It stands somewhere between the studio's sinking fortunes post the death of its founder, and the animation renaissance that would begin with 1989's The Little Mermaid. Some consider it a forgotten and uptempo gem. Others acknowledge its limitations and recognize the then-floundering House of Mouse was in desperate need of a change. Whatever side you come down on, Oliver and Company stands in sharp contrast to most of the studio's cartoon legacy. It's not the almost total loss of something like The Black Cauldron, but it definitely fails to fulfill the promise that its premise and presentation imply.

We begin as poor orphaned kitten Oliver (voiced by Joey Lawrence) gets lost in the nasty streets of New York City. There, he runs into the cocky Dodger (Billy Joel), a dog with nothing but attitude. The two soon become inseparable, and Oliver joins the gang of bumbling thief Fagan (Dom DeLuise). Together with fellow curs Einstein (Richard Mulligan), Tito (Cheech Marin), Francis (Roscoe Lee Brown), and Rita (Sheryl Lee Ralph), the clan roams Manhattan, looking for items to steal and then pawn.

You see, Fagan is in deep to loan shark Sykes (Robert Loggia) and if he doesn't pay up, he's going to die. In the meantime, Oliver is "accidentally" adopted by poor little rich girl Jenny, much to the chagrin on her prized poodle Georgette (Bette Midler). Eventually, cat and new owner are kidnapped and held for ransom. It's up to Fagan's crew to save the day.

Oliver and Company is an awkward, often unwieldy experience. On the one hand, it trades on the Disney tradition of cute animals in humanized circumstances -- in this case, taking on the narrative necessities of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. And yet, scattered throughout the film are hints of the old guard's retirement, and the first fleeting glimpses of a more modern mindset. This is most obvious during an opening sequence between our stray kitty and her newfound canine companion. The pair plans a raid on a hotdog vendor's cart, and the man pushing said food wagon looks like a refugee from a Ralph Bakshi cartoon. Similarly, many of the street scenes feature cameos from past Disney characters, as well as an unusually gritty and expressionistic view of the Big Apple.

Most of the time however, we are stuck staring at the last bastions of true pen and ink pageantry, and this time around, it's not so pretty (though the latest DVD remastering fixes many of the flaws). There is too much rotoscoping (the tracing over of live action footage) used, too many scenes where Xeroxed images are substituted for painstaking detail. The animals all come across as fully realized and perfectly drawn, but the backgrounds can look excessively sloppy at times. As for the voice acting, DeLuise is a very odd choice for the seminal leader of the canine criminals. He's more of a stooge than someone to take seriously -- which makes the almost psychotic evil of Sykes seem that much more out of balance. Loggia often sounds like George C. Scott here, and the similarity can be unnerving at times.

In the leads, Joel and Midler are likeable if stunted by pigeonholing. Truth be told, almost all the animals are based on type -- stuffy, stupid, too cool for school -- than any actual character depth. In fact, Oliver and Company is an adaptation in name only. The story is so superficial, moving rapidly across the literary classic that, without the names, we'd barely acknowledge the Dickensian resemblance. Much of this movie feels like a last gasp, a desperate attempt to bring something contemporary to a studio mired in history. While occasionally effective, Oliver and Company is no Magic Kingdom classic. In some ways, it's a cry for help.

The 20th Anniversary DVD includes sing-along songs, a kid's game, three making-of featurettes, and two old Disney short cartoons. (Similar extras were available on the previously released disc as well.)