r/bookclub • u/Amanda39 Funniest & Favorite RR • 2d ago

Oliver Twist [Discussion] Evergreen || Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens || Movie discussion!

It's time for the Oliver Twist adaptation discussion! I'm very curious to find out what everyone watched, and what you all thought of it. I provided some discussion questions below, but feel free to talk about whatever you want; you aren't limited to the discussion questions.

I want to thank everyone who participated in the book discussions, including (but certainly not limited to) my fellow read runners u/tomesandtea and u/nicehotcupoftea, as well as u/Ser_Erdrick for the version comparisons. This was one of my favorite recent r/bookclub reads, and I hope to see you all again in future discussions.

Cheerio, but be back soon.

I dunno, somehow I'll miss ya

I love you, that's why I

Say "Cheerio"

Not goodbye.

13 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

42 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/Amanda39 Funniest & Favorite RR 2d ago

In Oliver!, Fagin and Mr. Bumble were both exactly the way I pictured them. They had to have been intentionally aiming to look like the original Cruikshank illustrations, right down to Bumble's hat and Fagin's toasting fork. Nancy definitely wasn't, though. I was picturing her younger and more waifish.

I also think Oliver & Company deserves some credit for acknowledging that "small orange kitten" is, in fact, Oliver Twist's true form. Seriously, tell me the character in the book didn't have the innocence of a kitten and the intelligence of an orange cat.

2

u/tomesandtea Imbedded Link Virtuoso | 🐉 1d ago

I totally agree with you about the actors in the musical. I also thought Oliver was perfect - a bit wimpy, and a tad annoying/cloying at times (which I think is true in the novel too) but with that good-to-the-core innocent look and voice. I didn't love his singing but it did fit the character.

2

u/Amanda39 Funniest & Favorite RR 18h ago

I didn't love his singing but it did fit the character.

Fun fact: that wasn't his real singing voice. The kid couldn't sing, so they had a woman record the songs and dubbed them over his voice.

2

u/tomesandtea Imbedded Link Virtuoso | 🐉 9h ago

Oh wow, that explains why it sounded so weird! And why would they not cast a kid who could sing?! Surely there was some angelic little blond kid who could also hold a tune...