THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 4, 1996 TAG: 9604040033
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
``OLIVER & COMPANY,'' released in 1988, has largely been overshadowed by the impressive nine animated films that have been turned out by the Disney studio since. It was released the same year as the inventive ``Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' and a year before ``The Little Mermaid'' began the renaissance of animated films.
While it may be less artistic than some of the Disney studio's latter films, ``Oliver'' remains a crowd-pleasing, outright entertainment. It's a film that went for the brass and had the musical score and sassiness to back it up.
A free-wheeling adaptation of Charles Dickens' ``Oliver Twist,'' it tells the story of an orphaned kitten (Oliver) who is adopted by a pack of pickpocket dogs, headed by Dodger, a hip street canine, and a human crook named Fagin.
After Oliver is taken in by a rich little Fifth Avenue girl, crooks kidnap the two of them. The doggies come to the rescue.
Billy Joel is the voice of Dodger, singing ``Why Should I Worry?'' to prove that he knows the streets. An adolescent Joey Lawrence (since of ``Blossom'' and ``Brotherly Love'' on TV) is the voice of Oliver.
Bette Midler is the voice of the prissy and preening French poodle, singing ``Perfect Isn't Easy,'' composed by her former accompanist Barry Manilow.
The film is stolen, though, by Cheech Marin as Tito, an impulsive, hot-blooded Chihuahua.
The other characters include a high-brow bullfrog named Francis (Roscoe Lee Browne); Einstein, a dumb-dumb mutt (Richard Mulligan); the villainous Sykes (Robert Loggia); and the surprisingly non-evil Fagin (Dom DeLuise).
``Oliver and Company'' doesn't have the ambition of the ensuing ``Little Mermaid,'' ``Beauty and the Beast,'' ``Aladdin'' and the arty ``Pocahontas'' but it does have a brash, hip feel that was the forerunner of the animation renaissance. It is still a fun show - and not just for kiddies. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by WALT DISNEY PICTURES
A clever kitten named Oliver finds companionship and adventure with
a group of misfit mutts in ``Oliver & Company.''
MOVIE REVIEW
``Oliver and Company''
Cast: The voices of Joey Lawrence, Billy Joel, Bette Midler,
Cheech Marin
Director: George Scribner
Screenplay: Jim Cox, James Mangold, Timothy J. Disney
MPAA rating: G
Mal's rating: three stars
Locations: Cinemark, Greenbrier 13 in Chesapeake; Janaf, Main
Gate in Norfolk; Columbus, Kemps River, Lynnhaven 8, Surf-N-Sand in
Virginia Beach
by CNB