27 – Oliver & Company
Today's movie is 1988's Oliver &
Company. It's based on Charles
Dickens' classic novel “Oliver Twist” although I have to admit
that I've never actually read it. It's just one of those books that
have eluded me all my life, though I haven't exactly put in the
effort to find it. Maybe it's better this way though. I can really
try to look at Oliver & Company for
what it is instead of trying to compare it to Charles Dickens' novel.
I took a look at some reviews after I watched the movie and it seems
like it didn't received very well but most of those reviews also
tried comparing it to the classic novel. I can't do that so I'll just
see if it works as a movie at all.
The
plot of this movie is actually kind of crazy. It all makes sense,
unlike The Black Cauldron, but
there is just a crazy amount of things that happen. We first meet
Oliver the cat who has been left alone in a box with all of his
siblings being taken away to nice homes. He then meets Dodger, a dog
who uses Oliver to get himself some food. Dodger is part of a group
of dogs that helps a poor man named Fagin. Fagin owes money to a man
called Sykes. Oliver ends up joining this group but gets separated
and meets Jenny, a little girl who is lonely because her parents are
always away. The group goes to rescue Oliver but find that he enjoys
his new life. Fagin, in desperation, ransoms Oliver for money because
he believe he has been taken in by a rich family. This ends up
leading to Jenny getting captured by Sykes and the group having to go
rescue her from him. So yeah. A lot happens and, if you haven't
noticed, there are a ton of characters.
The
filmmakers really make you feel bad for Oliver from the beginning.
You see how he so eagerly wants to be with people but ends up being
left alone while his brothers and sisters all get adopted. He's shown
to be very friendly with people and a bit curious about the world. He
also shows himself to be pretty persistent once he meets Dodger and
finds that Dodger just used him to get himself some food. He follows
Dodger all the way back to where Dodger lives with his group. Dodger,
a Jack Russell Terrier, is much more street smart than Oliver. He
comes off as pretty carefree and selfish when he takes the food that
Oliver helped him get but he shows a different side when he meets up
with his friends and offers them the food. You really see how much he
cares about them and Fagin, their poor owner. He and Oliver really
become good friends and he is really hurt when Oliver finds a new
home.
Dodger's
group is introduced early on too. You get a good idea that they all
have very different personalities and it's nice to see that variety.
There's Tito, a Chihuahua who is a bit hyperactive with a short
temper but is also the group's mechanical expert. Francis is a
Bulldog who is a bit snobby about his intelligence but loves theater
and is the group's actor. Einstein is a Great Dane who is a bit
unintelligent and, sadly, gets the least characterization. Finally,
there's Rita, a Saluki, who is the only female of the group and is
much more mature than the rest of them. She also doesn't really get
to do much. They're all taken care of by Fagin, who is in enormous
debt to the evil Sykes. He has his dogs try to find him money or
things to sell to pawn shops. He is clearly a good guy but sadly has
to resort to some underhanded things to make money. He also clearly
cares about his dogs greatly and accepts Oliver with open arms. I
felt bad for him though I think when he ransoms Oliver, it's a bit
out of character the way he does it. He just seems too excited to be
doing something so shady.
The
villain in this movie is clearly Sykes who continuously threatens
Fagin for the money Fagin owes him. He's pretty intimidating but you
don't really get too much of a sense of who he is. He comes across as
just a generic bad guy sometimes. He does own two Doberman, Roscoe
and DeSoto, who are more like direct villains for Dodger's group to
face. They also don't get too much screen time so you don't get to
know them very well.
Finally,
there's Jenny and her dog Georgette. Jenny finds Oliver during one of
Dodger's groups attempts to get money for Fagin. She is a kind a rich
little girl but is very lonely because her parents seem to always be
away. She quickly bonds with Oliver and gives him a loving home. When
Oliver is held for ransom by Fagin, she personally goes and offers
her piggy bank. Georgette is her spoiled Poodle show dog. Georgette
is very selfish and loves attention when she's introduced. She is
shocked when she meets Dodger and his group but is eager to get rid
of Oliver who is taking attention away from her. She does, however,
grow to become less selfish for Jenny's sake when Jenny gets captured
by Sykes.
I
really liked this movie but it definitely has a lot of problems. One
of which is the music. It's not necessarily bad but it's just
extremely dated compared to the “timeless” quality Disney movies
usually have. The songs are ok but they just feel very late 80s. That
is sort of the danger they face when they put something in a modern
setting. My bigger problem with the movie is just how many things
happen in a short time. As you can probably tell, this movie has a
crazy amount of things going on with a pretty big cast. I find that
this movie has a different problem than most Disney movies with large
casts. Usually I feel like Disney includes characters that don't
contribute anything to the movie but this time I think they didn't
give the characters the screen time they deserved. I really liked all
the characters but with all the stuff going on in such a short time,
they didn't get any time to really develop stories with them. They
really could have used more time developing Oliver and Dodger's
relationship or worked on making Sykes a more compelling villain.
Overall,
I really did like this movie. I'm glad that Disney seems to be
getting a bit more ambitious with their storytelling in this era. I'm
sure it's incredibly different from it's source material but I think
it ultimately worked, though not without some problems. Tomorrow, we
start the most famous era in Disney history.
27
down. 26 to go. Finally halfway there, and starting with the “Disney
Renaissance”
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