Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

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.

While not one of the big name Disney animated films this is enjoyable enough fare, with some nice voice acting, and a modern (at the time) twist on 'Oliver Twist' by Charles Dickens.It doesn't hold up to modern standards of animation, and looks a little dated now. Also, many of the voice actors (Billy Joel aside) aren't that well known today, so for kids now the fact that Billy Joel is voicing a dog isn't that much of a big deal.It's a decent film, but if you were given the choice of watching this or 'The Lion King' for example, I know which one most people would go for.

Disney has always been good at providing well-made family entertainment high quality. Oliver & Company is no exception. A fun fast paced adventure which boasts a good voice cast Oliver & Company is the kind of great family entertainment we come to expect from the mouse-house. A modern day retelling of Oliver Twist with an all canine cast this is a fun and exciting movie. Being Disney it works for all ages. The animation is good , the songs are good and the characters are lovable and fun. I highly recommend that any parent show this film to their children. No one does it like Disney ! you will not regret it. It's a movie that the whole family will enjoy. Because when it comes to Disney (especially before 2000)you you can guarantee that a lot of care and skill went into the film. Like the man who started the company Disney always gives (With the exception of those dreadful Disney Channel Original Movies and series and Disney XD original series)a hundred percent !

I first purchased this as a present back in 1997(16 years ago)on VHS and to this day I still watch this movie. From the beginning I literally shed an odd tear for the movie's main charcther Oliver(voiced by Joey Lawrence when he was a kid)who is an orphan kitten that was looking for a good home,but nobody wanted him AT ALL. So enter Dodger(voiced by singer Billy Joel)who is a streetwise dog,that looks after Oliver along with his other mutt friends including a irritating dog,a dog that wants to be an actor,a goofy dog and a female dog (who I'm really not kidding here has EYE SHADOW!!). Meanwhile later on in the movie we meet another girl called Jenny who finds Oliver tangled up in wires as Oliver was teaming up with the irritating dog who later has a thing for a poodle(voiced by another singer Bette Midler) that belongs to Jenny.But who will Oliver choose; Dodger the dog and his owner Fagin(voiced by Dom Deluise) and the other mutts or Jenny the sweet and innocent red head that you cannot help but love?Bottom line I loved this movie since I was a child and to this day I still have it on VHS all the time and it never fails to bring a tear in my eye(yes you gotta be a cynical moron not to cry over this movie).The songs were great especially Billy Joel's song Why Should I Worry and the other song In Good Company sung by the little girl Jenny.This movie was witty,cute,sad,entertaining and a feel good movie.For that I'm giving it an 8 out of 10. A 10 is too much as the movie can be a bit silly with the whole talking animals but if your an animal lover and you love 101 Dalmatians,Lady & The Tramp then check it out.