Current Events > Oliver and Company is kind of an odd Disney movie. (Spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Disney knew saccharine films like AristoCats and Cinderella were out of fashion, but they didn't find a formula for renewed success until The Little Mermaid. Up to that point, they just threw everything against the wall to see what, if anything, stuck.

The grungy backgrounds look like they're out of a Ralph Bakshi movie while most of the characters in the foreground are bright and colorful. Sykes and Feigen really don't feel like Disney characters. The former in particular feels like he belongs more in a sequel to Die Hard or Lethal Weapon. Again, this was that feeling out process where they're still trying to figure out what worked and what doesn't. Mad Madam Mim and Captain Hook aren't going to cut it. Why not have a loan shark as their villain? And why not increase the violence? This is the 80s. Let's have a squealing dog electrocuted on a subway track.

Half the stuff in the movie felt normal at the time. Tito sexually harasses Georgette and, at one point, plants an unauthorized kiss on her. And half of Sykes's personality is just puffing cigar smoke in Feigen's face. I would say that smoking is presented as a nasty habit, and codifies him as a bad guy, but Tito is also depicted as a smoker. Also, this one is entirely out of Disney's hands, but the World Trade Center appears in nearly every establishing shot. It's like a wall-hanging in the background of the whole movie.

Also, Billy Joel did a far better job than most celebrity guest voice actors. It's kind of odd that this would remain his only acting role other than playing himself in a guest appearance on Mad About You.

Well ya know today I learned Oliver and Co came out in the 80s. If you asked me 2 mins ago when this movie came out I would have said like fucking 1996 homie wheeeeew

i got street savoir faire

Oliver and Company is my shit. Besides The Fox and the Hound, and The Lion King.

Dingydang166 posted...

Well ya know today I learned Oliver and Co came out in the 80s. If you asked me 2 mins ago when this movie came out I would have said like fucking 1996 homie wheeeeew

It had a theatrical re-release at around that time. Oliver and Company was the final film to follow the Disney formula of going into the vault for seven or more years before getting a theatrical re-release.

Then Disney realized there was more money in releasing films to home video shortly after they came out in theaters. That in itself is a bit of an oddity. The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King all saw VHS releases. The Black Cauldron and Oliver and Company were chilling at the sideline wondering, "Hey, when is it going to be my turn?"

gamer167 posted...

i got street savoir faire

I thought he said "street sidewalk faire." I've had the wrong lyrics for decades.

<___<

Deku_Link posted...

Oliver and Company is my shit. Besides The Fox and the Hound, and The Lion King.

The Fox and the Hound is fantastic, but that one is depressing.

Thats my favorite animated Disney movie.

Rock a doo little and ferngully were things that messed me up a bit as a kid Hexus was scary as fuck to me through man do I barely remember those movies other than "Oh this is gonna hurrrt" line and construction worker having a walkmen

Dingydang166 posted...

Well ya know today I learned Oliver and Co came out in the 80s. If you asked me 2 mins ago when this movie came out I would have said like fucking 1996 homie wheeeeew

Yeah I remember seeing Burger King (or McDonald's?) commercials for toys from the movie as a kid in the 90s. I was surprised to find out later that the movie was actually released earlier.

FortuneCookie posted...

The Fox and the Hound is fantastic, but that one is depressing.

I know. Gets me in the feels every time. ;~;