Fagin

Fagin is one of the main protagonists from Disney's 1988 feature film Oliver & Company. Fagin is the owner of Dodger, Tito, Einstein, Rita and Francis. It is never explained how a poor man such as Fagin came to be in possession of valuable purebreds, although it is possible that he either stole them, or found them as strays and took them under his wing at some point. He was voiced by the late Dom DeLuise.

Personality
Despite being a petty criminal, Fagin is essentially a good man driven to desperate measures to repay a debt to Bill Sykes. He greatly appreciates the attention of his gang of dogs, and understandably sees them as his own children. He is portrayed as somewhat illiterate, and he is absolutely terrified of Sykes- this is not cowardice, for Sykes is indeed a terrifying man.

At the end, he shows himself to be brave and not without a sense of honor and morality, playing a strong part in saving Jenny from Sykes. He is kind, cowardly, friendly, and clumsy.

Role in the film
Fagin is first seen entering his houseboat with dog biscuits in hand while yelling at his dogs, telling them to stop their game "fight", which grabs the attention of the scrapping dogs, who leap onto him and welcome him home. Just as he is enjoying himself, Bill Sykes, to whom he has been lent a considerable sum of money, arrives. He looks at the 'loot' the dogs have brought in and is dismayed to find it is all broken rubbish. He even notices Oliver.

Then, Sykes' Dobermans, Roscoe and DeSoto arrive, before Fagin can examine Oliver, and shoo him away so as to talk to their master. Having little choice, Fagin heads up to offer the items to Sykes anyway, who tells him that he doesn't want Fagin's garbage, he wants his money. Fagin begs for more time. Possibly because he knows dead men can't pay money back, Sykes gives him three more days, then honks his horn to call his dogs back, which frightens Fagin, causing him to fall off the dock and into the bay waters. Fagin returns, soaking wet, to the houseboat, lamenting that he simply can't pay off all that money in just 3 days. His dogs comfort him (mostly Einstein) by giving him a dog biscuit to eat and then licking him after Fagin thanks his dogs. Then, he says he saw DeSoto's nose and asks who did it. Dodger picks up and reveals Oliver to him, meaning he's the rascal who did it, and Fagin comments that they could use all the help they can get and is proud that it was him. When it's time for bed, Einstein insists Fagin reads the gang a bedtime story. At first, Fagin is reluctant because he's too tired, but when he hears and sees Einstein whining sadly, Fagin accepts "but just 1 chapter" and later, they go to sleep.

The next day, Fagin drives with Oliver and the gang into New York on his scooter/shopping trolley hybrid, leaves Dodger responsible for everything concerning Oliver and informs the dogs that "Dead men do not buy dog food." therefore, telling them to "get out there and fetch". He then attempts to pawn his broken wares while the dogs and Oliver go on the hunt for money, merchandise and food after agreeing with Dodger about helping their master with his financial problems with his evil boss.

At the end of the second day, Oliver, who now has a new home and owner from yesterday and was "saved" by the dog-gang and is sad because he wanted to stay, is returned to the houseboat, where Fagin notices his new collar and the wealthy district it is addressed to, after taking him back in when Oliver was intending to leave to go back to his new owner. He has the idea to ransom Oliver and, after dropping off the ransom note and rendezvous map to Oliver's owner, Jenny Foxworth (unknown to him), goes with Dodger to see Sykes with his offer after going over his plan about the ransom, pretending Dodger is Sykes. At first, Sykes, seeing Fagin doesn't have the cash in hand and hearing him discussing his plan with him awkwardly this time, sets Roscoe and DeSoto on him with one snap of the fingers, and Dodger protects him while he gabbles out his desperate plan loudly and properly this time and shows him Oliver as proof. After Sykes is convinced, he snaps his fingers again to tell his dogs to cease the attack. Then, Sykes notices the wealthy district engraved on Oliver's collar and assumes that Fagin is planning to kidnap the cat owner and gives him 12 more hours as his "last chance" while Fagin and Oliver come to Dodger's aid after laying injured and unconcious and having received severe (but invisible) injuries from the attack.

On the same night, Fagin meets the lost Jenny with her poodle pet, Georgette. Not realizing at first that she is his wealthy cat owner, Fagin advises her to go home, given the tough neighborhood she's in. When she tells him that she's lost, he then asks her what she's doing at the shipyards by herself in the first place. He is visibly shocked when she tells him that she came to get her stolen cat back, and has brought nothing more than a piggy bank as payment. Feeling guilty, he finally follows his good heart by giving up and pretending to find Oliver in a box, giving him back to Jenny. Sykes makes his move, snatching Jenny and tossing Oliver out, telling a shocked Fagin to keep his mouth shut and to consider their account closed.

Then, Dodger and the gang come to Oliver's aid. Dodger assures Oliver that they'll "absitively" get Jenny back. The dogs run to Sykes' warehouse without riding in Fagin's scooter this time. After the dogs have rescued Jenny, Fagin saves them from Sykes in his scooter/shopping trolley. Thinking Sykes will not follow him, he heads into the New York Subway and onto the tracks. Sykes follows him anyway and, during the climactic chase, Jenny is thrown onto the hood of Sykes' car, after his car collides with Fagin's scooter. Fagin leaves the driving to the dogs (specifically Tito) and tries to reach for Jenny when she call for his help while Dodger and Oliver are fighting off Sykes' Dobermans. Eventually, she makes a jump, after having been caught by Sykes on the leg and then released, thanks to Oliver and Dodger, and he catches her as Tito drives the gang (except Oliver and Dodger) in the scooter onto one of the suspension cables of the Brooklyn Bridge when a train is heading their way, escaping the same death as Sykes by inches. When the rest of the company drive back down, Jenny runs to search for Oliver, only to find a sad Dodger approaching; holding a "thought to be dead" Oliver. At first, everyone thinks he's dead but when Jenny hears a soft meow from Oliver, she quickly realizes that Oliver is alive and everyone is rejoiced, except Georgette, who is still in great shock from the chase. Then, Dodger and the rest of the gang are accepted as Jenny's new best friends.

The next day, at Jenny's home, during her birthday party, Fagin encounters Winston, sings "Happy Birthday" with him to Jenny and apparently makes a bet with Winston on the outcome of a wrestling game. When his fighter loses and he can't pay up, he sidles out of the house, uses the time to leave as an excuse, grabbing an apple on his way before driving off with the dogs. Then, he says his good-bye to Jenny. Outside the mansion, after Fagin starts up his scooter, Winston gets smugged by the scooter's smoke. At the end, freed from his debt by Sykes, and with Sykes and his dogs dead, Fagin is free to start a new, more honest life, or at the very least live his previous life of petty crime free from the threat of a painful death. He is last seen drivng, with the gang singing "Why Should I Worry" reprise, in his scooter as Jenny, Winston, and Oliver say good-bye to them and watch them as they return back home.

House of Mouse
Fagin appears in House of Genius along with Kaa, Ronno, Govenor Ratcliffe, Bongo, one of the 99 dalmatian puppies, and Tigger.

Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at The House of Mouse
Fagin also appears on the 2001 film Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at The House of Mouse, where he is seen sitting at a table with Jenny and Georgette.

Trivia

 * Fagin wears four (presumably stolen) watches on his left arm. One of them has a picture of Mickey Mouse on it.

Gallery
Fagin/Gallery