| “ | Roscoe: What's the occasion? Come to rescue your little friend? DeSoto: Say goodbye, Francis. |
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| ~ Roscoe and DeSoto threatening Francis. |
Roscoe and DeSoto are the secondary antagonists of Disney's 27th full-length animated feature film Oliver & Company, a modern take on Charles Dickens' classic 1838 novel Oliver Twist.
They are a pair of vicious and sadistic Dobermans who are the pets of the New Yorker loan shark Bill Sykes. As such, Roscoe and DeSoto often accompany Sykes wherever he goes to meet his clients such as Fagin, whom they threaten with their fangs and claws to make sure Fagin pays their master what he owes him.
Roscoe was voiced by the late Taurean Blaque and DeSoto was voiced by Carl Weintraub.
Their Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Them Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
- They served Bill Sykes, a ruthless loan shark, as his personal attack dogs, always going after whoever he orders them to go to.
- They almost bit Fagin's hand off when they got into his boathouse to demand him to go outside and meet their boss, taking the time it took Fagin to do this to harass his dogs, with Roscoe taking the chance to lustfully flirt with Rita and DeSoto trying to maul Oliver, a young kitten who had just joined the gang, to death only for Sykes to call them back, leading Roscoe to destroy their television out of spite.
- They attacked Fagin and his dog Dodger under their owner's orders when Fagin came to Sykes' hideout and told him he doesn't have the money to pay him yet, not letting him explain his intentions to use Oliver to demand a ransom from the wealthy Foxworth family, which would have likely ended with their deaths if Sykes hadn't realized how a ransom for Oliver could serve as payment.
- They intimidated Jenny Foxworth, a literal 7 year old child and Oliver's owner, when Sykes resolved to kidnap her to blackmail her parents into paying him for her release, menacingly growling at her while tied up, with Sykes assuring her that Roscoe and DeSoto can eat her under his orders if he wishes to.
- They tried to kill Francis, Tito and Einstein once they discovered their ruse of passing themselves as a pizza boy to lure Sykes out from his office.
- They cornered Oliver, Dodger, Georgette, Jenny and the other dogs and prepared to kill them all minus Jenny, who still was necessary for their owner's ransom plot, before Fagin broke into the hideout with his scooter and saved them all.
- They tried to kill Oliver once he gets thrown into Sykes' car during the chase through New York City's subway.
- Roscoe nearly dragged Dodger with him to his death in the electrical rails, with Dodger avoiding this by letting his bandana go, and DeDoto tried to push him into them after overpowering him before Oliver knocked him off too.
- Although their deaths were brutal and they weren't as bad as their owner, this doesn't make either Roscoe or DeSoto scapegoats, as they were sadistic right-hands who liked to hurt others and were willing to endanger the young lives of a kitten and a child with no qualms over it.
- Even if it's possible that Sykes raised them into being violent pets, nothing in the film confirms this.
- Like Bill Sykes, they lack any comedic moments and are taken fully seriously throughout the film, and while they have some minor comedic moments such as Roscoe kicking a TV and saying he finds that funny and his vocabulary being insulted by Francis, they don’t detract, and they’re still taken quite seriously.
- Although their owner sets the Heinous Standards, they manage to stand out a bit by trying to kill at least nine characters, among them two humans with one being a minor, in brutal ways like mauling or electrocuting them to death.
What Prevents Them from Being Pure Evil?[]
- They fail the Heinous Standards compared to their master as they merely follow his orders, never doing anything they aren't asked to do other than harassing Fagin's dogs or trying to kill Oliver initially before Sykes learns of his existence.
- They are genuinely loyal to their owner, Bill, as they never disobey him, which is evidenced when DeSoto tries to kill Oliver but relents because Sykes calls him back.
- They both seem to care about each other genuinely, as Roscoe was angry when Oliver scratched DeSoto's nose and swore vengeance on him and Dodger, and DeSoto is furious over Roscoe's death and tried to avenge him by attempting to subject Dodger to the same fate.
- While they deserved their deaths, they are played for sympathy as Oliver and Dodger were horrified as they never intended to kill them.
External Links[]
- Roscoe and DeSoto on the Villains Wiki
- Roscoe and DeSoto on the Disney Wiki
[]
 Near Pure Evils
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