 Download "Why Should I Worry"
Billy's one and only acting gig was to voice the Artful Dodger in the animated Disney movie Oliver and Company from 1988. Billy was the perfect choice to play a streetwise punk with a heart of gold, who could also carry a tune. The chair of Disney Studios, Jeffrey Katzenberg, said: "When [director] George Scribner conceived of the character and when we said to him . . . anybody in the world - pick somebody who you think really gets across that New York street-smart, savoir-faire attitude that you want, he said, Billy Joel." See article from McCall's magazine.
The movie's main song was "Why Should I Worry" written by the late Dan Hartman and Charlie Midnight. Hartman and Midnight were a popular songwriting duo in the Eighties. Hartman also later wrote and sang the hit "I Can Dream About You" from the movie Streets of Fire. Billy was eager to do the movie because of his young daughter, Alexa Ray Joel. "Of course, I had just had a little girl. It's a great way to do something that my little girl could see that she could relate to right away." See McCall's article. He said he also wanted to do Oliver & Company because it was a Disney movie. "I always thought the old Disney movies, the ones with the old-time animation, were magic," said Joel. I had read somewhere several years ago that Billy took his young daughter Alexa to see Oliver and Company without telling her that he was the voice of the Artful Dodger. When she realized it was her father's voice, she did a double-take. I took my young stepkids to the movie back in 1996 largely because Billy Joel was in it. I think I enjoyed it more than them. Animation has really come a long way since then.' * * * * *
Here is a nice essay about Billy Joel and the movie from Erik Adams at AV Club.
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Three years later, in 1991, Billy would also record the song "When You Wish Upon A Star" for the Disney album Simply Mad About The Mouse.
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Words and Music by Dan Hartman and Charlie Midnight
One minute I'm in Central Park Then I'm down on Delancey Street From the Bow'ry to St Marks There's a syncopated beat Whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo I'm streetwise I can improvise Whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo I'm streetsmart I've got New York City heart Why should I worry? Why should I care? I may not have a dime But I got street savoir faire Why should I worry? Why should I care? It's just bebopulation And I got street savoir faire The rhythm of the city But once you get it down Then you can own this town You can wear the crown Why should I worry? Why should I care? I may not have a dime But I got street savoir faire Why should I worry? Why should I care? It's just doo-bopulation And I got street savoir faire Everything goes Everything fits They love me at the Chelsea They adore me at the Ritz Why should I worry? Why should I care? And even when I cross that line I got street savoir faire Whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo Whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo.... 
Billy lent his acting and singing skills to the Disney movie Oliver & Company.
Billy and Alexa Ray Joel. Photo: Mary Ellen Mark
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