Disney Era Analysis – Oliver & Company
As mentioned in the first blog post in this series, I’ll be writing analysis content on all 60+ Disney animated feature films and their film making eras.
The fourth era is the Bronze Age, which ran from 1970 to 1988 and started with The Aristocats. As mentioned in a previous blog post, the Bronze Age is also known as the “Dark Age,” as the films during this era were the first ones made after Walt Disney’s death.
Without Walt Disney’s creative direction, the animators tried new things with the animation style during this era, which ended up being criticised as cheap and lazy, due to their use of xerography and recycling animation. As well as the heavy use of xerography and recycling animation, this era is also known for its darker and edgier films, which were the brainchild of the then-new generation of animators from Cal Arts.
So how well did Oliver & Company measure up to these famous features, and was it the right film to end the Era?
Use of xerography and recycling animation:
According to the film’s Wikipedia page, the backgrounds were done using the xerography process. However this film truly showed that Disney was transitioning from xerography to computer-based animation, as this film was the last to use line/cell overlay to make the backgrounds match the lines of xeroxed object, and the first to have its own department set up specifically for the purpose of generating computer animation.
In regards to recycling animation (or anything else), according to the film’s IMDb page, the scene where Oliver and Jenny are riding in the horse-drawn carriage and Oliver runs up and plays with the driver’s hat pays homage to a similar scene in The Aristocats. Other examples of recycling include but are not limited to: the appearance of Pongo, Jock, Trusty, Peg, and Roger from 101 Dalmatians, a picture of Professor Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective present behind Georgette during one scene, and Tito briefly singing a part of “Heigh-Ho” from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
I made many observations of the animation style with this film as it was remarkably different to its predecessors within this Era. The art felt more like it came from a children’s book, more drawing or watercolour-like. I also appreciated the animators’ dedication to provide an accurate representation of a dog’s point of view, by using cameras set 18 inches off the ground.
My favourite animation moments in the film included: the dogs walking on a rotating cement mixer, the dogs playing piano and moving lamps with their tails, the realism of the security camera footage at Sykes’ warehouse; and the 360, background moving in perspective shot, as Jenny is playing the piano.
Being a darker and edgier film:
With its adult themes of kidnapping, abandonment, and gambling, as well as the scenes involving Fagin and Sykes, and Sykes’ and his dogs’ deaths, I felt this film was a bit too dark and edgy for children.
According to the film’s IMDb page, the early drafts of the film’s story had the opening showing Oliver’s parents and siblings being killed by Sykes’ dogs. Oliver’s motive to join Dodger’s gang was then to going to be avenging his family. This plot threat was eventually abandoned for being too dark.
My overall thoughts:
Overall, I found that this was the right film to end the Bronze Age as it was set in the present day, and showcased Disney’s transition to and embrace of computer-generated animation. The overall ‘vibe’ of the film also felt completely different, with the art style feeling more like illustrations from a children’s book than a movie, the contemporary New York setting, the film’s opening song sounding like a sitcom’s opening theme, and the mostly seamless integration of other relevant musical numbers.
However, I do feel that the film is too dark and edgy for children, and that the musical numbers did slow down the pace of the film too much.
The next part of the Disney Era Analysis series will focus on the Renaissance and the first film within that era, The Little Mermaid.
Fun Facts and Trivia (according to the film’s IMDb page):
- Disney were keen on casting actors native to New York like Bette Midler, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Roscoe Lee Brown in the film, to believably represent a wide cross-section of the city.
- This was the first Disney animated feature film to have a written screenplay, as opposed to being entirely mapped out on storyboards.
- Despite his name being the film’s title, Oliver has no name until about 33 minutes into the film.
- According to a calendar on the wall, Oliver first meets Dodger and the gang on 21 April, which places the setting of the film in (Northern Hemisphere) spring, which explains the rainy weather.
- This film is one of the few animated feature films to feature a front-and-centre shot of the Twin Towers. After the tragedy of 9/11, when shots of the Twin Towers were being removed from many films to avoid upsetting people, Disney opted not to attempt to edit them out as it would ruin the film’s original main title card, and it would have been too time and financially consuming to do so, and by 2001, the film had already been widely distributed on VHS. Many New Yorkers later commended Disney’s decision as they felt the film portrayed the way New York used to be before 9/11.
- The film contained the logos and brand names of over 30 different companies. Disney stated that there was no paid product placement in the film, but they felt that they couldn’t provide a realistic view of New York City, without depicting the constantly present advertising within it.
References:
Loveday Writing 