Oliver & Company

This popped up on Disney+ and I was excited to watch a movie with my 5 year old and 2 year old that I remember enjoying as a kid. The main theme “Why Should I Worry” And first 10 minutes were enjoyable but after that it was pretty bad... I was surprised at how inappropriate it all was in 2020 standards. There’s a scary, sinister male villain, a little girl hanging out alone at night with a homeless male stranger, and the little girl’s parents aren’t in the movie ever (why would Disney even act like that’s safe or ok for a little girl to hang out with creepy dudes like that?). And at the end the little chihuahua dog is insinuating that he’s going upstairs to his new dog girlfriend Georgette’s place for sexy stuff. So not necessary. Disney, I know this is an old flick and thankfully standards have changed but I’m ashamed I even made my kids watch this. Please keep the inappropriate and sexy stuff out of kid movies. It’s so unnecessary, and kids are smarter than you think. Do better. I’ll stick to newer movies with better messages of true friendship, female empowerment, and not trying to hide adult themes / innuendo / and sexual messages in kid animated movies.

I found it very funny that so many parents were scandalized by the story. It is a modern retelling of classic literature: Dickens' Oliver Twist! A good gauge to tell if your child is ready for it is whether or not you would consider screening OLIVER! (another G rated musical based on the same story) for them. Otherwise, this is a terrific little film. The characters are engaging, and now, 30 years on, it captures the look and feel of 1980's New York City brilliantly. The opening sequence, depicting Oliver's struggle to find shelter to the lovely tune of "Once Upon a Time in New York City" never fail to bring me to tears. I appreciate that Jenny, the little girl who adopts Oliver, is portrayed as a real little girl, kind and loving, but also a tiny bit willful as well. The characters, aside from Oliver, Jenny, and possibly Jenny's faithful butler Winston, are not the best role models, but in the real world, none of us are perfect. However, like Fagin and his gang, we can all be our best selves when we need to be.

If it wasn't for the many Oliver and Company AMV's on Youtube and Oliver and Company Deviantart this 30 year old animated movie would had been forgotten these days. Beautiful girl dogs and lots of violence including a too rushed running time, and a shame this did not make it to the row of many 2000's Disney sequels. The animation, music and songs makes it feels like you're in a long vanished time of NYC. Beside that NYC is big in consumerism, but all the old Oliver and Company toys, picture books and more had seemed to be gone these 30 years. I might be one of the very few that remember the free Oliver and Company comics you could get at the local Danish gas station for a limited time.

My younger son says that this, Gordy, and Brother Bear are the most underrated Disney movies ever. Of them, this is my (and his) favorite. We love the music in it. I am trying to teach my younger son to be like Dodger from the movie and not care what other people think. Instead he is more like Oliver, trying to find his place in the world. That's why Once Upon a Time in New York City is his favorite song. He can also sing the foreign versions, namely French, Spanish, and Russian. There are two French versions: one from France and one from Canada. He can sing them both, and even knows the translation of the European French. There is also a line in the Polish and Icelandic versions that goes "to dream is not a sin". I am trying to teach my younger son that the same applies to opinions. He is convinced that he is wrong to like Liv and Maddie, which is his favorite show. It is not a bad show, but it is not as good as this. Overall: 9.75/10 (8/10 for Liv and Maddie).

This is in my top 8 from Disney. 10/10 best Disney soundtrack. UPDATE ON FEBRUARY 26: I asked SodaDog at tv.com to write a review here. I also asked him to review Sanjay and Craig. I updated my review at tv.com to ask if he could review other great Disney classics. To SodaDog, could you also review Sanjay and Craig and Rabbids Invasion at tv.com?

I love this movie! It was my favorite movie as a child. It came out on VHS when I was 5 years old and my sister was 4. We both enjoyed it immensely for it's songs, humor, and not to mention its great storyline. It has been 15 years and we still love it!

A great film! Has good catchy songs. Has mild violence and the villain does smoke.

I let my 4 yr old watch this movie for the first time 3 weeks ago. Since then, she has suddenly become terrified about being taken by a stranger when we are out in public and has woken up with bad dreams about a stranger taking/kidnapping her. Too much real world bad themes for a young child to process. I watched it as a child, maybe 10 yrs old, and I didn't remember much about it. I wish I would have screened it first, or remembered the movie better and I would not have shown it to my daughter.

My daughter is 4. I read the reviews on this site and thought that the movie looked appropriate for her. I was wrong. This movie has a loan shark that threatens a beggar-type character with death should he not be able to repay his loan. To find money, he uses a gang of dogs to take advantage of others, and to conspire to kidnap the cat of a wealthy child, which ultimately results in the kidnapping of that child. This movie was fraught with negative aspects of adult society that are both frightening and inappropriate for a child. I am horrible disappointed.