Roscoe and DeSoto

Roscoe and DeSoto are two Dobermans belonging to Mr. Sykes who appear in the Disney's 1988 movie Oliver & Company. They were voiced by Taurean Blacque and Carl Weintraub. Roscoe and DeSoto wear studded a red collar and a blue collar respectively.

Both dogs speak with a soft Italian accent, in reference of the Italian Mafia.

Personalities
They both come off as smooth talking mobster-like goons who don't mind playing with their victims. But they can also be violent, ruthless and downright unmerciful. This also plays on the stereotype of Dobermen being savage, brutal and used often as attack dogs.

Roscoe appears to be attracted to Rita, as he tells her in the film, "You know, Rita, I can't figure out why you'd rather hang around a dump like this, when you could be living uptown with a class act like myself". But she is plainly disgusted by him.

Roscoe seemed to be the more coolheaded of the two, while DeSoto is a bit more vicious, shown when DeSoto displayed a desire to eat Oliver, while Roscoe thought it better to heed Sykes' call.

Oliver & Company
In the movie, Bill Sykes (who lent Fagin some money) comes by Fagin's home to get his money back from him and he sends his two dogs Roscoe and DeSoto in to Fagin's boathouse to harass Dodger and the gang while he talks to Fagin. Once inside, Roscoe flirts with Rita, while DeSoto sniffs around the houseboat. When Francis insults Roscoe, he loses his temper, but Dodger waltzes up to him and asks him if he's lost his sense of humor. In reply, Roscoe smashes their TV and says "See, I find that funny." The fiery Chihuahua Tito tries to fight them but is held back by the Great Dane Einstein who suggests he pick on somebody his own size. However, Roscoe is not intimidated by him.

Just as further unpleasantness is about to ensue, DeSoto finds Oliver, who scratches him on the nose, but just as the two dogs are about to attack Oliver, Dodger and then the rest of the Gang stand in and protect him. Both dogs hesitate, knowing that they can't take on the whole gang. Outside, Sykes honks his horn outside for the dogs to return to the car, and Roscoe and DeSoto leave reluctantly, with Roscoe swearing retaliation.

Later when Fagin goes to talk to Sykes about getting his money from Oliver's owner Roscoe and DeSoto about to attack Fagin but Dodger leaps forward and fights the dogs, taking severe (but invisible) injuries. When Fagin tells Sykes about Oliver's owner being rich and that they're coming tonight to get the cat, Sykes has his dogs pull back from Dodger and tells Fagin he has 12 hours to pay him his money back.

After Sykes kidnaps Jenny, Dodger and the gang secretly follow them to Sykes' warehouse. While Sykes ties up Jenny, he tells her not to cry while Roscoe and DeSoto pace around, growling. Then, he orders Roscoe and DeSoto to sniff around the place for intruders. When Dodger and the gang sneak into the warehouse, DeSoto is the first to smell them, informing Roscoe.

Roscoe and DeSoto run into Francis, Tito, and Einstein, but just as they're about to attack, the poodle Georgette pulls a blanket down on the two dogs, trapping them until Sykes comes along and frees Roscoe and DeSoto. Sykes and his dogs chase Oliver, Dodger, Jenny, and the gang through the warehouse but just as they have them cornered Fagin bursts in on his scooter and the gang flee.

Sykes and his dogs give chase in Sykes' car. When Jenny gets knocked onto Sykes' car, Oliver jumps on and bites Sykes, but Sykes tosses Oliver into the back, where Roscoe and DeSoto are. Dodger manages to jump aboard also and jumps on Roscoe who grabs a hold of Dodger's bandanna. The bandanna snaps and Roscoe falls onto the railway tracks, which kills him. DeSoto then jumps onto Dodger, but Oliver manages to jump onto DeSoto, causing DeSoto to fall onto the railway tracks and die as well. Sykes is too busy chasing the gang to even notice what's happened to his dogs and shows no mercy for his dogs as he continues to chase the gang until his car runs into a train, killing him, too.

House of Mouse
DeSoto appears in the song "Everybody Wants To Be A Woof" in House of Mouse. While singing in the quartet with Tito growling at him, Desoto replies to Tito with a growl in return thus, scaring him off like a fraidy cat instead of Tito being brave and not afraid of the Dobermans. Later, he is seen fighting off, along with the quartet and later Pluto, Pete.

Trivia

 * Roscoe Blvd. and DeSoto Ave. are major streets in the San Fernando Valley, several miles from Walt Disney Studios.
 * The characters of Cane 1 and Cane 2 (Dog 1 and Dog 2) in the Italian series Slash:// look exactly like Roscoe and DeSoto, even bearing the same collar colours.
 * The name of the actor who gave the voice of Francis in Oliver and Company is Roscoe Lee Browne.