s, to the poor side of a big city in the late 1900s was a stroke of genius. New York was the place everyone dreamed about going, every dream could come true and people got rich.
The Plot
Oliver, a small ginger kitten, is left alone in the rain after he was left out for sale on a New York City street. When the rain clears up he helps a stray dog, Dodger, steal some sausages from a hot dog vendor. The two get away with it and Oliver follows Dodger back to the docks where the dog lives on a barge. Other dogs live there too and after being suspicious of Oliver at the start, they take him in.
Fagin, the owner, owes money to a loan shark called Sykes. Sykes threatens Fagin over some owed money.
The dogs try to help Fagin raise the money whilst he is in the city. They take a chance when a large limo is spotted. One of the dogs, Francis, is a keen amateur dramatist and pretends that he has been hit by the large black car. Whilst the driver checks on the dog, the other animals try to hot-wire the limo. It is at this point when it all goes wrong and Oliver is stuck in the wires. The young girl in the back of the limo finds the kitten and takes him home.
The young girl is called Jenny and is waiting for her parents to return from a trip. The butler isn’t sure that she will be able to keep Oliver but agrees that Jenny can look after him until her parents return. Jenny already has a pet dog named Georgette. Georgette is seemingly a star, apparently appearing on magazines and having signed autographs from famous dogs and the odd rat.
Dodger, Fagin and the gang manage to steal Oliver back but Fagin notices the fancy collar on the kitten’s neck. He decides to hold the cat to ransom and sends through a ransom note to Jenny and her house.After Jenny receives the note she decides to hunt for Oliver herself. She arrives at the dock and meets Fagin. Fagin regrets sending the note when he meets Jenny and realises he has been dealing with a little girl. He givers her Oliver back freely and sends her on her way. However, Sykes has been watching from the shadows and kidnaps Jenny.
Sykes declares that Fagin’s debt has been paid as he plans to hold Jenny to ransom. Oliver, Fagin and the gang go on a mission to rescue the little girl but are confronted by Sykes’s two Doberman dogs. A fight follows and Fagin manages to retrieve Jenny.
The gang is chased by Sykes in his car and by his dogs; they go through the New York City streets and in the subway. After a long chase the two dogs are electrocuted on the train tracks and Sykes’s car is hit by a train, killing him.
Jenny invites Fagin and the dogs to her birthday party. Oliver has decided to stay with Jenny but will keep in contact with Dodger and the gang. The butler receives a call from Jenny’s parent who explain that they are returning from their holiday and will be their soon. This cheers Jenny up and everyone seemingly lives happily ever after.
Production
The idea was pitched at the same time as ‘The Little Mermaid’ and the story went through a few changes before the final film we see today. Originally Sykes’s Dobermans were supposed to kill Oliver’s parents. Oliver would then start the story with a Batman-Style revenge plot. This was later removed for the happier version, although Oliver is still abandoned in the rain and left to defend for himself. Pete Young had suggested Oliver Twist with dogs; this had sparked an interest with Jeffrey Katzenberg as he had been working on an Oliver Twist film in his previous role at a different studio. The idea was taken up as was ‘The Little Mermaid’. Originally the film was called ‘Oliver and Dodger’.
The film was given $15 million to make, just from box office sales from its first release and rerelease, the film generated $74million.
Changes behind the scenes, including original co-Director Richard Rich getting fired meant a change in direction. The remaining Sole Director George Scribner and Story supervisor, Pete Young altered the story and removed the opening death scene that was present in the draft dated March 1987.
Computer animation was in its infancy during the 1980s, Pixar had yet to produce the first feature length computer animated film but had been working on Logos and shorts. Wanting to pioneer, and save money, Disney Animations looked at how they could use this new technology to aid their films. In ‘Basil the Great Mouse Detective’, the first use of a computer generated background with traditionally drawn animation was the clock tower scene. Pleased with these results, the studios went further and New York is made up of computer animation. The cars are all computer generated which allowed for better background movement but also added a better quality to each shot.
The animation took on a different feel, previously the Xerox process had been the biggest technological advancement but this was back in the late 1950s, the studios had recently worked on ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit?’, a film that combined live action with animation, again something that had been explored before many years ago when Walt was alive. Jeffrey Katzenberg noted that when he arrived at the studios if there were any queries or problems the team would turn to a picture of Walt Disney and ask ‘What would Walt do?’ Katzenberg had respect for Walt, that must be emphasised, but Walt had died almost 20 years earlier, film making had moved on. Walt would have known this, during his time films moved on and the difference between some of his films is outstanding, ‘Peter Pan’ was in development at roughly the same time as ‘Pinocchio’ but the difference in animation and techniques used is clear.
The Multi-plane Camera, the Xerox Process, the change of style from ‘Snow White […]’ to ‘Dumbo’, it was all done during Walt’s time but since his death, Animation had been stuck in a time capsule. ‘Oliver and Company’ was the first film to really push the boundaries and break out of the motions that the department had been in since ‘The Jungle Book’ in the mid 1960s. By using the Computer animated backgrounds the film was able to progress quicker with a great level of quality. When things like this happen the excitement starts to kick in.
Not only was New York computer generated but Georgette’s staircase. During her song, ‘Perfect is Me’, as she descends the stairs it is obvious in today’s standards that this was done on computer but this detail and this shot would have been almost impossible to do in traditional methods. ‘Cinderella’ never had camera movements like this when she ran down the steps and lost her slipper, we never followed the movements of ‘Peter Pan’ as he flew across the sky, and the audience hadn’t felt this involved with the movement in a scene before. This would be repeated again in ‘The Little Mermaid’, perfected in ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and pushed further in ‘Aladdin’.
The biggest achievement could be considered as Fagin’s Motorbike. Every park of this bike moves and every part of this bike is computer animated. Disney Vehicles had a habit of moving with a bit of a bump, they did in ‘101 Dalmatians’ and ‘The Fox and the Hound’ and using that little quirk but doing it with a new technology was, ironically, what Walt would do. The bike was made up out of 12 components, each could move independently from the other.
The subway sequence at the end mounted the total of computer generated animation to 11 minutes. This was the highest rate it had been used in an animated film. It is an interesting note that the train, the subway and Fagin’s bike were all computer generated, meaning just the characters were traditionally hand drawn. To use this style for the climax shows the confidence that the producers had.
Further ‘Classic’ techniques included taking photos of the streets a few inches off the ground and using these to map out the background. In ‘Lady and The Tramp’, the production team would search for appropriate scenes but rather than take the photos at human height, they would set the camera inches above the ground as this would provide the same view that an animal of this size would have.
Pictures of New York streets would be replicated in the film; this means that real streets are used in the film. To add to the realism, the film incorporated logos and averts for companies like Coca-Cola and Kodak. Jeffrey Katzenberg found himself defending this decision as it was asked if the film received product placement payments for these items. He insisted that no money was received and New York wouldn’t be New York if not for the masses of Advertising. This point was removed from the advertising factors for the film; instead greater focus was deployed onto the vibe and the songs.
The Voices
‘Oliver and Company’ merges the old and the new, techniques are progressed in the film but the previously used ones are utilised too. Having stars of the day voice the characters is seen as a renaissance thing. This way of casting harks back to the latter years of Walt’s life. ‘The Jungle Book’ had used Jazz stars, and even contemplated using The Beatles as the Vultures. Mixing contemporary and the old was used primarily by Robin Williams in ‘Aladdin’ but as ‘Oliver and Company’ was set in 1988, it made sense to have 1988 stars voice the characters.
Billy Joel is known as The Piano Man, by the time the film was released he had released his 10th Solo Album and was working on his 11th. Being a native New Yorker, Joel was auditioned for the role. The production team wanted a New York feel and at this point he was one of the most New Yorker stars around and current. His audition took place over the phone and was given the role instantly. Dodger also emulates Joel’s look at the time, most noticeable his sunglasses. He states that he took the role as it was a Disney film, he had just had a child and he hoped that she would enjoy the film.
Dodger’s song ‘Why Should I worry?’ was performed by Joel, it was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. He wasn’t the only singer to work on the film, Huey Lewis and Ruth Pointer also sang, Lewis’s song, ‘Once Upon a Time in New York City’, was written by Howard Ashman. Ashman went on to write songs for ‘The Little Mermaid’, and ‘Beauty and The Beast’. Joel never returned to the Disney fold.
Bette Midler had enjoyed success in films and Broadway. With a background from New York she was instantly auditioned for the role of Georgette. Her involvement in the film was pleasing to all involved and she describes it as one of her favourite roles, and in some statements as her Favourite. Midler’s involvement with Disney would grow and she would land one of her most signature roles a few years later in Disney’s ‘Hocus Pocus’. Her song, ‘Perfect is Me’, is set to remind audiences of the big band, big star numbers in the 1950s. The decade had a small retro renaissance during the 1980s, Madonna had gone through a Marilyn Monroe phase and now one of Monroe’s movie moments had homage in a Disney Animated feature. The song isn’t a direct copy of ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend’ but it is from the same mold. The scene of Georgette Descending the staircase was reminiscent of similar movie moments. The Song was written by Barry Manilow. Midler returned to the Disney Animated Classics in ‘Fantasia 2000’.
Joey Lawrence was already a child star in the 1980s but since appearing as Oliver, the title role in ‘Oliver and Company’, Lawrence has worked across the board both on television and in other films. Disney fans will note his performance as Chad in ‘A Goofy Movie’; he also voiced Franklin Dudikoff in an episode of ‘Recess’. He would have been 12 when the film was released. One of his most recent roles is that of title character, Joey, in Melissa and Joey (Mellissa being Melissa Joan Hart of ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’ Fame). Despite being the lead in the film and having an emotional time throughout, Lawrence doesn’t have a song. At the time of being auditioned Lawrence had been Joey Donovan in NBC sitcom ‘Gimmie a Break’. The series ended in 1987.
Cheech Marin has an undeniably New York accent, his role as Tito was almost inevitable. Marin had just started on the sitcom ‘Married With Children’ when his time with Disney first started. He states that he was allowed to Ad-Lib lines and his energy perfectly matched the Chihuahua he was playing. He reckons he only said about 75% of the scripted words and the rest was him. In ‘The Jungle Book’ this allowance to go off script was used with the characters Balloo and King Louie. The tradition would carry on, Robin Williams taking the crown for the most amount of unscripted material recorded for one character. Marin returned to Disney in ‘The Lion King’, ‘Beverly Hills Chihuahua’, ‘Coco’, ‘Race to Witch Mountain’, and went on to have a reoccurring role in the ‘Cars’ Franchise. Tito was emphasised in the publicity to be one of the main reasons to see the film.
Dom Deluise was no stranger to family audiences when he took on the role as Fagin. He had already appeared in ‘The Muppet Movie’, ‘The Secret of Nihm’ and ‘An American Tale’. The latter were always seen as high standing rivals for Disney Animation, his involvement with them would have put his name on a list for Disney Animation as one to watch. He had also starred in ‘Cannonball Run’ and ‘Star Balls’. ‘Cannonball Run’ went on to be a franchise whereas ‘Star Balls’ just remains a cult film of its time. Soon after Oliver, Deluise went on to star in ‘All Dogs Go to Heaven’. Although not as successful as others at the time, this film went on to have a successful franchise with sequels and a television show.. Although none of these films went head to head with ‘Oliver and Company’, the sequel to ‘All Dogs[…]’ was released in the 1990s, Oliver was re-released as direct competition and Delouise found himself getting royalties from both films. He went on to appear in further sequels of ‘An American Tail’ and ‘The Secret of Nihm’ but never returned to a Disney Animated Classic.
Hidden Mickey
By the time ‘Oliver and Company’ was in production the original none old men had retired. There style of animation had laid down the foundations of what a Disney Animated Character should look like. It might be when looking at these past characters that ideas were planted in the animators’ heads to repeat some of these characters or have hints to them.
Hidden Mickeys were already at the theme parks and from the 1980s onwards Hidden Mickeys or Cameos or Easter Eggs would appear in most films. ‘Oliver and Company’ would be no different; Ratigan would appear on one of the pictures Georgette had in the house. Weirdly enough so was Scooby Doo. Scooby Doo wasn’t set in New York and he wasn’t a Disney Character. Th
e use of these characters would suggest a background to Georgette that went further than the film. Georgette could have been involved in a mystery that was solved by Scooby Doo and Mystery Incorporated? Was she a friend of Ratigan? These tarnish the shine of Georgette in such a small way that it would go over the heads of most people watching. But could these be hinting at a darker side to the character? She is happy when Oliver is ‘Kidnapped’, so what else has she done?
It was suggested that Jenny, the young girl who takes Oliver in, was actually an older Penny, the orphan child from ‘The Rescuers’. This was later vetoed but the characters and name were similar so it must have been quite late into the production of that character that this was done. At this point in Disney History, ‘The Rescuers’ had been the last big success for the animation department. A Television series was in discussion and the sequel would follow in 1990. This take on the character would link up the two orphans neatly; it would create a bigger bond.
Release Date
The film was also released on the 60th Anniversary of the release of ‘Steamboat Willie’; this wording would change to ‘Mickey’s Birthday’ as the years went on. A celebratory program was aired which showed Mickey getting ready for his appearance on a celebratory show. Both Bette Midler and Cheech Marin appeared on the show amongst other stars. This meant that those who saw ‘Oliver and Company’ could see them appear in two new features in one day. ‘Oliver and Company’ twice was released with harsh competition.
Originally it was released on the same day as ‘The Land Before Time’ and whereas the latter had the better opening weekend sales and topped the chart that weekend, Oliver would come 4th. Oliver, however, continued to be a success and made more money overall.
The film became the biggest hit since the rescuers, it did have some mixed reviews and some stated it wasn’t as good as classics such as ‘Pinocchio’ and ‘Fantasia’. It should be noted that both ‘Pinocchio’ and ‘Fantasia’ were not huge financial successes. Others said that it was fun, with catchy and hip songs.
Then it was released in the 1990s to compete with ‘All Dogs go to Heaven 2’, again having a good income at the box office.
Video and Home Media
After the original release, the film never received a home video release. After the 1990s rerelease, a home video was brought to the market, this was followed by DVD releases and a special 25th Anniversary BluRay.
The Legacy
The success of this film would prompt Disney to announce that they would follow Walt’s plans in the 1940s and release an animated film every year. This continues today.
What followed this film would be a period of Disney history that is loved some 30 years on. The films are being remade in live action and are huge successes. The following Film, ‘The Little Mermaid’, would change the template for a Disney film and take the department into new heights.
The era of the Dark Ages was finally over. Although ‘Oliver and Company’ wouldn’t be regarded as one of the all time classics it does have a part to play in the revival of the animated film. It put Disney back where it belongs using new and old techniques.
Songs by relevant stars would become normal routine a decade later, with Sting, Phil Collins and Elson John all writing their own songs for Disney Films. Famous names will appear in nearly all films of the 1990s from Comedians like Robin Williams to cult actors like Brian Blessed. ‘The Little Mermaid’, ‘The Lion King’ and ‘Hercules’ would all take relevant music from their respective era and turn them into hits.
Computer animation took over from 2D animation, but even when this new animation technology is used in 2D animated films, like ‘Beauty and the Beast’, the results are outstanding.
Howard Ashman will reach new heights with music for future films.
‘Oliver and Company’ made this possible, it returned faith into the studios and coupled with the praise from ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit?' allowed the animators, directors and story tellers to make some of the biggest classics to come from the studios in all departments.