Oliver & Company is a 1988 American animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released on November 18, 1988, by Walt Disney Pictures. The 27th Disney animated feature film, it is based on the classic 1838 Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, which has been adapted many other times for the screen. In the film, Oliver is a homeless kitten who joins a gang of dogs to survive in the streets. Among other changes, the setting of the film was relocated from 19th century London to modern-day New York City, Fagin's gang is made up of dogs (one of which is Dodger), and Sykes is a loan shark. Following the release of The Black Cauldron, Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg held a pitch meeting with the animation staff, in which story artist Pete Young pitched the idea to adapt Oliver Twist with dogs. The pitch was quickly approved, and the film quickly went into production under the working title Oliver and the Dodger. Released on the same day as The Land Before Time, Oliver & Company was a box office success, but it received mixed reviews from film critics. The film was re-released in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on March 29, 1996. It was then released on home video later that same year, and again in 2002 and 2009 on DVD. The film was released on Blu-ray Disc in 2013, commemorating its 25th anniversary.