The 1998 classic animated Disney film “Oliver and Company” would help crossover traditional hand-drawn animation with computer animation and would lead Disney into computer animated films for the 90′s. “Oliver and Company” is wonderful family film based on Charles Dickens’ ‘Oliver Twist’ and for fans of the film, this 25th Anniversary Blu-ray release is the definitive version of the film to own!
TITLE: Oliver and Company: 25th Anniversary Edition
FILM RELEASE: 1988
DURATION: 74 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 1English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Subtitles: English SDH
COMPANY: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
RATED: G (General Audiences)
Release Date: August 6, 2013
Directed by George Scribner
Screenplay by Jim Cox, Tim Disney and James Mangold
Based on the novel “Oliver Twist†by Charles Dickens
Music by J.A.C. Redford
Edited by Mark A. Hester, James Melton
Casting by Mary V. Buck, Susan Edelman
Art Direction by Dan Hansen
Featuring the voices of:
Joseph Lawrence as Oliver (Voice)
Billy Joel as Dodger (Voice)
Cheech Marin as Tito (Voice)
Richard Mulligan as Einstein (Voice)
Roscoe Lee Browne as Francis (Voice)
Sheryl Lee Ralph as Rita (Voice)
Dom DeLuise as Fagin (Voice)
Taurean Blacque as Roscoe (Voice)
Carl Weintraub as Desoto (Voice)
Robert Loggia as Sykes (Voice)
Natalie Gregory as Jenny (Voice)
William Glover as Winston (Voice)
Bette Midler as Georgette (Voice)
Oliver, a feisty young cat, explores New York in this thrilling animated classic cleverly based on Charles Dickens’ timeless story, Oliver Twist – featuring unforgettable songs performed by musical greats Billy Joel, Huey Lewis and Bette Midler! Joined by a pack of hilarious characters – dogs Dodger, Tito and their pals – Oliver learns that the strong survive by keeping their dreams alive. And when he is adopted by Jenny, Oliver knows he’s found a lifelong friend and a real home.
“Oliver and Companyâ€, the 1988 classic animated family film from Walt Disney was indeed a special film. I remember watching this as a teenager and being in awe of how Disney would capture the city of New York with it hand-drawn animation, how the film would feature Billy Joel in his first voice acting role and featuring music from Billy Joel, Huey Lewis and Bette Midler.
The film would also feature the voices of a young Joseph Lawrence, Cheech Marin, Richard Mulligan, Roscoe Lee Browne, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Dom De Luise and Bette Midler.
But here we are 25 years later and “Oliver and Company†would now also be remembered as the film that would bring Walt Disney’s animated films from the traditional hand drawn style and eventually leading it to the digital age as the first Disney animated film to incorporate computers. Also, a new generation of Disney films that would have a slight bit of edginess for a family film and would lead to many other films that would follow the route paved by “Oliver and Company†such as “The Little Mermaidâ€, “Aladdinâ€, “Beauty and the Beast†and many more.
And now, “Oliver and Company” will be celebrating its 25th Anniversary and what best than for Disney to give the film the HD treatment and release it on Blu-ray!
The film is loosely based on the Charles Dickens classic “Oliver Twist†but instead of humans, focus on a cat named Oliver (voiced by Joey Lawrence). As a group of kittens are being sold on the street, unfortunately Oliver, an orange striped kitten is the only one not bought. He is left alone inside the box during a rainstorm and the rain weakens the box where he has slept and thus leaving him to roam the New York streets by himself.
Oliver tries to be cute and not be trampled during the busy New York streets. He just wants to be loved but no one is interested in taking care of a stray kitten.
Oliver eventually meets up with Dodger (voiced by Billy Joel), a street talking dog (a terrier) that asks for his help in helping him steal some hot dogs from hot dog vendor. Eventually, the two succeed but Dodger runs off with the hot dogs. Oliver goes in pursuit and ends up at the wharf where he meets Dodger’s friends.  Tito (voiced by Cheech Marin), a tough street-smart chihuahua; Einstein (voiced by Richard Mulligan), a smart Great Dane; Francis (voiced by Roscoe Lee Browne), a bulldog who is often serious and likes elegant things and Rita (voiced by Sheryl Lee Ralph), a Saluki and the female member of the group.
The dogs are more or less thieves that help their owner, Fagin (voiced by Dom Deluise) out by bringing things they have stole and he tries to get the money from these items to payoff a loan shark named Sykes (Robert Loggia) who sends his two doberman pinschers Roscoe and Desoto in to threaten Fagin and remind him that he needs to pay back his loan in three days or else…
Meanwhile Roscoe starts to flirt with Rita and Desoto threatens Oliver. But Oliver fights back and scratches Desoto’s nose and before the Doberman’s can hurt Oliver, Fagin’s dogs band together to protect Oliver. Dodger was impressed with Oliver defending himself, that he makes Oliver a member of the gang.
For Oliver, all he wanted was to be loved by someone and have a family. And now, these dogs are his new family.
As the story progresses, the gang of dogs decided to find their next person to steal from. It happens to be the very rich Foxworthy family and while the dogs try to steal from the butler/limo driver Winston, Oliver ends up getting tangled and rescued by Jenny, the daughter of the Winston family who then takes Oliver into their family, cares for him and eventually the two bond.
Meanwhile, Dodger and friends feel they need to rescue Oliver and try to find a way to help their owner Fagin.
VIDEO:
“Oliver and Company†is presented in 1080p High Definition for the very first time. The animation does feature new digital mastering but compared to the remastering of “Sleeping Beauty†for example which looks incredible for a film of its age, for “Oliver and Companyâ€, because the setting is in the late 80′s and the animation is hand drawn for a large part of the film, it does have that feeling of an older film. Computer animation was used for the vehicles and action sequences but the picture quality is very good for its age but it does show it’s age. The film has been cleaned up and definitely looks good for a 25-year-old animated film.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Oliver and Company” is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD MA and this is the best that I have heard of this film! The film is more or less dialogue and music driven and the music does come alive in the digital soundtrack. Dialogue and msuic is crystal clear and is primarily a front channel driven soundtrack.
Subtitles are in English SDH.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Oliver and Company: 25th Anniversary Edition” comes with the following special features:
- Games & Activities – Oliver’s Big City Challenge Game – I played this game with my son and it’s not your usual, easy remote control type of game. This one does involve some skill and memorization.
- Music & More – Sing-Along Songs – Features two songs (“Why Should I Worry” and “Streets of Gold”) from the film and includes subtitles for people to sing-along.
- Backstage Disney – The Making of Oliver and Company – (5:31) This featurette takes you back to when the film was created with interviews with Billy Joel, Bette Midler and other talent in the film. Especially how the film would be the first for Disney as it utilized computers. It’s fun to see these older, bulky desktop computers used for the work back then. But this was the first film for Disney to utilize computer animation. So, it was nice to see this featurette.
- Disney’s Animated Animals – (1:29) A short featurette featuring the history of animals on Disney films.
- Oliver & Company Scrapbook – Look at various images and concept art from the film using your remote (or via keyboard).
- Original Theatrical Trailer (1998)
- TV Spot (1989)
- Rerelease Trailer (1996)
- Return of a Classic – (1:59) This was a short feature on the 1996 theatrical re-release of the film.
- Fun Film Facts – Text base film facts about “Oliver and Company”.
- “Lend a Paw†– (8:08) An Academy Award winning 1941 animated short about Pluto having to get along with a cat that Mickey has taking a liking to.
- “Puss Cafe†– (7:10) An animated short featuring two scheming cats trying to steal milk form a home while Pluto keeps guard.
EXTRAS:
“Oliver and Company: 25th Anniversary Edition” comes with a slipcover and DVD version of the film.
“Oliver and Company†is a fun, family film. The film features quite a bit of songs sung by Billy Joel, Huey Lewis and Bette Midler and the animation, taking place in New York has this urban appeal.  But the film does have it’s charming moments and without spoiling the film, for parents who have not seen the film, the film does have it’s dark moments with the main bad guy Sykes and his dobermans trying to cause problems for the dogs but at the end, there is a death (nothing to scare the young children but guaranteed for a toddler to probably ask their parents “what happenedâ€. In essence, this film is a family film but it does have it’s moments that may scare younger children.
Watching “Oliver and Company†20 years later when I first watched it in the theaters is a bit surprising, especially to see how far Disney has gone with their animated films. Especially, knowing that this was the first film to utilize computers for its animation. So, you see the merging of traditional hand-drawn style and computer animation.
I never realized it until now about how much product placement was used in this film but after doing research on this online, I realize that to make New York feel realistic in animation, you need to have those forms of advertisements in the film and the product placement was not paid product placement.
But for nostalgic reasons, it was really great to watch this film again and especially to watch it with my son. All in all, twenty years later and Disney has done a great service by releasing this on DVD and giving it special treatment with wide variety of special features.
For those who own the 2009 version on DVD, the Blu-ray release has the same special features. The primary difference is the fact that the film is now presented in High Definition, so picture quality and lossless audio is much better. Colors are much more vibrant than its previous DVD counterpart.
While the 1980’s was not always kind, nor was it a decade that received a lot of love from Disney fans, it’s an animated film that will still appeal to families and also children. If you grew up with this film or a parent looking for an animated Disney film from yesteryear and wanting to share with your family, “Oliver and Company: 25th Anniversary Edition” on Blu-ray is recommended!
