FROM "OLIVER AND COMPANY"
WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!
While "Oliver And Company" is certainly not one of Disney's best, it's definitely not their worst either. It’s a pretty mediocre Disney film that's entertaining with a few nice things to offer, and one of those pros from the film that I still find myself liking about it is the villain. Not a lot of people seem to put him on their lists or seem to even remember him, and in many respects I can understand why. He's not the type of villain who carries magical powers, or has an over the top villainous personality like many of the other Disney villains that people know and love; he's pretty much just your typical average gangster with almost nothing fun or humorous about him. And the truth is that's why I enjoy this villain so much.
Unlike most animated Disney villains that have no powers where their played for both comedy and intimidation, Sykes is just a plain dead intimidating villain with a no nonsense attitude. They'll be times where he'll smile, chuckle, and even taunt his victims on a few occasions, but they're never played out in a comical way to make kids feel less intimidated by him, they still stay true to the dark and serious nature that this villain carries, which actually makes him seem pretty realistic. Alright yes, half of the things he does aren't very realistic such having incredible physical strength; loaning money to a bum who has no job or income (And I highly doubt that Fagin has a street rep for stealing); and having two guard dogs that act as his pair of henchmen. But for the most part in terms of personality and motivation, he is one of the very few realistic animated Disney villains’ that I've ever seen.
His business is Loan Sharking where he operates at a Loading Dock Warehouse, and how he intimidates the bum Fagin for money is very cold and threatening as he grabs him by the collar, and strangles him with his car window by pushing it up as he puffs Cigar smoke in his face telling him the consequences if he doesn’t pay him. There is some dark comedy in the scene, but that all comes from Fagin's reactions to what Sykes does to him, which still feels pretty intense. Like most gangsters, Sykes doesn't have a problem with killing people. When his dogs attack Fagin as he tries to tell Sykes his payment plan, Sykes just simply ignores Fagin’s pleas and just concentrates on building a model (That is until Fagin proves to him that he can pay him). In fact, if you listen to his phone conversation when Fagin enters his office, you can hear him happily and causally talking to (I'm guessing) one of his off-screen henchmen about torturing a guy, and drowning him in the ocean by cementing his feet. However, what makes him so ruthless and dark is he's not just threatening some poor adult for money, but he's also putting an innocent child in danger by kidnapping her for ransom with the intention to kill her by having his vicious dogs tear her apart with just a snap of his fingers if her parents don't cooperate, or if her butler can't get a hold of them. DAMN THAT'S COLD! By the way, how many Disney villains do you know that carry a modern day handgun; it's very rare. It's a pity that we never see him use it though. It's also interesting to note that every scene we meet this villain, he's always kept in the shadows in a very dark low life setting where the only source of light is an old hang lamp, or his lit Cigar. If I had to pick a moment where I find him intimidating to the point where I find him pretty frightening, it for me personally has to be the last image of him after he talks to Fagin a second time where he reminds him that this is his last chance of paying him back. Yes it's only a few seconds long, but that evil smile and cold stare that he gives while sitting in a dark room full of his Cigar smoke where the sound of him suddenly closing the lid to his Cigar Lighter echoes as the music becomes eerie which brings a very uncomfortable feel along with his presence, just creeps me out every time I watch this moment. Even how the scene fades out is pretty unsettling, considering that we still find ourselves staring into his lifeless eyes before we cut to the next scene.
However, while being a ruthless killer, the character does have a small side of mercy which does add to the level of realism surrounding this villain. Even though he could easily kill Fagin right on the spot when he discovers that Fagin doesn't have his money for him, he still gives Fagin a little more time after hearing his pleas. By the way, remember how Ursula in "The Little Mermaid" gives Ariel three days for her to have Eric kiss her "before the sun sets on the third day"? Well read this quote from Sykes and tell me that Disney didn't take a few parts from this quote to use it for Ursula in the animated film that followed after this movie; "Three Sunrises. Three Sunsets. Three days Fagin". There are also a few moments where he does act polite to his victims before losing his temper and taking things into a violent matter, like how Sykes politely asks Jenny to open a locked door, or when he greets Fagin a second time only with a more friendly approach for example. In fact, later on in the scene when Fagin tells him his plan of ransom as Sykes recognizes the street address on the cat's golden collar that reflect on his glasses, he proudly congratulates him for his brilliant idea to pay him back as he strokes the cat Oliver like a classy Bond villain, and gives him 12 hours to get the money through the ransom. Still while he can be at times be polite and show a small side of mercy, his tough and intimidating presence never seizes.
To really emphasize on the level of darkness and intimidation that this villain brings is the voice acting from Robert Loggia who we sadly lost on December 4th of last year. Originally they were going to get Marlon Brando to voice the villain, but he unfortunately turned it down fearing that the film will bomb, which is a bit of a shame considering that he's played tough guys and Mafia roles before, especially "The Godfather". With that said, the choice of casting Loggia as the villain is just as fitting and great of a choice as the idea of casting Brando, since he's also known for playing tough guy and Mafia roles as well, such as previously playing Tony Montana's former boss Frank Lopez in "Scarface", and will later on in his career be voicing the dirty tough cop Ray Machowski in the famous video game "Grand Theft Auto 3". And right around the same time that he and Tom Hanks played on the giant foot Piano in "FAO Schwartz" together in the film "Big", he was voicing a Cigar smoking badass who kidnaps children, and threatens to murder people for money. The performance that Loggia gives to this character is not only perfect, but the hoarse voice that he has, sounds very cold and dark which sends shivers down my spine for how ruthless but at the same time cool it sounds, which is very fitting since the character loves to smoke as much as Cruella Deville does, except that Sykes sounds like he is a die-hard smoker while Cruella doesn't (Though can you imagine Cruella's voice sounding just as sore as Sykes' voice).
Now as I mentioned earlier, Sykes isn't all that realistic of a villain since the only pair of henchmen that we see him have on his side are his two pet guard dogs Roscoe and Desoto. It is hinted that he has other people working for him, and the idea of him having two guard dogs as his henchmen do work in the context of the film since the guy that Sykes is enforcing money from has dogs of his own, where Sykes’ dogs play out as a pair of villains to Fagins' dogs, as he is to Fagin. But with that said, I still find it pretty strange that Sykes doesn't at least have some kind of gangster to back him up just incase. He doesn't even have any guards patrolling his warehouse either. It’s just his guard dogs, and a security system that he has to constantly keep an eye on, which in all honesty does fit the film's climax fine, but it's still pretty odd that he would heavily rely on his dogs to guard the place, and not even so much as hire a security guard to watch the monitors. Hell, he seems to love and rely on his dogs so much that the hood ornament for his Cadillac is designed to look like his two pet dogs...that’s pretty weird for a tough gangster if you ask me. However, as strange and bizarre as it all sounds, Roscoe and Desoto are just as vicious and intimidating as their master. The leader of the duo is Roscoe (The one wearing the red collar) who maybe tough and cruel, but he has a really laid back and cocky personality with a voice that's just as cool as Loggia's that emphasizes on his chill and nasty approach. The highlight for this character has to be when he's on Fagin's boat flirting with the gangs only female dog Rita, as he bullies all the others, and breaks their TV for his amusement; he just owns that scene for how cool, mean, and slick he acts when he interacts with Fagin's dogs! As cocky as Roscoe can be though, he still acts like a cool Professional, while his partner in crime Desoto doesn't who makes himself out to be a blood hungry psychopath with a great sense of smell to track down his prey, and is willing to disobey his master's commands just so he can have some cat chow. His overall presence is actually more vicious and ruthless than his partner and master. He even puts up more of a fight against the heroes in the climax than his partner does thanks to his crazy and psychotic nature before he too gets electrocuted on the subway track, which I have to admit is a pretty harsh death for these characters, especially when we see Roscoe get brutally, and quickly electrocuted as we hear him cry like a cute little puppy. But wait a second, how come the dog Tito gets to survive all the multiple times he's been electrocuted, as these two big and tough dogs don't stand a chance? It's pretty asinine if you ask me.
What I found really cool about the character Sykes is much like Captain Hook, despite his big but old appearance with an old voice that sounds like its slowly going from all the Cigars' that he's smoked, he's a very cunning and quick villain who’s strong enough to not only grab you and break your fingers, but has the strength to break down a door and punch through his car window without feeling any pain! On top of it, he also goes to the insane extremes of trying to kidnap Jenny by driving recklessly in his cool CGI Cadillac, not caring who or what he hits, or thinking about the possible dangers that await him as he drives through the Subway tunnels at full speed by pulling his gear stick hard enough to the point where he breaks it off and steps on the gas pedal so hard that his tires are destroyed to the point where his car can only run on the tracks like a speeding train. This guy seems like he went to the same school for reckless driving as Cruella did! The chase itself is pretty intense, and the determination that Sykes’ has to get Jenny back is completely mad and insane (I guess Fagin really did owe him a lot of money). But the part of the climax that everybody remembers is his death where collides into a fast on-coming train. The timing and pacing for the scene as the villain reacts to the on-coming train that his out of control car is speeding right into which causes an explosion is one of the harshest and yet coolest deaths that I've ever seen in a Disney movie. I mean his death is predictable, but the execution and how it all suddenly happens are still very surprising and shocking!
I know that Sykes is not a popular Disney villain who isn't as colorful or memorable as many of the other Disney villains that we still keep talking about, but his complete dark and serious approach is what makes him so cool and realistic. Yeah, Disney doesn't take the villain to a highly extreme realistic approach, but come on, it is a Disney film involving cutesy comical talking pets where Disney has to have some kind of restraint on the villain and take a few liberties for him to fit within the film's kid friendly world, and the liberties that Disney took in my opinion work fine within the context of the film, especially when considering that he still never loses sight of his menacing personality. He's just a very cruel and sadistic Disney villain with a cool car; two faithful guard dogs that act just as cool and sadistic as he is; a realistic motivation; and Robert Loggia making this character sound like a complete intimidating badass whenever we meet him as he's kept in the shadows, which all in my opinion make him a very underrated Disney villain.
"This has all been very entertaining. But the party, is over."
-Sykes
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