Development Oliver & Company was the first animated film developed by
The Walt Disney Company to begin production under the supervision of
Michael Eisner and
Jeffrey Katzenberg; the duo, who had previously worked at
Paramount Pictures as chairman and head of production, joined the company in 1984. In late 1984 or 1985, Eisner and Katzenberg invited twenty film executives to
pitch potential ideas for upcoming animated features, a meeting infamously called the "Gong Show". After
Ron Clements had pitched
The Little Mermaid (1989) and
Treasure Planet (2002) to Eisner and Katzenberg, story artist Pete Young suggested, "
Oliver Twist with dogs." The next day, Katzenberg, who had previously developed a live-action adaptation of the musical
Oliver! at Paramount, and Rich was fired from Disney about six months into production, leaving Scribner as the sole director. Pre-production started with a table reading of the novel
Oliver Twist and watching the musical
Oliver!. Developed for six to nine months, the first year was difficult for the crew. Some producers, directors, and male storyboard artists felt unhappy with the direction of the film, who thought that "it had lost some of its contemporary edge." Because of negative feedback, Scribner tried to revise the film to be "less obvious with the material" and include "a more hip, contemporary sensibility" of the period. Production officially began in 1986, and the film was named under the working title of
Oliver and the Dodger, but it was later changed to
Oliver & Company for unknown reasons. Within two and a half years of production, 300 artists and technicians worked on the film. Initially, Oliver and Dodger were two kittens, then two dogs, changing back and forth before it was decided that Oliver would be isolated if he was a "different type of character," turning Oliver into a naïve kitten and Dodger and the gang into dogs in the final adaptation of the film. Considering
Tina Turner to voice Rita, Rita's first name was Tina. Her name was changed twice―Nancy and Rita―the latter name was changed in August 1986. Georgette was created by Scribner and the film's animators.
Sykes was the final character to be created for the film. Initially creating Sykes as a
Dobermann, early story drafts included Sykes developing a relationship between Oliver and Rita to establish the Dobermann's attack. Some characters that were intended to appear in the film were also discarded. As work continued on
Oliver,
Roy E. Disney conceived that Fagin would attempt to steal a rare panda from the
Central Park Zoo, along with the gang, and that Oliver would have helped a panda return to the zoo. These concepts were seen in a draft written as late as August 1986. The writers worked with the idea for approximately nine months before problems arose with the story. The panda subplot was dropped when producers suggested Fagin hold Oliver for ransom, treating the boy as a valuable, rare
Asian cat. The panda was also replaced by Jenny. Jenny was intended to live with her mother, but the story crew changed her mother into a maid, and later, a butler. A policeman's horse, Kaminski, who would always ask Dodger if he is staying out of trouble, was also intended to appear in the film.
Writing and story revisions With story artists and writers working together for the film, twenty people contributed story ideas to the film under supervision of Scribner. By the end of their labors, the story was set in two forms―a set of several boards and a compact screenplay, with a million of story sketches created for the film. Going through several rewrites during production, some revision goals include giving Oliver "more attitude" and developing Oliver and his two relationships with Dodger and Rita according to a draft dating September 24, 1985. In early story drafts, Dodger was given a smaller role. Planning Einstein to be a vital character, the writers intended for Fagin to visit Sykes' office with Einstein, who was attacked by the Dobermanns and "carried out, bloodied and lifeless." During the film's climax, Einstein was also intended to shake off Sykes' bandages, leap at the dogs, and fling them back into the car. In the final film, Dodger took over Einstein's "two big scenes." Tito, Francis, and Georgette were secondary characters before they were expanded during production, including Tito, whose character's animation footage increased after realizing that Tito "shined the way he did." Rita initially had a bigger role in early drafts, but her role became smaller in the final cut. Oliver's most essential relationship was intended to be with Rita (similar to Oliver and Nancy's relationship in the novel and adaptations), but it was changed to focus his relationship with Dodger. In early drafts of the film, Rita had an implied relationship with one of Sykes's Dobermanns, being referred as "[her] ex". Their encounters included a sexual undertone during the alley scene and a scene where the Dobermanns romantically see Rita turning on the television "with a sexy bash of the hip". Rita was also intended to be murdered like in the novel and adaptations. In a draft dating September 26, 1985, the writers were deciding whether to kill Rita or not. In a draft dating October 21, 1985, they decided to not kill her. Rita was planned to be injured with bandages, but it was discarded. In the novel and several adaptations, Oliver's abandonment was in a workhouse. For the film, it was moved to the opening scene, depicting Oliver and the kittens in a box instead of a workhouse. The film's opening was also intended to include Sykes's two Dobermanns murdering Oliver's parents, setting the story to focus on Oliver exacting his revenge as detailed in a draft. At the end of the film, the birthday party was originally for Georgette, but it was later changed for Jenny's birthday party to be held instead. The scene when Tito gets slapped by Georgette was also intended to appear during the film's ending; it was later moved to an earlier scene.
Casting and recording (pictured in 2023) was one of the first actors to be cast in the film, being cast as
Dodger in the film. An open
audition was held to find actors that suited the characters' personalities and designs. According to Disney's former senior vice president for feature animation
Peter Schneider, it was easy to cast
pop music artists because they had children on their own. Scribner and the executives wanted voices that believably represented a wide range of New Yorkers. His former wife
Christie Brinkley tried to convince Joel that he should act because he might be a good actor, but Joel felt miserable. Joel also received several film scripts, but he was not interested. Because Joel was residing in
New York City at the time, Scribner had to choose whether he was right for the part before auditioning him. Joel auditioned for the role by telephone after being given dialogue, with Scribner as Oliver and Joel as Dodger. When Joel was hired, he was reluctant to perform an animated voice, but Joel wanted his daughter
Alexa to relate to something she could see. By the time Alexa was born, Joel started to record his lines. His dialogue was recorded for over two years. Assigned for ten sessions to record his lines for Oliver, Lawrence had done approximately twenty sessions. Lawrence recorded his dialogue for two and a half years, starting his first session when he was ten years old. Marin was assigned for four sessions, but it was estimated that he had done fifteen sessions for the film. Looking for an actress with a "brassy, extroverted voice" for Georgette, Dodger's design resembled Joel after his lines were recorded. Tito was animated and designed by directing animator Hendel Butoy. Fagin and Sykes were designed by character animator
Glen Keane. Winston was redesigned after Glover recorded his lines, giving the character a slightly heavier stature. His features were also revised, including his head being drawn slightly smaller, his "rear end" becoming slightly larger, and his hands and feet being slightly more delicate. Jenny's character design was changed three or four times. Many animators also shot references on
videotape and printed them out with a
Minolta printer, including animator Leon Joosen, who held a videotape camera and carefully gathered through a busy street for the scene where Oliver wakes up and wanders around while being abandoned. With 119,275 animation cels produced, The backgrounds of Jenny's apartment were intended to include gray Xerox lines to balance a distinction between the environment of Fagin's barge and the wharf, and Jenny's apartment, but the idea was discarded. Michael Cedeno and Tina Price animated eleven minutes of
computer-generated imagery (CGI), the interior of the tunnel, the
New York City Subway, the stairway scene during "Perfect Isn't Easy", and Sykes's limo.
Music Early in production, there was an attempt to involve the music with the film. Scribner wrote a "mental note" to not treat
Oliver as a musical where the story would "abruptly stop" and "go into a song." Each song of the film was instead written as an extension of a character. With each song written with a different composer and producer and a different arrangement date, several producers worked on the soundtrack of
Oliver & Company. Various songwriters submitted songs in different musical styles, but many of them did not fit with the film's premise and were discarded. Katzenberg wanted to hire a team of singer-songwriters to provide a song, which included Billy Joel,
Barry Manilow, and
Huey Lewis. Schneider felt Katzenberg's idea was a wrong way to approach a musical. According to Schneider,
The Little Mermaid, which was concurrently in development, was the right approach as the film needed "a unifying score and lyrics." Billy Joel and Bette Midler, who voiced Dodger and Georgette, also performed their characters' songs, "Why Should I Worry?" and "Perfect Isn't Easy". ==Release==