When I was seven years old, the movie Oliver and Company hit the
theaters. I immediately declared myself a big fan. I hung a large poster
on the wall of my bedroom. I placed a finger puppet version of Oliver
in the hot air balloon I had suspended over my bed so I saw him whenever
I looked up. I bought the picture book adaptation from the Scholastic
Book Club. But I never actually saw the movie. I'm not sure how that
happened, as just about every other Disney movie that came out when I
was a kid merited a trip to the theater, especially if it was animated.
But I never got around to this one, and for some reason, I never rented
it either. I finally got to see what I was missing this week when I
rented it from Netflix.
Oliver and Company is an extremely loose adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist.
Instead of 19th-century London, it takes place in 1980s New York City.
Little orphan Oliver (Joey Lawrence) is an orange kitten who strikes out
on his own after his siblings are plucked from a street-corner box. The
Artful Dodger is just plain Dodger (Billy Joel),
a super-cool mutt who, after a rocky introduction, takes Oliver under
his wing. Fagin (Dom DeLuise) looks pretty rough around the edges, but
this human leader of Dodger's ragtag canine gang has a heart of gold,
which I expected as soon as I heard DeLuise's voice. I always felt sorry
for Fagin despite his villainous traits, but this Fagin is much more
victim than villain and even has a heroic moment late in the film. The
true villain is Sykes (Robert Loggia), to whom Fagin must deliver a
hefty chunk of cash - or else.
Oliver's benefactor in this
movie is Jenny (Natalie Gregory), a rich, lonely girl whose parents are
often away on business. She lives under the supervision of jovial butler
Winston (William Glover) and shares a home with pampered show poodle
Georgette (Bette Midler). When Jenny happens upon Oliver, she is
ecstatic, and Oliver, though he enjoys the company of Dodger's posse -
dopey Einstein (Richard Mulligan), feisty Tito (Cheech Marin), regal
Francis (Roscoe Lee Browne) and maternal Rita (Sheryl Lee Ralph) -
couldn't be happier to have the home he always wanted. So he's not too
pleased when they "rescue" him just as he's settling in and even less
tickled to find himself being used as a bargaining chip to get Fagin out
of debt.
This is a fun movie full of peppy songs and funny
zingers, mostly from Dodger and his fellow dogs. I was a little
disappointed to discover that Billy Joel had not written the music; it
was his name I most associated with the movie, and I thought his role in
it was slightly larger. Still, he does get the big show-stopping
musical number, Why Should I Worry?, which bears a certain resemblance to Aladdin's One Jump Ahead.
(It also includes the line "I got street savoir-faire," which my mom
mis-heard as "I got fleas in my hair." Which no doubt was true as well!)
The other big number is Once Upon a Time in New York City,
the opening song performed by Huey Lewis that firmly establishes the
setting. This movie never lets us forget where we are, whether we're
gazing up at the Twin Towers or joining Jenny and Oliver for an idyllic
carriage ride through Central Park. Jenny does get her own song too, the
very sweet and quiet Good Company, while Georgette's braggy Perfect Isn't Easy is amusingly over-the-top.
Just before the conclusion, there's one very dark moment involving
Sykes, and there are slightly racy undertones with the way Tito and
Georgette interact with one another. For the most part, however, this is
a very sanitized version of the Dickens classic. The backgrounds have a
somewhat flat quality to them, but they still are effective in
capturing the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple. I confess it didn't
hold my attention quite as much as I thought it might; I would say it's
not quite up there with Lady and the Tramp or 101 Dalmatians. But for a lover of Disney, Dickens or dogs, Oliver and Company is a worthwhile movie to watch.
No comments:
Post a Comment