Oliver Twist (1997 Film)

Oliver Twist (1997 film)

Oliver Twist is a 1997 television movie produced by Walt Disney Television, based on the popular novel of the same name by Charles Dickens. It aired during The Wonderful World of Disney. One of the lesser known film versions of the book, it starred veteran Richard Dreyfuss as Fagin, Elijah Wood as the Artful Dodger, and Alex Trench as Oliver Twist.

As in most film adaptations of this book, Monks, Oliver's half-brother, is not in the film. There are other changes as well. The bookseller does not testify for Oliver at his trial, but Rose Maylie does. Most of the changes are minor, but a major one is that when Oliver is taken in by Fagin's gang he himself, and not the Widow Corney, is in possession of his mother's locket, and Oliver has come to London, not just to seek his fortune, but to discover his true identity. Mr. Bumble is only in one scene, and the Widow Corney's role is expanded. And, as in the musical, Nancy is murdered at London Bridge, not in her bedroom as in the novel.