ShmoopTube

00:03

Oliver Twist, a la Shmoop.

00:06

My name is Oliver Twist. Alright well we'll stop with the accent then, but you get the idea. [Oliver twist with his flat cap on]

00:13

Not so long ago, I was a poor orphan living in a workhouse.

00:16

It wasn't so bad…but there was one little issue… [Oliver with a workhouse in the background]

00:19

I was hungry.

00:20

Very, very hungry. [Kid eating a bowl that doesn't have any food in it]

00:22

Some might even say "starving" if they’re feeling dramatic.

00:26

I figured I had nothing left to lose, so I asked the master chef if I could have some

00:30

more gruel.

00:32

Famous scene, "more sir, please may I have some more" He was….less than accommodating. [Oliver holding up his bowl to the chef]

00:37

He made Gordon Ramsey look like an angel. [Angry chef holding a plate of food]

00:41

"It's raw!'

00:42

So it was off to solitary confinement for me, after a lovely chase... [Oliver behind bars]

00:46

After a week, they decided to get rid of me altogether and sold me as an apprentice to

00:50

the undertaker, Mr. Sowerberry.

00:52

In theory, it sounded okay, but the job was a real… killjoy. [Oliver and Mr Sowerberry at a funeral]

00:58

Pardon the pun.

00:59

And to make matters worse, Mrs. Sowerberry and the charity-boy, Noah, were a couple of

01:04

real bad actors.

01:05

All of that I could handle.

01:07

But then came the straw that broke the camel's back - the boy bashed my mother’s good name… [A straw lands on a camel's back]

01:12

It seems “yo mama” jokes have been around for a long time.

01:16

It was time to hit the road.

01:17

Now don’t get me wrong.

01:18

I enjoy exercise as much as the next lad, but 70 miles is no cakewalk… [Oliver walking on top of a cake]

01:24

By the time I got to London I was starving… again, and found myself wishing it was a cakewalk... [Oliver stood near to Big Ben]

01:30

preferably chocolate...

01:32

So there I was, minding my own business, when this kid appeared out of nowhere. [Kid appears from a cloud of smoke]

01:35

Next thing I knew, he was buying me lunch and offering me a place to crash. [Kid holding a plate of food for Oliver]

01:40

My options were, as you would imagine, quite limited so I accepted.

01:44

But as we got closer to the door, I started to second-guess my decision. [Oliver looks unsure]

01:48

Before I could run, Jack pushed me inside the rat-infested apartment.

01:52

But I figured it had to be better than spending another night in the cold, right? [Rats climbing on Oliver]

01:55

At least the rats liked to cuddle…

01:57

But I was on pins and needles the whole time I was at Fagin’s place. [Oliver laid on thumbtacks]

02:01

So one day I tagged along with Jack, who the other boys called “the Artful Dodger.” [Jack holds up a tophat full of apples]

02:05

Turns out, Jack has quite a skill set…

02:08

A skill set that got me into a spot of trouble… [Jack stealing from a mans pocket]

02:11

You see, the cop pinched the wrong kid. [Policeman nips olivers arm]

02:14

But for the first time in my life, I got a lucky break.

02:16

The kindly Mr. Brownlow took me home and saw to it that I was taken care of. [Mr Brownlow takes Oliver away]

02:21

And indeed I was!

02:22

I'd never had so much to eat, seen so many books, or rested quite as comfortably as I [Oliver in a comfy bed]

02:27

did with Mr. Brownlow.

02:29

That is until Fagin’s friends Nancy, and her decidedly unpleasant companion, Bill Sikes,

02:35

found me and forced me into a life of crime. [Bill Sykes drags Oliver away]

02:38

And talk about on-the-job training gone wrong…I took a bullet and was left for dead on my

02:43

very first day. [Oliver is shot by a Nerf gun]

02:44

But then there was more good luck…

02:46

Sweet Mrs. Maylie found me and took me in.

02:49

She nursed me back to health, and once again, I saw a glimmer of what my life could be. [Mrs. Maylie pulls the Nerf bullet off Oliver]

02:54

But again, it was short-lived.

02:57

Nancy heard through the grapevine that a guy named Monks wanted my head on a platter.

03:02

So she used social media to broadcast the threat. [Nancy using her phone]

03:06

And long story short…

03:07

Sikes killed Nancy for revealing the plan. [Sikes shoots Nancy]

03:10

But Sikes and Fagin got what was coming to them.

03:13

And Mr. Brownlow confronted Monks…Well it turns out, of course, I’m his half-brother.

03:18

And the sole heir to our father’s fortune. [Oliver stood next to a pile of money]

03:20

Talk about a strange twist of fate…

Full Transcript