Plot

A lost and alone kitten joins a gang of dogs engaged in petty larceny in New York City.

Inspired by Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist". A homeless kitten named Oliver, roams the streets of New York, where he is taken in by a gang of homeless mutts who survive by stealing from others. During one of these criminal acts, Oliver meets a wealthy young girl named Jenny Foxworth. This meeting will forever change his life.—Kelly

A young cat named Oliver is left alone in a kitten box, while all the other young cats have new owners. A big dog named Dodger shows him how to get food and later Oliver lives with him, his owner Fagin and Fagin's other dogs Tito, Rita, Einstein, and Francis. Fagin has one problem besides being broke he owes a nasty man named Sykes a lot of money. If he can't pay it back he's in big trouble. While Oliver runs into a little girl named Jenny who becomes his new owner which he is happy with and later Sykes sees Jenny as the key for him to get his money.—dan0514

In the bustling metropolis of New York, on Fifth Avenue, several kittens are left in a box outside a shop. All but one, an orange tabby, are adopted. The kitten is all alone in the box as it starts to rain and the box breaks up, leaving the kitten without a home. The kitten narrowly avoids being swept into the sewer network and then escapes from a pack of wild dogs in an alley who attack him. The kitten takes shelter under the fender of a vehicle.

The next day, wandering the streets by himself in search of someone to adopt him. The kitten is ignored and rejected in the hustle and bustle of NYC. Gradually it gets hungry but can't find any food. The kitten approaches a hot dog stall but is chased away by the owner. The kitten meets a laid-back mongrel named Dodger (Billy Joel) a carefree, charismatic mongrel with a mix of terrier in him, who agrees to help him steal food from the same hot dog vendor who had early kicked the kitten. Kitten distracts the vendor while Dodger walks away with the sausages. Dodger then reneges on the deal and flees with the hot dogs.

The kitten pursues Dodger all over New York City insisting that half the sausages belong to him, until he eventually arrives at a barge, where he sees Dodger share his meal with a gang of poverty-stricken dogs including Tito the chihuahua (Cheech Marin) a tiny yet passionate Chihuahua in Fagin's gang. His full name is Ignacio Alonso Julio Federico De Tito. Einstein the Great Dane (Richard Mulligan) is named ironically as he is not particularly bright, Rita the Saluki (Sheryl Lee Ralph) the only female dog in Fagin's gang and she is street-wise, and Francis the bulldog (Roscoe Lee Browne) who appreciates art and theatre, particularly Shakespeare.

The kitten accidentally falls into the barge, startling the dogs. However, while they are annoyed, none of them harm him. Kitten claims that he helped Dodger steal the sausages and hence half of them belong to him. Fagin (Dom DeLuise) a lowly human thief who lives on a barge with his dogs, and is indebted to Sykes (Robert Loggia), a nefarious loan shark and criminal. The dogs love Fagin. Sykes arrives and gives Fagin an ultimatum to repay the money in three days, or suffer violence, possibly even death. Sykes' two Dobermans, Roscoe (Taurean Blacque) and DeSoto (Carl Weintraub), harass Fagin's dogs (they hit on Rita) and threaten to eat the kitten, until he scratches DeSoto's nose, earning Fagin and the dogs' respect. The dogs defend Kitten against the Dobermans. Roscoe warns that they will exact revenge.

Fagin returns to the barge and is worried that he has only 3 days to repay Sykes. Despite his troubles, Fagin reads a story to his pets to put them to sleep. The next morning, Fagin goes to pawn some of his stolen goods, while the dogs and the kitten try to steal more money for him. Through a theatrical ruse, the animals stop a limousine belonging to the wealthy Foxworth family, but the attempt to rob the limo fails. Tito cuts the wires but crosses them, thus electrocuting himself. The kitten is taken by the child Jenny Foxworth (Natalie Gregory) who was travelling in the back of the limo. Jenny is missing her vacationing parents and desires a companion. She names him Oliver (Joey Lawrence) and becomes very attached to him. They spend a lot of time together playing the piano, boating on the lake, playing in the park, sharing an ice-cream, sharing a carriage ride, getting a collar and a name tag for Oliver, and bond really well. Jenny lives in her palatial mansion with her parent's clumsy but warm-heart person Winston (William Glover).

Oliver makes himself at home in Jenny's house, much to the disgust of Georgette, the Foxworth family's spoiled, prize-winning poodle. Georgette lives in absolute luxury, with her own room, a make-up kit, and all the amenities a dog can imagine. Georgette takes a lot of pride in being perfect in all aspects.

With Georgette's help, Dodger and the dogs manage to steal Oliver back from the Foxworth household. When Jenny was at school, the dogs enter the house and make a deal with Georgette, returning him to the barge. Oliver wants to go back as he didn't want to leave Jenny alone, who he knows is counting on him for companionship. Dodger gets angry and believes that Oliver now thinks that hanging out at the barge is not cool enough, since Oliver has had the taste of the "good life". Fagin recognizes from Oliver's new collar and gold name tag that he had been adopted by a wealthy family and desperately decides to hold Oliver for ransom. His anonymously written ransom note reaches Jenny, who sets out to get Oliver back at the pier. Meanwhile, Fagin approaches Sykes and outlines his plan to get Sykes paid in full. Sykes gives him 12 hours to make the payment.

Jenny and Georgette (Bette Midler) meet with Fagin, who is shocked to be dealing with a little girl whose "ransom money" is a piggy bank. Bothered by his conscience and Jenny's tears, Fagin gives Oliver back freely. Sykes, whom Fagin had informed of the deal beforehand, is watching from the shadows and kidnaps Jenny, intending to ransom her while declaring Fagin's debt paid. Dodger rallies Oliver and the other dogs to free Jenny from Sykes. They infiltrate Sykes' warehouse and manage to free Jenny, but Sykes and his Dobermans confront them as they attempt to leave.

Fagin saves the group with his scooter, and a chase ensues throughout the streets and into the subway tunnels as Sykes pursues them in his car. Jenny falls from the scooter onto Sykes' car.

Oliver and Dodger go after her and battle Roscoe and DeSoto, who fall off the car and are electrocuted on the third rail of the subway. While driving through the subway tunnel, the scooter and the car emerge on the Brooklyn Bridge as the chase continues. Fagin leaves Tito to drive and saves Jenny, while Dodger and Oliver are thrown from Sykes' car onto the pavement of the Brooklyn Bridge just before an oncoming train strikes and kills Sykes. Tito drives the scooter to safety, and Jenny and Oliver are reunited.

Later, Jenny celebrates her birthday with the animals, Fagin, and the family butler Winston, who receives a phone call from Jenny's parents saying that they will be returning from Rome the next day. Oliver opts to stay with Jenny, but he promises to remain in contact with Dodger and the gang.