Oliver And Company (DVD)

...them. And today we watched Oliver & Company, the 27th animated classic that was first released in 1988, which just happens to be the year I left school. This is one of the lesser known Disney films and I really believe it deserves a little more attention so I've decided to tell you all about it.

---About the story---

As with many of the better Disney animations, Oliver & Company is based on a classic story, and in this ...
...been sold to new homes, Oliver is left to fend for himself on the streets of 1980's New York. He soon meets up with the streetwise mutt, Dodger and through him is introduced to Fagin's gang, which are of course all dogs. As the story unfolds, Oliver is taken in by a little girl, Jenny, who already has a spoilt poodle, Georgette and it seems as if his life is perfect….

Of course things are never that simple, and when the evil Sykes ... more

I've a confession to make…

I'm a bit of a Disney addict, I just love sitting with my children and watching the animated films with them. And today we watched Oliver & Company, the 27th animated classic that was first released in 1988, which just happens to be the year I left school. This is one of the lesser known Disney films and I really believe it deserves a little more attention so I've decided to tell you all about it.

---About the story---

As with many of the better Disney animations, Oliver & Company is based on a classic story, and in this case it's Dickens's novel Oliver Twist. However instead of a little orphan boy, we have an abandoned kitten as our hero.

After all his brothers and sisters have been sold to new homes, Oliver is left to fend for himself on the streets of 1980's New York. He soon meets up with the streetwise mutt, Dodger and through him is introduced to Fagin's gang, which are of course all dogs. As the story unfolds, Oliver is taken in by a little girl, Jenny, who already has a spoilt poodle, Georgette and it seems as if his life is perfect….

Of course things are never that simple, and when the evil Sykes tries to get money out of Fagin he sees Jenny as a way of getting him off his back. Now it's time for Oliver & Company to save the day…..

---About the animation---

This was the first Disney film to use computer generated animation, and I must say it's certainly not up to the standard of Toy Story. Actually, only the backgrounds were created on computers and they are the biggest let down in the film, it's hard to explain but somehow they just don't look right. The characters however are beautifully animated (by hand I might add), the animals are bright with cute loveable features, while the humans are drawn in a slightly different way, so that their character shines through.

---About the voices---

There are some amazing voice actors in the film, I can't tell you about them all, as I've never heard of some of them, but those I have heard of include :

We'll start with Billy Joel, who if I remember rightly is most famous for singing about an Uptown Girl and plays the part of Dodger, he's actually amazingly good in the role and I was very impressed.

Then there's Bette Midler, one of my favourite comedy actresses, who really hams it up as the spoilt Georgette. What can I say, except she's brilliant and steals the limelight from all the other characters.

All the other voice actors do an incredible job and the voices fit the characters perfectly, apart from the two I've mentioned no one character seems to stand out as being voiced better than the others, which is the way it should be.

---About the music---

In keeping with Disney tradition, there are number of songs throughout the film. In fact there are a total of seven, all of which have a distinctly '80's pop feel to them. The very first song, "Once Upon A Time In New York City" is my favourite, and is performed by Huey Lewis (of the News fame) although I must say "Perfect Isn't Easy" performed by Bette Midler comes a close second.

---About the Presentation---

The DVD is beautifully decorated with a picture of Jenny, Oliver and Dodger and I must say the printing is of exceptional quality. This is then enclosed within a standard DVD case, that has an inlay with similar printing. This may not seem important to you, but I like my purchased DVDs to look a touch better than I could manage myself from recording off the TV, otherwise what would be the point in buying them. I also like my DVDs to come with a number of extras (which is what often makes them actually worth buying)…..

---About the extras---

Along with being able to play the film straight through there is the standard scene access function along with a function to change the language and subtitles. Finally there are a few special features, which are :

*Sneak Peaks*
A look at some trailers of Disney films that were about to be released (when this DVD was first available) including Snow White, the Emperors New Groove and Dinosaur. In other words those boring bits that the children beg me to skip through when a DVD starts.

*Puss Café*
A short animation featuring Pluto (Mickey Mouse's dog), and a pair of mischievous and annoying cats. Very sweet, and I think I remember it from my childhood.

*Scrap Book*
A selection of pictures including some concept art. Storyboard drawings (in black and white pencil), character development, behind the scenes photos, publicity and merchandise artwork. Not too bad for a quick browse, and thank goodness there was no annoying background music, but I haven't bothered looking at these more than once.

*The Making Of Oliver & Company*
An interesting look at how computer imagery and tradition hand painted animation cells are combined to create the film, along with a very short introduction to the main voice actors. I personally felt that this was perhaps a little short and more depth would have made it even more interesting.

*Return Of A Classic : Theatrical re-release of Oliver &Company*
A pretty pointless look at the film being re-released in America, I'd give this one a miss if I was you.

Ok so there's not a huge number of extras, and they don't add that much to the value of the film, but there's just enough to scrape through as being classed as reasonable.

---About the sound/picture quality---

The sound and picture quality are perfectly good, with there being the option to listen in Dolby 5.1. I haven't noticed any hissing in the audio or fading in the animation. I would say it's definitely of better quality than a TV broadcast.

---About the technical bits---

Rating : U
Feature Running Time : 70 minutes
Region : 2 (PAL)
Picture : Wide screen
Audio : Dolby digital 5.1
Languages : English/Spanish
Subtitles : English/English for the hearing impaired /Spanish /Portuguese /Hebrew /Croatian /Slovenian

Price : £14.99 (inc postage) from Play.com

* This version seems to be slightly different to mine and has additional extra features which are "Disney animated animals" and two sing-along songs.

---About my opinion---

This is a sweet film, that re-tells the classic Oliver story in a way that, while not exactly true to the book, is certainly engaging. I have personally sat through it several times with my children, who love it (especially my nine year old girl), and even on the third or fourth time, I've not actually been bored out of my brains. I think it's the memories that the soundtrack stirs up that is what I really like about the film, even though my children have just informed me that "it's old-fashioned music'.

Although the extras on my copy are a little sparse, I would say that it was still excellent value for money, if only for the fact that it can be watched over and over again with no loss of quality. The sing-alongs on the version that's now available make it seem even better value to me, and I'm therefore recommending this to parents of young children, and those that want to complete their Disney collection. 

...less