Which 1988 Disney film featured Billy Joel voicing Dodger?

The 1988 Disney film that featured Billy Joel voicing Dodger was Oliver & Company. The animated musical comedy was inspired by Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist but moved the story from Victorian London to contemporary New York City.

In the film, Oliver is an orphaned orange tabby kitten who joins Fagin’s group of street dogs. Dodger, a charismatic Jack Russell Terrier, is the gang’s leader and becomes Oliver’s first major friend. Joel supplied Dodger’s speaking voice and also performed the character’s featured song, “Why Should I Worry?”

Oliver & Company marked one of Joel’s earliest prominent film-acting roles. He was initially reluctant to pursue movie work, but the role suited Dodger’s street-smart New York personality. The animation team reportedly adjusted aspects of Dodger’s design after hearing Joel’s performance.

The film was released in November 1988 and became an important transitional film for Disney Animation. Its modern setting and pop-oriented soundtrack helped lead into the studio’s later animation revival, although it is often confused with The Great Mouse Detective, another 1980s Disney release featuring an animal-centered adventure.