Am I the only one who saw Oliver and Company back in 1988?

[HarryCanyon]

I was 7 years old back then and saw it three times with the last one being after christmas. I had some merchandise as well such as a stuffed Oliver from Sears, PVC plastic oliver toy, a jar with Oliver and dodger on it, coloring books, a readalong book with cassette, the soundtrack and PJs including both Mcdonalds Ornuments that sing and those Mcdonalds finger puppets.

I was sad it never came out on video the next year or next but i had my stuff for memories including my mom and mom who still remembers Why Should i Worry to this day. Then in early 96 i was shocked to hear it was coming back when i looked up on Disney Channel magazine on a article about it and saw it in theaters again when i was 14 going on 15, really enjoyed it. Even some of my friends at junior high remembered seeing it when they were kids too like me and some were even wondered why it never came out on video.

It was the film that turned me into a Billy Joel fan since day one even though i have been into Huey Lewis since i was 5 years old. I still enjoy watching this movie for nostalgic reasons mainly around Thanksgiving time every year as a odd tradition to remind me of my childhood.

Am i alone here who saw it as a kid in the 80s?

[pinkrenata]

Nope, I saw it as well. And I also have the musical Oliver and Dodger ornaments from McDonald's and a couple of the finger puppets.

[HarryCanyon]

How old were you pinky? most of us 80's and early 90's kids remembered this movie's original release and the same for Great Mouse Detective and Little Mermaid as a well.

[Elladorine]

I used to have the musical ornaments and finger puppets as well. Not sure what happened to them though. Back then McDonald's had the most awesome ornaments for Christmas time. I also had Gus & Jaq, Bernard & Bianca, Flounder & Sebastian, and the Muppet Babies stuffed animals (not ornaments I know, but still Christmas time-goodness)!

Unfortunately, this is one of the few DAC's I never got to see in the theater. I'm not sure what happened on the first release, perhaps I just didn't beg hard enough. I did have the soundtrack on cassette though which I pretty much wore out, and the Fun With Music VHS that featured some of the songs. But upon the re-release, I had a lot of things going on in my life that prevented me from going to the theater.

To be honest, by the time it finally came to VHS I was a little disappointed, I think partially because I didn't have any nostalgia toward the entire film. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy it, but I think in the back of my mind I'm slightly bitter about missing out on it as a kid. But I'm weird like that.

[Tristy]

I saw the original release but in 1989. (I was living in Germany at the time)

[AKA]

I saw it in a second-run ($1) theater in early 1989 .

[Barbossa]

I saw it when it was in theaters.

[Just Myself]

I saw the '96 re-release in theaters. I was 6-years old, I had the Fun With Music Sing-Along VHS and had already become obsessed with the soundtrack. I really loved the movie in theaters, and when it came out on tape, I watched it frequently.

I haven't seen the movie in years, and thanks to threads like this and the similar Great Mouse Detective thread, I've been inspired to find my copies of these movies and rewatch.

[not2foul]

I saw this when I was 17 in the theater, I dragged my 19 year old sister along with me, so I didn't feel "weird". At the time I was a huge Billy Joel nut, and this movie got me back into Disney after a 5 year hiatus, when it was no longer the thing to be into growing up!!!

On a side thing: I am currently visiting Anaheim, where I have just completed my first ever visit of Disneyland!!! 3 days celebrating my 40th Birthday, and I have had a blast

I kind of thank Billy Joel and Oliver & Co, for bringing me back to Disney, because if this movie hadn't happened, I probably would've just thought of Disney as a Princess Franchise. So thanks Oliver & Co. And thank you Walt for the most amazing experience ever (Disneyland).

[ajmrowland]

Wasnt even a sperm when it came out.

Boy, that's a pretty thought.

[pinkrenata]

I also had Gus & Jaq, Bernard & Bianca, Flounder & Sebastian, and the Muppet Babies stuffed animals (not ornaments I know, but still Christmas time-goodness)!

I had all those too, except for Gus and Jaq, for some reason (even though I vividly remember wanting them).

I was going to argue with you and say that the Muppet Babies animals came from Hardee's and not McDonald's, but then I found this awesome clip:

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MWFETlit0c4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

As for Hardee's Christmas toys, I had been thinking of this set of which I have both Mickey and Minnie:

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iItYUL8EN6U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[ajmrowland]

^Y'know, that Muppets promotion seems golden compared to the the contests we get these days.

[pinkrenata]

Oh, and since this is an <i>Oliver and Company</i> thread:

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/a3ugrJjYnI4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Elladorine]

I was going to argue with you and say that the Muppet Babies animals came from Hardee's and not McDonald's, but then I found this awesome clip:

Oh wow, love that! I wonder if I still have those guys in storage. The only reason I definitely remember them being from McDonald's is because I had two older brothers that worked there the last half of the 80's. They used to make sure I got all the cool merchandise, like the previous stuff I've mentioned and the old glass Garfield mugs.

We rarely went to Hardee's and the only toy I can remember from there were the mini Pound Puppies (the only reason I got one was because I had a cousin working there). If I still have mine he's tucked away with the Muppet Babies and all the rest of my old stuffed animals.

I used to have a huge box stuffed full of PVC figures of cartoon characters, and my Oliver & Co. finger puppets were in there. I gave the box away when I moved though.

And now that I think of it, I wonder if I missed out on seeing the movie because I'd already seen Roger Rabbit that year.

[jediliz]

I saw it too. I was 9. I'm not sure where it is now....but I had the Francis finger puppet toy.

[HarryCanyon]

Oooh your bringing back memories, i had those Gus and Jaq Mcdonalds things from Mcdonalds when i was 6 years old when i saw Cinderella re-issued earlier the previous year.

God i feel retro you know! i saw a whole crapload of movies in 1988 such as Rambo III, Willow (twice), Bambi re-issue (2 times), Fox and The Hound re-issue (3 times), Beetlejuice (2 times), Poltergeist III, The Blob, Critters 2, Friday The 13th part 7, Elm Street 4, Coming to America, Crocodile dundee, Die Hard, Naked Gun, The Land Before Time (3 times), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (4 times after my 7th birthday), Child's Play, Daffy Duck's Quackbusters, Elvira Mistress of the Dark, Halloween 4, Hot to Trot, Mac and Me (Worst film i've ever seen), The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking, Phantasm 2, Short Circuit 2, Rain Man, Scrooged (2 times), Pound Puppies Legend of Big Paw, They Live, Gorillas in the Mist, Funny Farm, Alien Nation, Great Outdoors, Police Academy 5, Young Guns and this movie.

Who else thought Sykes looked like Clarence from Robocop? i thought the same thing when i was a kid and as a teen when i saw both releases in theaters. You can tell the resemblance of the characters, i even saw Robocop the previous year as a 6 year old.