am2xAnimated Movies was launched by Olivier Mouroux in 1999. In addition to a daily news report, he also created a database of information about past, current, and upcoming films. In 2003, he took a job in the industry and had to give up his work on the site. Several fans of Animated Movies decided to take on the task of keeping the news portion of his site going, and founded what is now Animated Views.

As AV turns 15, let's take a look back at the site we descended from. Below you can explore the database Olivier compiled at Animated Movies during its existence, as it last appeared online in October 2003.

Cast * Interesting Facts * Stand-Out Music!



Directed by: George Scribner
Written by: Roger Allers
Music by: Barry Manilow, Howard Ashman & J.A.C. Redford

Released on: November 18, 1988
Running Time: 73 minutes

Budget: $18 million
Box-Office: $74 million in the U.S.
 
 

CAST

TitoOliver... Joey Lawrence
Dodger... Billy Joel
Georgette... Bette Midler
Fagin... Dom DeLuise
Tito... Cheech Marin
Jenny... Natalie Gregory
Jonathan Brandis... Additional Voices
 
 
 

INTERESTING FACTS

  The movie is inspired by -rather than based on- Dickens' "Oliver Twist". The setting is now New York, Oliver is a kitten, and Fagin is the human master of a pack of pickpocket dogs.

  Six supervising animators and a team of more than 300 artists and technicians worked for more than two and a half years to create this hand-drawn feature film. More than a million story sketches and drawings were required to produce the 119,275 hand-painted cels that comprise the finished film.

  Designers went to New York and photographed street scenes from a dog's perspective Ì- 18 inches off the ground -Ì getting stares from passersby but providing excellent reference material for the layout artists.

  To give the backgrounds a contemporary and hard-edged look, animators used Xerox overlays for the first time since 101 Dalmatians.

  Many of the inanimate objects in the film were created and animated on the computer - cars, cabs, buses, Sykes' limousine, Fagin's trike (part scooter and part shopping cart), a cement mixer, a sewer pipe, a spiral staircase, a piano, subway tunnels and trains, cityscapes, and even the Brooklyn Bridge. This was the first film to have its own department set up expressly for the purpose of generating computer animation.

  A transition film, this was the last Disney cartoon released before the studio's animation renaissance began with The Little Mermaid in 1989.

Dodger and Oliver sing to the moon!  It took an unusual 7 years before Disney released this movie on video.  The studio created for the occasion several hundred 35mm prints, spiffed up with a new Dolby Digital soundtrack.

  This feature was the first to be set entirely in New York City.

  Oliver & Company stands out for its innovative use of CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) and represented the
first animated film to make such extensive use of this new technology.  The Brooklyn Bridge and the Sykes' car are two examples of its use.

Cameos by a few friends from other Disney films!  It marked the directorial debut of George Scribner, a 12-year Disney animator/storyman who
originally developed the project with the late Pete Young. Under Scribner's guidance, six supervising animators and a
team of over 300 artists and technicians worked for over 2 1/2 years to create this hand-drawn film in the time-honored
Disney tradition. More than a million story sketches and drawings were required to produce the 119,275 hand painted
cels which comprise the finished film.

  When Dodger is singing "Why Should I Worry," and standing on top of a Volkswagon, Pongo, from 101 Dalmatians, is seen pulling his owner, Roger, towards Dodger.  Peg, the bulldog and other characters from Lady and the Tramp also make an appearance.
 
 
 

STAND-OUT MUSIC!

  Rita's song, "Streets of Gold", was sung by Ruth Pointer of the Pointer Sisters.

  Billy Joel got his first acting job as the voice of Dodger! He sings the catchy "Why should I worry?" but surprisingly didn't write any of the songs.

  Barry Manilow, on the other hand, co-wrote the score.

  Bette Midler not only lended her voice to the character of Georgette: she also co-wrote the songs, and co-produced the movie!
 



Animated Movies original content © Olivier Mouroux