It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

When I was a little boy this animation replaced my entire Cable TV regimen and Toy Story all together (until the VHS broke and I chose to do something else) . This movie was a fun film to watch. I loved the characters and the drama. But is it well balanced? We'll find out.-PLOT/STORY- Oliver and company is losely based on the Charles Dicken's novel "Oliver Twist". I saw the musical when I was 9 and let me tell you. It is nothing like that. Honestly I could say that knowing Disney they could have easily gone with the watered down version of a British novel. But as lose as it is it still gets the general outline of the novel down. A Kitten named Oliver is out in the large brooding New York City (the most cliche place in film) who gets discovered by a cool talking dog named Dodger. Dodger leads Oliver to a stray pack of dogs who are actually owned by a homeless man on a dock named Fagan. Fagan, is apparently owes money to a scaryass loneshark named Sykes. So the only way to get back money is not by raising it or getting anyone to help but to steal... Now I must stop right there but what is this teaching anyone? Nothing. I cannot tell if this is being ironic or not but teaching kids to steal is not the way okay? What a bare bones lesson. Anyway, Oliver gets adopted by a wealthy little girl who's daddy is gone and he is loved. Sykes discovers this and kidnaps the little girl. Now Fagan and his gang must save her. This leads to a violent chase scene. This leads to one of the most traumatic Disney death's of my childhood right next Mufasa dying (which I didn't care for) but it wasn't Syke's death but rather his two Doberman and I love Doberman. This is graphic for the kids. I mean Gaston's death was just and like no one cared but holy crap dude. 1980's Disney has edge! So it ends up in happiness as the gang forget the climactic chase and eat birthday cake ending up in song and dance and plenty of fourth wall breaks. If that part in the climax wasn't with the 2 dogs death this movie would be a perfect 10. -CHARACTERS- The characters in Oliver and company are cute and lovable but they are mostly archetypes and stereotypes. Oliver- a shy little kitten who must grow to be confident. Dodger- The coolest Jack Russle you'll ever see in this side of NYC. Fagan- Based off Fagan from the original movie. Fagan is a dirty frantic yet caring homeless man. Rita- A Saluki personified as a foxy black chick who wants to help Oliver grow. Penny- A young rich girl who has talent and loves animals. She is the American in this 3 cheese slice of a schmaltzy film. Has daddy issues Tito- A wise cracking Chihuahua voiced by Cheech Marin. He is the funniest and is better than any actual Chihuahua you'll ever see. Georgette- The most stereotypical poodle character you'd probably seen 100 times in any Looney Toons short. Many uppity girls will relate to her. There are forgettable ones likeFrancis- A snobby Bulldog. Einstein- A dopey Great Dane And the worst one of all Sykes-A bruding protagonist that you'll love to hate. Has the balls to threaten a little girl and a homeless man. A lone shark mafioso who smokes a cigar and has two Dobermans. There are some Cameos you'll see. The characters are stereotypes but still good and likable. -ART/ANIMATION- This was before Disney's grand renaissance of the 1990's and it shows. The characters aren't realistic, they feel more like out of a Loony Tunes cartoon lacking anatomy in someways and feel too tooned up on some of them but still very cute. But that isn't the problem really, no. The character alone are good. What the problem is that the line work feels very sketchy and Xeroxed. But the physics and overall animation make up for this as they are quite detailed. But what's even more unbalanced is that this was the first animated film to ever use cel shaded CGI on automobiles and environments. Now I can forgive this if it was the 1960's and this was rotoscoped like in 101 Dalmatians. But this simply looks out of place. The cars have way too much perspective, physics and fluidity than the 2D characters themselves. It feels video gamey. As if they took 2D sprites and layed them over a 3D backdrop in a Nintendo Gamecube game. Just flickey neon cardboard in an otherwise realistic fluid world.The backgrounds don't try too hard. They are nice pleasent yet sketchy images of New York City set in watercolor. They are filled with product placement which to a negative think makes them think this is just a cashgrab but to me (a positive thinker) it makes it look more grounded in reality. Some locations look more realistic than others but your stupid kid brain can't tell the difference.Overall though, it is a pleasent to look at movie. -MUSIC/VOICE ACTING- Since this is a musical. It's going to have to have good music and boy does it deliver. In my opinion, Oliver and company has the best music of all time in a Disney film. Hand in hand it has good voice actors. First off you have Billy Joel singing Why Should I Worry. Which is a fun soundtrack filled. Streets of Gold- Sung by Ruth Pointer as Rita Huey Luis doing his Once upon a time in New York City which sets the sad mood of Oliver's orphan experience. Penny's Good Company sung by someone who no one knows With this kind of Talent singing pop songs (better than Zootopia trash By Shakira) Overall I love it. Lots of other soundtracks to set the mood. The music for some will trigger nostalgia to kids and tweens of that time. But to adults it may not. Because some of them who where in their 20's probably didn't even like those artists of that genre.Oliver and Company's fun can only last son long. But do to it's inconsistent mood, strange take on a classic tale, bad climax, somewhat outdated . It will turn off some viewers and scare little kids. But over all, pretty charming. And that's all I need to say.

I have nostalgic memory of watching the original trailer for "Oliver and Company" a lot as it was on the British VHS of "Sleeping Beauty", one of the first videocassettes we ever had. This made me interested in the film as a child, even though I only got to see it many years later. As an adult, however, "Oliver and Company" seems a bit of an enigma. Made during a period when the whole Disney company was back on the up after a slump in the early to mid 80s, it's surprisingly one of Disney's weakest animated films from the main animation division, greatly paling in comparison to the likes of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "The Little Mermaid". Reimagining the story of "Oliver Twist" with cats and dogs is a bit of a far-fetched idea, and taking a long, rambling Victorian epic and turning it into a fun-filled adventure with cuddly cats and dogs in New York doesn't really work. The characters are cloying, and the desperate urge to be contemporary results in a film that ends up being truly dated. Some of the songs are fine enough, while others are embarrassing (especially Bette Midler's number "Perfect Isn't Easy", penned by Barry Manilow). Equally, the film feels very disjointed in tone. It starts off as a comical urban romp but in the last act suddenly turns into a dark story of kidnapping child characters. There may be a happy ending, but overall, the turn of events just seems inappropriate even for a film studio renowned for specialising in mild peril for children. It might be worth a watch if you're a serious Disney aficionado and want to watch all 50 plus animated features, but for anyone else, I wouldn't recommend it.

I don't know when I first saw this movie as kid but it made an impression. Now watching it as an adult I still like it. The songs are amazing and the story while a little short on plot is still very enjoyable.You see the love that the dogs have for each other and for their person. Dodger is a protective and loyal friend that cares for everyone. One of my favorite moments is when Dodger is settling-in for the night and Oliver comes over and curls up next to him. You get in that moment the whole center of this movie.The gang to varying degrees understand why Oliver wants to go with Jenny and not stay on the street. They all have needs and wants that are sometimes at odds with each other. Rita seems to be the most understanding. I think she wishes that she had that chance that is being given to Oliver.When Dodger looses his bandanna in the last fight you see him age and realize that this is all he will know and that he is happy. Yet somehow you feel sad for Dodger and his gang knowing that they are going back to the streets. Even though they have love they are living on the edge.Basically give this movie a chance and decide for your self.

What is wrong with you man? NONE of your so-called criticisms make ANY sense whatsoever! It's NOT Fago, it's Fagin! Pronounced FAYGIN! NOT pronounced Fag-o! I mean come on already! Were you THAT DESPERATE for something to criticize? So you made up an utter lie? Or are you seriously that stupid? If you're that hard of hearing than watch the movie with captions or subtitles! And how can anyone NOT love the songs in this? The very first song is my absolute favorite song of all time! And then there's this line: "The frightening scene with the kitten in the box, nearly getting sucked down the storm drain, then waking up on a car tire that's about to squish him. The sausage salesman with the scary face. The big mafia-looking guy chasing the hobo..." Um, really? That's the best you can come up with? If you REALLY want a scary face why don't you watch the part in Pinocchio when The Coachman says that "they (the boys) never come back...AS BOYS!" Now THAT was a scary face. This is nothing. As for the rest, well I mean if the opening events had never happened then how would the plot be set in motion? Yeah he almost drowned, but that's part of the plot? Remember in Finding Nemo, Dory says to Marlin (about him saying he'd never let anything happen to Nemo), "That's a funny thing to promise. I mean, if you never let anything happen to him, then nothing would ever happen to him." It's so true. And the tire was the only safe place at the time to sleep under, I mean, the box already was washed down the drain, and he was chased by three rabid dogs. OK, I do have a MINOR nitpick about that part. In the scene right when Oliver sees the three dogs, if you look closely you'll notice one of the dogs only has one eye. What's up with that? Was he born that way, did he lose his other eye, or did the animators simply screw up? I'm not sure. But it's barely even noticeable. The only reason I noticed was because I WAS paying close attention when I watched the Danish with English translations version of the song. After that, I re-watched my Blu-ray copy and looked to see if they had corrected it for the 25th Anniversary but it's still there. By the way, the lyrics to the song are very deep in the European French version. They contain lyrics like "So Oliver buck up. Go out on the street, don't be afraid. There are people like you, who laugh are who cry. We all have the right, to live and to dream sometimes. There was a time in New City." The original version's lyrics in that part go "So Oliver, don't be scared. Though yesterday, no one cared. They're getting your place prepared, where you wanna be. Keep your dream alive, dreamin' is still how the strong survive. Once Upon a Time in New York City." The second to last line in the original version was also referenced in an episode of Liv and Maddie entitled Moms-a-Rooney. Maddie says at one point in the episode to Karen "You keep this dream alive!"I'm also working on making my own version of Oliver & Company called Gordy & Company. Here's the cast: Gordy as Oliver, Adult Tod (The Fox and the Hound) as Dodger, Fern Arable (Charlotte's Web) as Jenny, Baloo (The Jungle Book) as Fagin, Dinky the Finch (The Fox and the Hound) as Tito, Trina Vega (Victorious) as Georgette, Shere Khan (The Jungle Book) as Sykes, Boomer the Woodpecker (The Fox and the Hound) as Einstein, Benson the Gumball Machine (Regular Show) as Francis, Vixey (The Fox and the Hound) as Rita, Winston as Himself, Brutus and Nero (The Rescuers) as Roscoe and De Soto, and Old Louie as Himself.