Reception
Despite its success at the box office, reviews for Oliver & Company are generally mixed to negative. As of 2010, Rotten Tomatoes reported that 44% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 34 reviews with an average rating of 5.4/10. Its consenus states that "Oliver & Company is a decidedly lesser effort in the Disney canon, with lackluster songs, stiff animation, and a thoroughly predictable plot."
On the television program, Siskel & Ebert, Gene Siskel gave the film a Thumbs Down. Siskel stated "When you measure this film to the company's legacy of classics, it doesn't match up" as he complained "the story is too fragmented". Roger Ebert gave the film a "marginal Thumbs Up" as he described the film as "harmless, inoffensive."
The staff of Halliwell's Film Guide called Oliver & Company "episodic" and "short on charm". "Only now and then," they added, "it provides glimpses of stylish animation."
The Ren and Stimpy Show creator John Kricfalusi suggested that the film was derivative of Ralph Bakshi's works, and jokingly suggested its use as a form of punishment.
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