Oliver and Company (5/10)
Another Disney Dark Age/Bronze Age film. Not nearly as bad as The Black Cauldron, but most films are better than that drek. However, just because it's better, doesn't mean it's good.
I'm actually going to go point by point here, so on that note:
-The animation of this film is...something. The characters look one way, while the backgrounds have a kind of painterly look to them - less clear. I don't know if this is intentional or simply due to budgetary constraints, but it's noticable nonetheless.
-The "Once Upon a Time in New York City" intro song is horribly mismatched when Oliver starts being chased by dogs. I mean, jeez...
-Speaking of Oliver, it kind of struck me how little character development or background he has. If this is an adaptation of Oliver Twist, at least in the original text, we know some things about Oliver (mother's dead, forced to work in a workhouse, etc.) before being taken in by Fagin. Here, a lot of that backstory is simply absent. I know, with a 75 minute running time you have to cut out some stuff, but even so...
-"Why Should I Worry?" is the only good song in the film, but it's still a good song, so that's nice. It's still rolling over in my head as I type this.
-Dodger's motivations though are weird, in that, I'm not sure if he's intentionally trying to ditch Oliver or not. In the song, that seems to be the case, but when Oliver turns up in the gang's lair, he kind of acts like it was all part of his plan. Which might be him saving face, but then he seems to genuinely care, but it's character development that occurs over just a few days and gah!
-Fagin and Sykes don't make sense. We know that Fagin owes Sykes money, but how much money, and why he owes Sykes is never explained. You could argue that it's not relevant, but, well, here's the thing. Sykes gives Fagin three days to pay him back. A large part of those three days is the gang trying to get Oliver back after being 'kidnapped' by Jenny. So, basically, they're screwing over their master to help some cat they barely know, while they're meant to be scrounging up material that can pay a certain amount that's never specified.
-Jenny is...well, she's kinda "bleh," and so is everything that's associated with her section. First, yes, boo hoo, your parents won't be home for your birthday, but you've got a butler, and live in a fancy house, and I've just seen a guy who's living in a dilapidated boat, fighting to get enough money to stay alive, so the film kind of shoots itself in the foot as far as the 'empathy contest' goes. Also, here, we get two songs that waste our time. First, how much Jenny loves Oliver (bleh), and Georgette singing about herself (meh). Ideally, in a musical, a song should further the character and plot, or at least one of those things. The former does practically none of this, the latter only furthers character, and it's characterization that's established through dialogue later on anyway.
That brings us to Oliver himself in this process. That Jenny gives him a name tag called Oliver (yes, he was called Oliver before, and in million to one odds, gives him the name he already had), but that aside, this section doesn't really work. The idea is that after a lifetime of hardship, Oliver has finally found someone who cares for him and give him a good life. However, the thing is, we barely know anything about Oliver at this point. Yes, we know he was in a "free cats" box and wasn't chosen, but that's really it. The hardship he's suffered in the film has lasted only a few days, whereas the implication is that the dog gang and Fagin have lived this way for years. So when Dodger and co. 'save' him from Jenny, and Oliver wants to go back, and Dodger is "what, you're too good for us riff-raff?", he kind of has a point. Not literally the one he's making, but one can understand why Dodger might resent Oliver for getting the high life when he's been a gang member for an extended period of time. However, the film expects us to side with Oliver.
-So, Fagin's plan is, once Oliver has been returned, is to ransom him off to his owner. Here, we get insight into why Fagin isn't developed properly (we have no idea how much money he owes Sykes, so I can't judge if this is a sound plan or not), and why Sykes is an idiot. To deal with the latter, first, Sykes' only security are two dogs. He's a loan shark/gang leader (never really explained), but he has no human staff on him. Second, things go awry when Jenny turns up with her piggy bank (hardly a ransom), Sykes kidnaps her, and declares to Fagin that "our accounts are settled." So, let me get this straight. On one hand, Fagin still owes you money, but you're letting that go. Second, you're kidnapping a girl, and holding her for ransom, and somehow assuming that you'll get away with it. Newsflash, New York isn't going to care if you knock off some bum, but kidnapping a rich girl? That's insanely risky. And since all we have seen of Sykes's thugs are two dogs, then, well, hardly Cerberus going against the NYPD, is it?
-So, the gang rescue Jenny, and cue a chase, because Sykes is so desparate to get this kid back that he's willing to drive his very expensive car onto a subway, and be hit by a train (said train going on even AFTER destroying his vehicle, so...yay for public safety?)
-So, Jenny celebrates her birthday with the gang, Oliver stays with her, and Fagin goes off with the gang, free of Sykes, but still poor. Geez, you could have, I dunno, written him a cheque or something? Sheesh. Because as this film has shown, Oliver apparently deserves a happy ending (a life of luxury), while Fagin, Dodger, and all the other dogs don't because...reasons. Again, free from Sykes, but still living off pickpocketing and theft. Yay...
As you can see, I'm mixed on this film. I'm tempted to say that a problem is too many characters, but I don't think the no. of characters is inherently the problem (the dog gang are explicitly archtypes and supporting characters). Rather, the problem is that the main characters simply aren't that fleshed out. It's hard to sympathize with Oliver and Jenny too much when characters like Dodger and Fagin have it so much worse, and end the film in a similar situation they were in before. Added to that is how the stakes are poorly explained, and that Sykes is an idiot, and you get an average work like this.
