Oliver & Company - The 1988 animated film

Oliver & Company is a 1988 American animated film about the musical adventure genre for children and families, produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released on November 18, 1988 by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 27th Disney animated film, and is loosely based on the novel by Charles Dickens Oliver Twist. In the film, Oliver is a homeless kitten who joins a gang of dogs to survive on the streets. Among other changes, the film's setting was moved from 80th century London to XNUMXs New York City, Fagin's gang is made up of dogs (one of which is Dodger), and Sykes is a loan shark.

After the release of Taron and the magic pot (The Black Cauldron) (1985), Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg held a meeting with the animation staff, in which story artist Pete Young proposed the idea of ​​adapting Oliver Twist with dogs. The move was quickly approved and the film quickly went into production under the working title Oliver and the Dodger. Posted on the same day as In search of the Enchanted Valley (The Land Before Time) (1988), Oliver & Company it was a box office success, but received mixed reviews from film critics. The film was re-released in the US, Canada and the UK on March 29, 1996. It was then released on home video in the same year and again in 2002 and 2009 on DVD. The film was released on Blu-ray Disc in 2013 to commemorate its 25th anniversary.

History

On Fifth Avenue, several kittens are left in a box outside a store. All but one, an orange tabby kitten, are adopted. Wandering the streets alone in search of someone to adopt him, the kitten meets a lazy bastard named Dodger, who agrees to help him steal food from a hot dog vendor. Dodger then reneges on the deal and escapes with the hot dogs.

The kitten chases Dodger across New York City. Dodger eventually arrives on a barge, where the kitten watches him share hot dogs with a gang of poor dogs (Tito the Chihuahua, Einstein the Great Dane, Rita the Saluki and Francis the Bulldog). Oliver accidentally falls on the barge, frightening the dogs; however, while they are annoyed, none of them hurt him. Fagin, the boatman and thief who owns the dogs, is in debt to Sykes, a nefarious loan shark and criminal. Sykes arrives and gives Fagin an ultimatum; repay the money in three days, or suffer violence, possibly even death. Sykes' two Dobermans, Roscoe and DeSoto, harass Fagin's dogs and threaten to eat the kitten. He scratches DeSoto's nose, earning the respect of Fagin and the dogs. Roscoe warns that they will seek revenge.

The next morning, Fagin goes to pawn some of his stolen belongings, while the dogs and the kitten try to steal more money from him. Through a theatrical ruse, the animals stop a limo belonging to the wealthy Foxworth family, but the attempt to rob the limo fails and the kitten is taken by the little girl Jenny Foxworth, who misses her parents on vacation and wants a mate. She calls him Oliver and is very fond of him.

Oliver feels comfortable in Jenny's home, much to the disgust of Georgette, the spoiled and award-winning poodle of the Foxworth family. With his help, Dodger and the dogs manage to kidnap Oliver from the Foxworth family, bringing him back to the barge. Fagin recognizes from Oliver's new collar and gold plate that he had been adopted by a wealthy family and desperately decides to keep Oliver for a ransom. His anonymously written ransom note reaches Jenny, who sets out to take Oliver back to the dock.

Jenny and Georgette meet up with Fagin, who is shocked to be dealing with a little girl whose "ransom" is a piggy bank. Annoyed by her conscience and Jenny's tears, Fagin freely returns Oliver. Sykes, who Fagin had informed of the agreement in advance, is watching from the shadows and kidnaps Jenny, intending to redeem her as she declares Fagin's debt paid. Dodger rallies Oliver and the other dogs to free Jenny from Sykes, but Sykes and her Dobermans confront them as they attempt to leave. Fagin saves the group with his motor scooter and a chase ensues through the streets and underground tunnels. Jenny falls from the scooter into Syke's car; Oliver and Dodger chase her and fight Roscoe and DeSoto, who fall out of the car and are electrocuted on the third track of the subway. Fagin leaves Tito to drive and save Jenny, while Dodger and Oliver are thrown from Sykes' car onto the Brooklyn Bridge sidewalk just before an oncoming train hits and kills Sykes. Tito drives the scooter to safety and Jenny and Oliver are reunited.

Later, Jenny celebrates her birthday with the animals, Fagin, and the family butler Winston, who gets a call from Jenny's parents saying they will be back from Rome the next day. Oliver decides to stay with Jenny, but promises to keep in touch with Dodger and the gang.

Characters

Oliver

An orphaned orange kitten looking for a home. He joins Fagin's dog gang before being greeted by Jenny.

Dodger

Dodger, a carefree and charismatic bastard with a terrier mix in him. He claims to have considerable "street savoir-faire". He is the leader of Fagin's dog gang and is Oliver's first acquaintance, as well as his possible best friend and bodyguard.

Tito

Tito, a small but passionate Chihuahua in the Fagin gang. She has a fiery temper for his size and quickly develops a crush on Georgette (although she is initially rejected by him). His full name is Ignacio Alonso Julio Federico de Tito.

Einstein

Einstein, a gray Great Dane and a member of Fagin's gang. He is called ironically because he is not particularly bright, representing the stereotype that Great Danes are friendly but dull.

Francis

Francis, a British-accented bulldog in Fagin's gang. He appreciates art and theater, especially Shakespeare. He also hates anyone who shortens his name as "Frank" or "Frankie" (which Tito often does).

Rita

Rita, a Saluki and the only bitch in Fagin's gang. She is way wise and takes Oliver under her wing.

Fagin

Fagin, a humble thief who lives on a barge with his dogs. He desperately needs money to pay off his debt to Sykes. Due to his financial situation, he is forced to carry out criminal acts such as pickpocketing and petty theft, but in truth he is most of the time well-meaning and genius.

Roscoe and DeSoto

Roscoe and DeSoto: Sykes' evil Doberman Pinscher who have a hostile history with Dodger and his friends. Roscoe is the apparent leader, while DeSoto appears to be the more savage of the two.

Bill Sykes

Bill Sykes, a cold-hearted immoral loan shark and shipyard agent who has lent a considerable sum of money to Fagin and expects it to be returned.

Jennifer "Jenny" Foxworth

Jennifer "Jenny" Foxworth, a rich and kindhearted girl who adopts Oliver.

Winston

Winston, the clumsy but loyal butler of the Foxworth family.
Bette Midler as Georgette, the Foxworth family's award-winning poodle. Vain and spoiled, she becomes jealous of Oliver but in the end she accepts him and Fagin's gang.

Old Louie

Old Louie, an aggressive and cantankerous hot dog salesman who appears at the beginning of the film when Oliver and Dodger steal his hot dogs. He is described by Dodger as "a notorious foe of the four-legged world," which means he hates both cats and dogs.

Production

Oliver & Company was the 1984th animated film developed by Walt Disney Feature Animation and the first to begin production under the supervision of then CEO Michael Eisner and studio president Jeffrey Katzenberg; the duo, who previously worked at Paramount Pictures as president and head of production respectively, joined the company in 1985. Following the release of The Black Cauldron (30), Eisner and Katzenberg invited animators to present potential ideas for upcoming animated films, famously called "Gong Show". After Ron Clements launched The Little Mermaid and Treasure Island into space, story artist Pete Young suggested "Oliver Twist with dogs." Katzenberg, who previously planned to produce a live-action adaptation of the musical Oliver! at Paramount, he approved the field. With the working title of Oliver and the Dodger, the film was originally much darker and more gritty with the film kicking off with Sykes' two Dobermans killing Oliver's parents, setting the story to focus on Oliver demanding his revenge. as detailed in a draft dated March 1987, XNUMX.

George Scribner and Richard Rich have been announced as the directors of the project, while Pete Young has been named story supervisor. However, Rich was fired from Disney about six months after production began, leaving Scribner as the sole director. In this adaptation, Scribner transformed Oliver into a naive kitten, Dodger and the gang into dogs and Fagin into a human, and encouraged the film to be smarter. Additionally, Scribner borrowed a technique from Lady and the Tramp (1955) by capturing scenes on real roads and then photographing them with cameras mounted eighteen inches off the ground. This way, the animators would use the photos as templates to provide a true overhead view of the action. As work on Oliver continued, Roy E. Disney came up with the idea that Fagin would attempt to steal a rare panda from the city zoo. However, the writers would have had trouble with the idea, and the panda subplot was eventually dropped when Scribner suggested that Fagin keep Oliver for a ransom because he was a precious and rare Asian cat.

Eleven minutes of the film used "computer-assisted imagery" such as skyscrapers, taxis, trains, Fagin's trolley-scooter and subway chase. Traditional animation was handled by the next generation of Disney animators, including supervising animators Glen Keane, Ruben A. Aquino, Mike Gabriel, Hendel Butoy and Mark Henn, as the "Old Nine" had retired in the early 80s. 300. During two and a half years of production, six supervising animators and a team of over XNUMX artists and technicians worked on the film. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill was the database for the New York City skyline, which was recreated for the film.

Music

The Oliver & Company soundtrack contains an instrumental score by JAC Redford under the supervision of Carole Childs. Redford was hired to compose the score due to his previous collaboration with Disney music executive Chris Montan on the St. Elsewhere television series. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Katzenberg came up with the idea of ​​involving famous songwriters / songwriters, each of whom would contribute a song to the film that included Billy Joel, Barry Manilow and Huey Lewis. At his suggestion from his friend David Geffen, Katzenberg called lyricist Howard Ashman, who composed the song "Once Upon a Time in New York City". Ashman, who, with Alan Menken, would write the songs for the next three Disney Movies. Billy Joel, in addition to voicing Dodger, performed the character's song (“Why Should I Care?”) In the film.

The song "Why Should I Care?" received critical acclaim and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

The track list below represents the 1996 reissue of the Oliver & Company soundtrack. The original 1988 version contained the same songs, but with the instrumental cues inserted between the songs in the order they appeared in the film. Using the numbering system in the following list, the order of the tracks in the 1988 version would be: 1, 2, 6, 7, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 and 11. The reprise of “Why Should I Worry? ”, Played by the entire cast, remains unreleased on CD

Technical data

Original language English
Country of Production United States of America
Year 1988
Duration 74 min
Relationship 1,66:1
Gender animation, comedy, adventure, musical
Regia George Scribner
Subject Charles Dickens (novel)
Film script Jim Cox, Timothy J. Disney, James Mangold
Producer Kathleen Gavin
Production house Walt disney Feature Animation
Distribution in Italian Warner Bros. Italy
Editor Jim Melton, Mark Hester
Special effects Barry Cook, Mark Dindal, Jeff Howard, Glenn Chaika, Dorse E. Lanpher, Ted Kierscey, Kelvin Yasuda, Dave Bossert, Randy Fullmer, Mark Myer, Eusebio Torres
Music JAC Redford
scenography Rasoul Azadani, Dan McHugh, Fred Cline, Fred Craig, James Beihold, Karen Keller, Alex Mann, Mark Christiansen, Bill Perkins, Phil Phillipson, Bob Smith
Storyboard Vance Gerry, Mike Gabriel, Roger Allers, Joe Ranft, Kevin Lima, Gary Trousdale, Jim Mitchell, Chris Bailey, Michael Cedeno, Kirk Wise, Pete Young, Dave Michener, Leon Joosen
Art director Dan Hansen, Guy Deel
character design Mike Gabriel, Andreas Deja, Glen Keane
Entertainers Mike Gabriel, Glen Keane, Mark Henn, Hendel Butoy, Ruben A. Aquino, Doug Krohn, Phil Young, Shawn Keller, Leon Joosen, Tony Fucile, Russ Edmonds, Anthony Derosa, Will Finn, Jay Jackson, Barry Temple, Kathy Zielinski, Ron Husband, Kevin Wurzer, Rick Farmiloe, Jorgen Klubien, Dave Pruiksma, David P. Stephan, Chris Bailey, Dan Jeup, Viki Anderson, David Cutler, Kevin Lima, Jeffrey Linch
Wallpapers Jim Coleman, Lisa Keene, Brian Sebern, Steve Butz, John Emerson, Tia Kratter, Andy Phillipson, Phil Phillipson, Bob Stanton

Original voice actors

Joey LawrenceOliver
Billy Joel: Dodger
Dom DeLuise: Fagin
Natalie GregoryJenny
Cheech Marin: Titus
Roscoe Lee Browne: Francis
Richard MulliganEinstein
Sheryl Lee RalphRita
Bette MidlerGeorgette
Robert LoggiaSikes
Taurean Blacque: Roscoe
Carl Weintraub: Desoto
William GloverWinston
Frank Welker: Old Louie

Italian voice actors

Francesco VendittiOliver
Claudio Sorrentino: Dodger
Gigi AngelilloFagin
Myriam CataniaJenny
Teo Bellia: Tito
Gil BaroniFrancis
Mario BardellaEinstein
Manuela Andrei: Rita
Germana Dominici: Georgette
Glaucus Onoratus: Sikes
Piero Tiberi: Roscoe
Massimo Rinaldi: Desoto
Carlo Reali: Winston
Vittorio Amandola: Old Louie

Source: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_%26_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_%26_Company