Saban's Adventures of Oliver Twist

Saban's Adventures of Oliver Twist (also known as Oliver Twist) is a French-American Animated series created by Saban Entertainment. It was aired from 1 February 1996 to 12 February 1997 through First-run syndication, totaling 52 episodes.[1]

Saban's Adventures of Oliver Twist
Country of origin	United States France
Production
Production companies	Saban Entertainment Saban International Paris
Distributor	Saban International
Release
Original network	First-run syndication (U.S.) TF1 (France)
Original release	February 1996

Based on the 1838 novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, the series features anthropomorphic animals and occasionally humans.[2]

Characters

• Oliver Twist (Voiced by Mona Marshall) - A dog. An orphan on the run from the workhouse, trying to earn the respect of his friends Dodger and Charlie and hoping to find his mother, whom he got separated from.
• Artful Dodger (Voiced by Ian Hawk) - A rabbit. A cunning sort who is full of ideas.
• Charlie Bates (Voiced by Anthony Mozdy) - A pig. A laid-back sort who is pretty accident prone and greedy for food.
• Nancy (Voiced by Mona Marshall) - A she-cat. A courteous and kind sort, who dreams of becoming an actress and stays with Fagin's fellowship.
• Princess Annushka (Voiced by Barbara Goodson) - A dog. She is a runaway Russian princess who gives little regard for the boys and stays with Fagin's fellowship.
• Fagin (Voiced by Bob MacGarva) - A red fox. Leader of the fellowship of young thieves.
• Mr. Bumble - A wolf. The master of the workhouse. Frequently sends out his two cat goons, Scratch and Sniff to try to capture Oliver and if possible, his two friends as well.
• Bill Sykes - A brown bear. A brutish ruffian of a man who makes threats by extortion and intimidation to gain his money.

Plot

Oliver escapes the orphan house and is on the run. While on the run he meets Dodger and together they go to Fagin. Fagin is the boss of a little gang and Oliver must prove himself, if he is worthy to stay; the orphan lord will stop at nothing to bring Oliver back.

Oliver and his friends, Dodger and Charlie, are making it a mission to find Oliver's mother and they make adventures along the way.

Episodes

#	Title	Air Date
1	"Oliver's Narrow Escape"	TBA
Oliver makes his escape from the workhouse and his newfound friend, Dodger leads him to the hideout of his fellowship lead by Fagin. To ensure his stay, Oliver has to pass three tests, whilst avoiding Mr. Bumble and his two goons, Scratch and Sniff.
2	"Horsing Around"	TBA
Oliver, Dodger, and Charlie go to the Ascott Steeple Chase in disguise. They get involved in the horse race eventually winning first place and Nancy comes in disguise to save them from Mr. Bumble and his duo.
3	"Show Time"	TBA
During a game of tag and after retrieving Oliver's locket from the sewers, Oliver, Dodger, and Charlie acquire an alligator from the sewers, hoping to start up a show with Annushka as well, but Bill Sykes takes charge for the show. For that, Dodger sets the alligator loose on Bill, then sets it free when they realize she has a family of her own.
4	"That's the Spirit?"	TBA
Oliver, Dodger, and Charlie set off to rescue Fagin who is being held prisoner in the Tower. With the help of the ghost of a disgraced knight, Charlie frees Fagin and they make their escape while facing two evil ghosts.
5	"The Big Cheese"	TBA
Dodger is mistaken for a French Prince. Roquefort is trying to overthrow the French Prince to prevent a trade agreement for his own business. Oliver and Charlie help Dodger and they manage to trap Roquefort as the real prince arrives.
6	"Misfortune Teller"	TBA
While playing a game of tag, Oliver, Dodger, and Charlie come across a fortune teller in a caravan who tells them about a hidden treasure they will be lucky to find so they decide to enter a treasure finding competition hosted by two gentlemen while competing with other competitors. Little do they realize that they are actually being manipulated into digging tunnels that lead to a vault filled with gold and money in the Central Bank that they are to load for the gentlemen revealed to be con men and thieving brothers with the fortune teller revealed to be their mother acting as their leader to steal for themselves. Working together, they manage to escape the robbers and get them thrown in Scotland Yard.
7	"Tour of the Town"	TBA
To earn some money, Oliver, Dodger, and Charlie decide to host a sightseeing tour of London for tourists, but Bill Sykes wants to host one himself and so, tries to sabotage the boys' tour attraction countless times so that tourists will pay to go on his tours instead then a battle between tour guides begins.
8	"Night Odyssey"	TBA
9	"Annushka's Winter Tale"	TBA
It's wintertime in London. Tired of being treated like peasants during a sleigh ride for Annushka, Dodger tries to stand up to her only for him, Oliver, and Charlie to find themselves being chased by Mr. Bumble again, leaving Annushka alone, humiliated, and insulted. After another failed attempt to capture the boys, Bumble chooses to take Annushka back to the workhouse instead to be used as bait for the boys. Nevertheless, Annushka proves to be more than Bumble bargained for when she begins to drive him mad with her attitude and habits. Feeling bad for Annushka, Oliver decides to give himself up despite his friends' objections. Luckily, the boys talk Oliver into a new plan but before executing it, Bumble, having had enough of her, releases Annushka and the boys, not wanting their hard work going to waste, proceed to throw snowballs at Bumble and his goons either way. Then, the boys find themselves reluctantly pulling an ungrateful Annushka on her sleigh again back home.
10	"Full of Hot Air"	TBA
After receiving a science lesson and demonstration about the effects of hot air from Fagin, Dodger talks Oliver and Charlie into building a hot air balloon to host a ride up and down in the air. However, after completing the balloon, Annushka unwittingly unties the rope holding the balloon to the ground and ends up flying with the boys in it over London. After a bird pokes a hole in the balloon, a whining, homesick Annushka and the boys end up lost in a forest. The boys head into the forest to find something to help repair the balloon before a storm arrives while Annushka stays behind. After much difficulty, the boys finally repair the balloon using tree sap, but their happiness is cut short when a forest fire appears. Once they're up in the air again and using salt from the weight bags, they are able to create rain to put out the fire just in time before it spreads. After making it back home, Dodger ends up being chased by an angry Annushka after joking with her about a charge for the ride.
11	"What a Nag"	TBA
Sick with the flu, Fagin entrusts his entire life savings with Oliver, Dodger, and Charlie to help him finally fulfill his dream of buying a horse and carriage he can afford in order to become a coachman. Unfortunately, the only available horse (later named Paint) and carriage turn out to be old, so, the boys decide to buy them, renovate the carriage with Nancy's help, and enter the 10th Annual All-London Carriage Race in order to win the Queen's carriage for Fagin while competing against a dirty, obnoxious champion racer. After winning the race and earning the prize, Fagin is pleased with his new horse and carriage and appoints Nancy as his official horse trainer and the boys as his official assistant drivers.
12	"Hair & There"	TBA
13	"Treasure Hunt"	TBA
14	"Ship Unshape"	TBA
Determined to go on an adventure and see the world, the boys sign up for what they think is a tour and end up joining the Royal Navy as cabin boys instead. But their troubles only get worse when the Royal Navy finds itself under attack by pirates and the boys end up captured by them and working as the pirate captain's galley slaves instead. After blowing up the pirate ship during the battle between the pirates and the Royal Navy and the pirates are arrested, the boys are commended as heroes by the captain for saving the day and hereby released from Royal Navy duties and obligations and are invited to join the crew anytime they wish.
15	"Chimney Sweeps Gang"	TBA
After an awry race across London, Dodger gets himself and his two friends involved in a chimney sweeping job, but their masters, Algernon and Ernest are only using this as a cover to steal from houses while the boys take the blame for the robberies. So, the boys decide to catch the real crooks in their latest heist at Buckingham Palace and clear their names. Then, the Queen offers the boys a reward in gratitude for capturing the crooks before heading back home.
16	"3 Boys and Baby"	TBA
After celebrating Fagin's umpteenth birthday and realizing how he's getting on in his old age, Oliver, Dodger, and Charlie decide to travel to Mount McMayhem in Scotland to find the legendary Fountain of Youth to help Fagin relive his golden years again. Once there, they meet the immortal guardian of the Fountain who gives them both a few drops from the Fountain and a box containing a list of ingredients for the antidote in case anything goes wrong. However, after sprinkling a few drops on Fagin, Fagin suddenly regresses into a mischievous little infant who proves to be more than the boys had bargained for as they try to catch him across London. While Charlie entertains Fagin, Oliver and Dodger gather the ingredients for the antidote to sprinkle on him, which restores him back to normal while still retaining a few of his childlike habits though.
17	"Thank you Fagin"	TBA
After celebrating Fellowship Day; thanks to Fagin, Oliver, Dodger, and Charlie want to show Fagin how they feel about him by doing something special for him in gratitude. Seeing the Queen's carriage pass by the streets of London, the boys arrange for Fagin to meet the Queen herself in person by organizing a minor accident with one of her carriage's wheels while some thieves, Big Jim and Alfy plan to kidnap the Queen for ransom the next day as well. At night, after a little test run performed by the fellowship, the thieves decide to use them to further execute their plan. The next day, after the boys' plan works and before Fagin has a chance to meet the Queen and fix her wheel, the thieves make their move despite Fagin's best efforts to save her. So, Fagin decides to mount a rescue mission with the boys and Annushka. On the way, Fagin reveals that he once worked for Big Jim for a short time in the past, whom he recognized by his cane as the mastermind behind this plot and whom he left once he realized what sort of man he was working for. After rescuing the Queen despite certain difficulties, the Queen thanks them; especially, Fagin, whom she gives her ring to should he ever need her help by sending the ring to the palace to return the favor.
18	"Disguise and Dolls"	TBA
When Fagin and his fellowship's home becomes infested with wood-eating termites eating all of the wooden furniture, Fagin sends the boys to the hardware store to get a formula that will drive the termites away before they start eating the rest of the wood. Unfortunately, after buying the formula, the boys find themselves being pursued by Bill Sikes mistaking the formula for gold dust. To hide from him, they disguise themselves as schoolgirls in the train station but later find themselves joining the school as well.
19	"Good Sports"	TBA
20	"A Trunk Full of Surprises"	TBA
Oliver, Dodger, and Charlie come to see a rare blue elephant named Momo owned and brought to England at the geographic society by the beautiful Princess Maya, who later becomes the object of both Oliver and Dodger's rival affections along the way. However, due to an accident while trying to get a better look at the elephant, the boys unintentionally set Momo loose on the streets. To make it up to the heartbroken princess, the boys decide to help her retrieve her friend while preventing two unscrupulous big-game hunters from shooting and hunting the elephant down during a safari. When trying to search for her elephant as well, the princess finds herself captured and used as bait by the hunters. Luckily, the boys manage to find the elephant, save the princess, and stop the hunters once and for all.
21	"Get My Goat"	TBA
22	"River Regata"	TBA
Determined to save Dodger's old kindergarten school from closing down and sending the children to the workhouse due to a late tax fee of £500 within a day, Oliver, Dodger, and Charlie enter a boat race, the River Regatta, and so does Bill Sikes for a prize of £600. Determined to win and aided by his thugs, Sikes tries to sabotage their boat in every attempt.
23	"Clowning Around"	TBA
24	"Landing in London"	TBA
25	"Snow on the Go"	TBA
26	"Somewhere"	TBA
27	"Loads 'O Toads"	TBA
28	"Tsarina for a Day"	TBA
29	"Pudding 'Em in Their Place"	TBA
30	"The Not-so-great Train Robbery"	TBA
31	"That's Snow Way to Spend the Day"	TBA
32	"The Boys and the Bees"	TBA
33	"Oliver's Other Mother"	TBA
34	"River Raiders"	TBA
35	"Undercover Brother"	TBA
36	"The Little Lie"	TBA
37	"Jerkyl and Snide"	TBA
38	"King of a Dragon"	TBA
39	"New Friend At the Fellowship"	TBA
40	"Common Census"	TBA
41	"My Fair Fagin"	TBA
42	"The Long and The Short of It"	TBA
43	"It Takes Two to Tangle"	TBA
44	"The Trojan Cake"	TBA
45	"Muddadh Knows Best"	TBA
46	"You Can Go Home Again"	TBA
47	"The Great London Scavenger Hunt"	TBA
48	"Mystery Trail"	TBA
49	"Annushka's Game"	TBA
50	"Three Sides to Every Story"	TBA
51	"Ski No Evil"	TBA
52	"Major Magic"	TBA

International broadcast

Country	Channel
Australia	ABC ABC Kids
France	TF1
Canada	CBC CBC Kids
United Kingdom	CBBC CITV

References

1. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 1. ISBN 978-1538103739.
2. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 700–701. ISBN 978-1476665993.