Oliver and Company

                           

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In spite of some catchy songs, the flat characters, sub-standard animation and unoriginal adaptation in Oliver and Company drag it down overall.

The story is a very basic one: it’s Oliver Twist done with animals. Nothing is added to the story and, other than dog Georgette who is at least interesting to watch, none of the characters are really good enough to make the film stand out. They’re cute, but that’s all there is to any of them. Although she is only a supporting role, the most flat character in the film is Jenny, the young girl who adopts the ‘Oliver Twist’ kitten of the story and who is strikingly similar to Penny from the Rescuers. Sykes is a threatening villain, but as we learned from the Black Cauldron, a movie needs more than a good villain to function.

Oliver Twist is obviously a classic story, but nothing interesting or new is added in this version, so credit can’t really be given to the plot overall.

As for the animation isn’t terrible, but it doesn’t exactly look good, especially when compared to what Disney would produce before and after. To be fair, it does have some really good music, with the two best songs being ‘Why Should I Worry?’ and ‘Perfect Isn’t Easy’, both of which are some of the most fun songs at this point in the canon.

Ratings

Good guys: All of the leads main characters in this film are pretty flat and forgettable other than Georgette, meaning the good guys 4/10 

Bad guys: Sykes provides a credible threat to the protagonists, so the bad guys get 5/10

Animation: It’s passable, but there is nothing special here, so the animation gets 5/10 

Music: The songs of this movie are fun, so the music gets 7/10

Plot: Oliver Twist always makes for good film and television, but it’s not a particularly original adaptation, so the plot gets 5/10

Overall Rating: 26/50

Next Review: The Little Mermaid