''Oliver Twist'' is a 1974 American

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Hal Sutherland Harold H. "Hal" Sutherland (July 1, 1929 – January 16, 2014) was an American animator and painter who began his career as a Disney animator in 1954 working on ''Sleeping Beauty'', ''Lady and the Tramp'', ''Peter Pan'' and the last theatrical sh ...

that is based on

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

's 1838 novel of the same name. The film was the second and last to be produced by

Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and pr ...

and distributed by

Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of liv ...

. Davy Jones, who played The Artful Dodger in the original Broadway production of ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a coming-of-age stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before op ...

'', reprises his role.

Plot

In the 19th century, orphan Oliver Twist is sent to a workhouse, where the children are barely fed and mistreated. He moves to the house of an undertaker, but after an unfair severe spanking, he starts a seven-day runaway to London. He arrives exhausted and starving, and is welcomed by a gang of pickpockets led by old crook Fagin. When he is mistakenly taken as a thief, wealthy victim Mr. Brownlow brings Oliver to his home and shelters him. But Fagin and the dangerous Bill Sykes decide to kidnap Oliver to burglarize Mr. Brownlow's fancy house. Oliver is wounded, while Mr. Brownlow tries to save Oliver.

Cast

Josh Albee Josh Albee (born September 19, 1959) is an American television actor, known for his work as a child actor during the 1970s, and for the role as the young, mute boy Caleb in the feature film, '' Jeremiah Johnson''. Albee remained active in acting ...

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...

** Billy Simpson as Oliver Twist (singing) *

Jane Webb Jane Webb Karyl, (August 13, 1925 – March 30, 2010) best known as Jane Webb, was an American film, radio, and voice actress, best known for her work on Filmation's cartoons. Early years Webb's mother was Estelle Sigrid Webb, a Swedish immigran ...

as Nancy *

Les Tremayne Lester Tremayne (16 April 1913 – 19 December 2003) was an English actor. Early life Born in Balham, London, he moved with his family at the age of four to Chicago, Illinois, where he began in community theater. His mother was Dolly Trema ...

Fagin Fagin is a fictional character and the secondary antagonist in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist''. In the preface to the novel, he is described as a "receiver of stolen goods". He is the leader of a group of children (the Artful Dod ...

Dallas McKennon Dallas Raymond McKennon (July 19, 1919 – July 14, 2009), sometimes credited as Dal McKennon, was an American film, television and voice actor, who had a career lasting over 50 years. During World War II he served in the Army Signal Corps and wa ...

as Bookseller, Charlie Bates * Davy Jones as

The Artful Dodger Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist''. The Dodger is a pickpocket, so called for his skill and cunning in that occupation. He is the leader of the gang of child criminals ...

Larry Storch Lawrence Samuel Storch (January 8, 1923 – July 8, 2022) was an American actor and comedian best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for cartoon shows such as Mr. Whoopee on ''Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales'' and hi ...

as Magistrate Fang * Also featuring the voices of: Phil Clark,

Cathleen Cordell Cathleen Cordell (May 21, 1915 – August 19, 1997) was an American film and television actress. She was described as "a lass born in Brooklyn with an Irish name and an English accent; educated in India and France." Early years Cordell was bor ...

, Michael Evans, Lola Fisher,

Robert Holt Robert Wilfred Holt (9 June 1913 – 1 May 1985) was an Australian politician, a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly and, later, of the Parliament of Australia. Born in Launceston, Tasmania, Holt was educated in Melbourne at Scotch C ...

Larry D. Mann Larry D. Mann (18 December 1922 – 6 January 2014) was a Canadian actor. He was best known as "The Boss" in a series of Bell Canada television commercials in the 1980s and for voicing the character of Yukon Cornelius in ''Rudolph the Red-Nose ...

and Helene Winston.

Production

The film was announced to be produced in mid-January 1972, as part of ''Family Classics'', a series of films based on concepts in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

commissioned by Warner Bros. Production for the film and ''

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure no ...

'' had been finished by late 1973. The film's budget amounted to $1.050.000, with the million given by Warner Bros., and the rest put in by the studio itself.

Release

''Oliver Twist'' was first released in theaters on July 10, 1974. According to

media historian Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly ...

Hal Erickson, its distributor, Warner Bros., "virtually threw away the film when it performed poorly in previews." An edited version was broadcast as an

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

Special Treat ''Special Treat'' (also known as ''NBC Special Treat'') is an American anthology series of television specials on NBC that were geared toward teenagers, similar to ''ABC Afterschool Special''. It debuted in 1975 and ran through the 1985–86 seas ...

'' special on April 14, 1981. The movie was first released on VHS on December 5, 1994,Oliver Twist
at amazon.com, Warner Home Video. and re-released on August 13, 1996, as part of the Warner Bros. Classic Tales series. It was first released on DVD on September 3, 2002, by

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...

, through

Warner Bros. Family Entertainment Warner can refer to: People * Warner (writer) * Warner (given name) * Warner (surname) Fictional characters * Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner, stars of the animated television series ''Animaniacs'' * Aaron Warner, a character in '' Shatter Me ...

.Oliver Twist
at amazon.com, Warner Home Video.

Critical reception

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

panned the film, saying that "neither Dickens nor the youngsters watching will profit much from this one," although the animation showcasing the streets of London received praise.

References

External links

* {{Warner Bros. theatrical animated features 1974 films 1974 animated films 1970s American animated films American children's animated adventure films American children's animated drama films American children's animated fantasy films American children's animated musical films Animated films based on novels Filmation animated films Warner Bros. films Warner Bros. animated films American fantasy adventure films 1970s musical drama films American musical fantasy films American musical drama films Films set in the 19th century Films based on Oliver Twist Films based on British novels 1970s children's animated films 1974 drama films Animated films directed by Hal Sutherland 1970s English-language films Films produced by Lou Scheimer