Barking at ‘Oliver’

I really agree with Robert Koehler’s views on Hollywood’s churning out the big-budget Christmas films. But I think a point is being missed here.

Kids don’t care about where a movie comes from; they care if it’s entertaining. That’s all.

Last week I took my 5-year-old daughter to see “Oliver & Company,” and I had the best time I’ve had at a movie in years. It wasn’t important to either of us if the movie was or wasn’t faithful to the original. It had great songs, great characters and great Disney animation. We both loved it.

And you know what? The next day I went to the library to check out the original by Dickens, having never pleasured myself with it. It wasn’t available, so I settled for “A Christmas Carol,” intending to see “Scrooged” in the next few days.

So you see, I think that this is the real potential of film, a potential realized too seldom: My interest was piqued and I went to the source.

Although I didn’t really care for Bill Murray’s film, I loved the Dickens book. And I’m looking forward to a copy of “Oliver Twist.” Happy Holidays.

CHRIS PAGE

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