1988 Disney Animated Canon entry number 27 about talking animals, loosely based on Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. In fact, if it were any looser, it'd fall right off. The setting is New York City, and Oliver is an unwanted ginger kitten. Fagin's gang is now made up of dogs, including a mongrel named Dodger (as in the Artful Dodger). Fagin himself is human, and he's definitely a good guy this time. In fact, he's just some poor schmoe trying to pay off the loan shark Mr. Sykes (based on Bill Sikes), who is the Big Bad, and here a VERY sinister gangster/Mafia type. The part of Mr. Brownlow is taken by Jenny, a 7-year-old girl who adopts Oliver.The film is somewhat notable for its early use of CGI (mostly to create New York's traffic), and for being the last film of Disney's pre-Renaissance era - it came out just one year before The Little Mermaid. It staffed many new artists who would rise to popularity with Disney's future releases. It's also important to note that the moderate success of this film brought back Disney's will to animate musicals, so you should thank it for songs like "Under The Sea", "Beauty And The Beast" and "A Whole New World".
Tropes:
Abhorrent Admirer: Gender reversed with Tito for Georgette. At first, anyway.
Cats are Mean: Subverted, if not completely inverted; Oliver the cat is one of the kindest and most innocent characters in the movie, easily more so than most if not all of the dogs, and easily more so than nearly every human character except maybe Jenny.
Cat Stereotype: Oliver is orange, and is one of the nicest characters in the movie.
Also, Dodger after a gruesome fight with the dobermans.
Dispense With The Pleasantries: When Fagin is first visited by Sykes, who he owed money to and is implied not to be able to pay it back in time; he tries to put off admitting this by talking about the weather and about Sykes' dogs. Sykes won't have it.
Fagin: Oh, lovely evening, I was just saying this to your two lovely pure-bred... Sykes: ... the money, Fagin.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: No one wants to adopt the orange cat. Like the red-headed stepchild who was originally going to be Penny.
Dog Stereotype: Several, most obviously Francis the bulldog who is pompous and British.
Actually, this outgrossed The Land Before Time domestically by $5 million ($53 million vs. $48 million). The Land Before Time had the bigger opening (due to opening in more theatres) but tailed off quickly while Oliver kept going (and had an expansion during Christmas).
Dodger: Roscoe, is this us losing our sense of humour? Roscoe: Nah, I ain't lost my sense of humour... (Roscoe kicks a television at the wall, breaking a few things and sending sparks flying.) Roscoe: See? I find that funny!
Evil Plan: The plot of the movie is driven by Sykes trying to get Fagin to pay back the loan. The lengths he goes to are what make him a villain.
Expy: Jenny was originally going to be Penny from The Rescuers and it shows. (Notice how they creatively changed one letter in her name.)
Family Unfriendly Death: Sykes and his dobermans, in what might rival Clayton's demise as Disney's most gruesome and violent final fight yet.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: When Sykes sics his dogs on Fagin (for being unable to pay his boss back) and Dodger aggressively defends the scraggly old man from the dobermans' wrath.
Shout Out: The birds that dress Georgette during "Perfect Isn't Easy" do the same thing the birds did for Cinderella during "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" (at least the ones with the animal print scarf).
Also, the fact that Georgette is wearing hair curlers. Show poodle hair is a bitch to look after, often needing hot oil and hair curlers to make it look show perfect.
Villainous Breakdown: Sykes. While he's mainly calm throughout the movie, in the climactic car chase, he pulls down the gear stick so hard it breaks off and punches his hand through his car's window to get at Jenny.
We Will Meet Again: "You guys are gonna pay for this, starting with that cat."
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Apparently, Disney finds it easier to portray theft, breaking and entering, and attempted murder if the culprits are animals; in that respect, this movie isn't too different from The Lion King.
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