Movie Thoughts: Oliver and Company (1988)

• Released: 18 November 1988
• Directed by: George Scribner
• Running time: 1 h 14 min
• Rating 3.5/5

Synopsis

A young kitten joins a dog gang in New York City and ends caught up in a conflict between the gang's human owner and his creditor.

My Thoughts

This is one of those childhood movies of mine I had the VHS of but never really liked. Sure, I liked most Disney dog & cat movies, but somehow this one never did it for me. 

However, after not watching it for more than a decade and now returning to it, I was very pleasantly surprised. I don't know what it is, but this movie just elicits such a joy in me.

It's rather rare to see a Disney animation that's set in a more contemporary setting. Another reason why I expected not to like it going in. I don't like big cities and the idea of having to go to New York sounds like a nightmare in and of itself. But this movie made the city seem fun and in places inviting. You see how these dogs, despite having almost nothing, enjoy life on the streets. 

The characters I also quite liked. I don't have this with every Disney movie, but sometimes I just really don't like the main cast we end up with. Think about The Jungle Book or The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. I genuinely couldn't care less for any of those characters. That wasn't the case here. Oliver, while standard, is a good protagonist and I liked his bond with Jenny and the dogs. The dogs, however, were the highlight of the movie. They were this odd yet charming found family. Dodger is probably honestly my least favorite out of all of them; they try a little too hard to make him seem cool, but other than that I really enjoyed the others. Yes, even the comic relief chihuahua. 

The whole subplot of Fagin and Sykes wasn't the most interesting to me, but it still kept me decently engaged. I did care for our protagonist and where he'd end up, and since that was tied into that subplot, it made me stay invested. 

The animation is also beautiful and while not all character designs are pleasing to the eyes, I did like most of these characters, as said before. 

While the villain didn't have much to him character-wise, I will say that his death is one of the most memorable ones I've recently seen. He just gets axed off by being hit with a train. Way to go.

Overall a pretty darn decent Disney movie I had no idea I'd end up liking so much. If my calculations are correct, I'll soon end up at the Disney Renaissance, so some of their best movies await me.