Oliver & Company (Special Edition) | 
| Directors: Charles A. Nichols, Clyde Geronimi, George Scribner
Actors: Joseph Lawrence, Billy Joel, Cheech Marin, Richard Mulligan, Roscoe Lee Browne
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.99
Buy Used: $4.43
You Save: $25.56 (85%)
New (58) Used (40) Collectible (2) from $4.43
Rating:  73 reviews
Sales Rank: 17389
Format: Anamorphic, Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 74 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.4
MPN: DISD25047D
ISBN: 0788833758
UPC: 786936172423
EAN: 9780788833755
ASIN: B0000640VM
Theatrical Release Date: November 18, 1988
Release Date: May 14, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 05/14/2002 Run time: 74 minutes Rating: G
Amazon.com
Based on Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist," Disney's Oliver and Company was one of the first animated features to incorporate computer images with traditional hand-drawn animation and features the music and voice talents of pop-music giants like Billy Joel, Huey Lewis, and Bette Midler. A traditional story set in the modern world, Oliver and Company is the story of a stray kitten who wanders the streets of New York in search of a loving family. When Oliver encounters a street-wise dog named Dodger, the dog begins to teach him about life in the big city and takes him home to his family of street dogs and their master Fagan. Fagan and his dogs Dodger, Tito, Einstein, Francis, and Rita must often resort to thievery just to survive and during a particularly daring caper, Oliver gets separated from the other dogs and winds up meeting Jenny, a young rich girl with a big heart. As Oliver revels in Jenny's affection and begins to feel like part of her family, the dogs set out to rescue Oliver thinking he's been kidnapped. Eventually both Oliver and Jenny end up in grave danger and the only way Fagan and his dogs can save them is by doing what's right. As fresh on its 20th anniversary as it was when it premiered in 1988, this time-tested film appeals to children and adults of all ages. Bonus features include the Mickey Mouse and Pluto shorts "Lend a Paw" and "Puss Cafe" as well as a 5-1/2-minute making of featurette in which director George Scribner and animator Glen Kean describe the then brand new technique of blending computer and hand-drawn animation. Also included are sing-along versions of "Why Should I Worry? and "Streets of Gold," an interactive game, fun film facts, and an Oliver and Company scrapbook featuring concept art, storyboards, and publicity materials. --Tami Horiuchi
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| Customer Reviews: Read 68 more reviews...
 cute take on Oliver Twist May 24, 2009
Angie M
The dvd was in great condition and was delivered promptly...faster than I thought in fact. As for the movie itself, it was exactly as I remembered. A fun adaptation of Dickens' Oliver Twist in which Billy Joel carries the film as the voice of the character Dodger with some rockin and soulful tunes. The kids loved it!
 Nothing Dates as Fast as "The Latest New Thing" May 14, 2009
Celia Hayes (San Antonio, SA)
This was an animated Disney feature which was a free re-working of Oliver Twist, set in modern New York. It seemed to vanish without a trace after it's initial release, twenty years ago - which was a pity, for although the animation work is pretty pedestrian - the first to rely heavily upon computers, and not much above the level of a Saturday morning cartoon feature, the voice work was amusingly several cuts above. Where else to find Billy Joel doing the voice of a shrewd street mutt named Dodger, Bette Midler as an extravagantly pampered poodle, Georgette, Cheech Marin as (of course) Tito the Chihuahua, Dom Delouise as the hapless Fagin - and then-teen star Joey Lawrence as the impossibly cute (yet feisty) kitten, Oliver? There are even heartbreaking glimpses of the World Trade Center towers, in some of the city-scapes. The villainous Sykes and his menacing Dobermans are perhaps a little too frightening for very small children - but on the whole, it is an enjoyable outing, if very, very short one, being only a little over an hour of viewing time.
Of the extra features, I found the most watchable to be a pair of classic shorts featuring Goofy and cats: "Lend a Paw" and "Puss Cafe", with Goofy alternately rescuing a kitten, and defending his yard, his milk bottles, and his fish-pond from a pair of hungry moochers. (Slight detour there, while I reminded my daughter that milk used to be delivered, and homes would have bottles of milk actually sitting on the porch. Just for fun, I wondered what breed the invading cats (Siamese?) and Goofy is supposed to be, exactly? Mastiff? Great Dane? Dog of no breed? Another feature, the obligatory `making of' featured a look at the then-latest word in desktop computers, which now look quite clunky and huge. Nothing dates so fast, as the very latest in technology, I guess.
Excellent Disney Movie May 7, 2009
Donna L. Grube
This was one of my daughter's favorite movies and now it is one of my granddaughter's favorites. A great movie for any age.
 Worst Animated Disney Movie EVER March 25, 2009
Janet Boyer (Pennsylvania)
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
My family and I collect Disney movies, especially the Plantinum ones, so it was a no-brainer that my 10-year old wanted the 20th Anniversary Edition of Oliver and Company (even though neither one of us had ever seen it before).
Knowing how wonderful past animated Disney movies based on cats or dogs delighted us (The Aristocats, Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, etc.), I bought it.
Boy were we disappointed! The animation wasn't that great and the film felt very dated rather than timeless--especially with the inclusion of 80's era vehicles, Billy Joel music/beats, breakdancers on the sidewalk, etc.
But that's not the bad part, really. None of the characters were memorable--we are given no reason to care for any of them. There is a lot of cigar smoking, violence, threats and menace. Who wants that in a Disney movie? (Yes, I realize it's based loosely on Oliver Twist--hence, Fagin and company--but it's an awful adaptation.)
The plot was lame--The Aristocats portrays a similar theme with much more panache, heart, admirable voice acting, lovely animation, and FANTASTIC music. If you want to get an animated cat movie, get that one instead!
My son, who has lower standards than I do (chuckle) said he wanted to "sell it at a yardsale". He has never, EVER done that with an animated Disney movie--and after the first viewing!
Seriously, pass on Oliver and Company--especially with its high price. You're much better off getting something from the Platinum collection--Pinocchio, Cinderella, etc.--than this awful movie.
Oliver and Company February 7, 2009
A. Lynch (Autumn Mists, Honalee)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It's difficult to define an era of Disney as lesser or greater than another. The 1980's are thought of as a lesser era, yet they produced The Fox and the Hound, The Great Mouse Detective, and The Little Mermaid, three classics of the Disney canon. That three out of six movies released by the studio in ten years weren't classics doesn't show how low Disney had gone as much as it proves how high their standards had been previously.
Oliver and Company is a cute movie, but it is also thoroughly mediocre. Young kids will love it, as young children like every animated movie. But, unlike most Disney movies, Oliver and Company doesn't hold up for adults. I watched it for the first time in ten years last night, and my attention wandered away on several occasions. The characters aren't as well-developed, their interactions aren't as enjoyable, as in other Disney films. What this feels like is a Disney movie going through the motions, which is the way you can tell the bad ones from the classics.
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