Oliver and Company certainly does not stand at the forefront of Disney feature animation, but it is a fun and entertaining endeavor nonetheless. It was visually and stylistically more akin to much earlier forbears such as 101 Dalmatians and The Rescuers than to the Disney animation renaissance films that immediately followed its 1988 release, yet was innovative in its use of computers and computer assisted animation.In the musical number "Why Should I Worry," the film plays a very quick yet still distinct homage to the Disney dogs that came before. Peg, Jock and Trusty from Lady and the Tramp take notice of the Dodger's musical antics, and Pongo from 101 Dalmatians strains at his leash so to be a part of the dancing canine entourage.
Images © Walt Disney Company
what i find more interesting is the diet coke being advertised in the background :)
ReplyDeleteAnother great entry as usual, Jeff. But...
ReplyDeleteWhen are you going to start posting Halloween-themed entries on your Blog?!
My wife recently introduced me to Oliver & Company and I was also taken aback by the blatant product placement in the film
ReplyDeleteI think besides Coke I saw signage for McDonalds and other contemporary companies that exist in real life.
From what I understand, there was no product placement done for Oliver and Company. The film's creative team wanted to really emphasize its contemporary New York City setting and realized that advertising was an important component of the city's visual dynamic. It was only as blatant as the reality it represented.
ReplyDeleteKingcrab--
ReplyDeleteFear not! We will begin some virtual Trick or Treating very soon . . .
Jeff - you are officially freaking me out now. I literally just watched this movie during my break today - and ended up watching this scene twice (and of course, pointed out the canine cameos to my coworkers).
ReplyDeleteShould I start to worry about myself? :-)
I have wondered about what looked like product placement as well.. including a moving van company and USA Today. But as I've thought about it more, the movie really shows a great view of 80s New York, a dirty unfriendly place that couldn't be more different from the Manhattan of today. I'm guessing Enchanted will have the Upper West Side vision of New York that's more typical of current movies...
ReplyDeleteI always thought of those dogs as just typical Disney dogs, though, not anyone in particular. Duh.
I just always assumed that if you put a real brand name in a movie or TV Show you had to pay to do it.
ReplyDeleteIf that is the case, then it was product placement in the since that real establishments and good were placed in the movie but the decision wasn't made by the advertisers offering the most amount of money, the decision was made because the animators were recreating reality and that's what was really there
I believe the Dog from FAMILY DOG also has a cameo in that scene---I wanna say he's in a car leaning on the steering wheel (I haven't watched it in a long while).
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