Einstein is a slender gray Great Dane with a black nose, short ears, dark gray spots on each leg, and long tail. Like all Great Danes, he is the largest of all the dogs in the movie, including his enemies: Roscoe and DeSoto. Despite his size and his love for dogpile fights, Einstein is more of a pacifist when it comes to a violent fight due to his friendly nature, lack of intelligence, and age as shown when he seems reluctant to fight Roscoe even after telling him to pick on someone his own size. Nevertheless, such traits don't prevent him from being very protective of his friends especially, Tito and Oliver.
He is shown to be kind, friendly, silly, shrewd, funny, dim-witted, independent, nurturing, understanding, well-behaved, and protective. This personality plays on the stereotype that Great Danes are the friendliest but not the brightest of dog breeds and his name is also a play on this.
Biography
In a barge, Einstein, with a broken tennis racket in his mouth, is first seen along with Rita sleeping in their own respective sleeping quarters while Francis is busy watching T.V. and Tito is listening to some music until Tito deliberately wakes Einstein up. Later, as Francis and Tito have a conversation, Einstein joins in and shows them the broken tennis racket he intends to add within a collection of "loot" in a box for his owner, Fagin. Einstein naively takes Francis seriously when the latter sarcastically congratulates him and suggests that all they need now is the court and net before Tito further states that what they need is some good quality stuff while showing them the wallet, which eventually leads to an argument between Francis and Tito when the former insults his pride. Then, Rita wakes up, silences Tito and Francis, and checks out the "loot" while deducing that their owner is not going to be too happy about this when he returns. When Rita asks Francis if he got the food, Einstein and the others become more upset and disappointed when they learn that Francis had actually forgotten the fact that it was his turn to get the food today.
Luckily, their leader, Dodger arrives just in time to cheer them up with his own stolen stash of food for the day: hot dogs. While enjoying their dinner, they ask Dodger to tell them how he did it. At first, Dodger describes every event that occurred during the day until he begins to exaggerate when he mentions a "monster" in his story, which begins to frighten Einstein and the others. But then, everyone becomes even more scared, panics, and each one tries to find a place to hide when something covered in cloth suddenly falls and crashes into their home right in front of them; thinking it's the "monster" from Dodger's story. Wondering what it is, Tito approaches to investigate until a mysterious paw tears through the cloth and accidentally scratches him on the nose. Naively thinking it's an "alien", Tito panics and flees in terror until it is revealed to be in fact, a cat named Oliver as pointed out by Rita to everyone when she sees the result for herself.
Having learned half of the truth, the gang except Dodger surrounds and interrogates Oliver. After Rita silences Tito with a kick when the latter naively thinks that Oliver is lying when he explains that he followed Dodger, Francis asks Oliver why would he follow Dodger, to which Einstein wonders the same thing as well. After Oliver answers Francis and Einstein's questions and Tito, thinking that Oliver is a spy, insists that they eat him instead, Oliver further reveals the truth about his involvement in Dodger's sausage theft and with Dodger to respectfully back him up when he fully admits that the former did in fact, help him in his latest scheme, Einstein and the others begin to develop respect for the kitten.
Then, Einstein and the others except Rita proceed to mock and laugh at Dodger about his "monster" story. However, Tito's persistence in mocking Dodger further eventually provokes the latter to deliberately start a dogpile fight with Tito then Francis, which greatly amuses Einstein as he joyfully joins in as well. Although considering her friends as overgrown and immature, Rita finally joins in as well when Tito accidentally lands on her. Slightly frightened, Oliver hides inside the "loot" box during the fight.
Later, a voice is heard in the background, telling the dogs to stop the play-fight. It is revealed to be the dogs' owner, Fagin, having returned home with a box of dog biscuits, which he presumably either bought or stole earlier in the day for his pets. When the dogs cease the play-fight and notice the box, Fagin tries to remind them that his evil boss, Sykes will be here any minute for the money he owes him, which he unfortunately doesn't have, only to receive a warm welcome from his dogs instead to make him forget about his worries as they proceed to lick him affectionately despite his protests. However, their happiness is short-lived when they hear a honking noise outside, knowing this means that Sykes has arrived, so, he asks his dogs to bring him the "loot" box. Unfortunately, Fagin is disappointed by the junk his dogs brought for him as "loot" to pay back Sykes and before he can examine Oliver whom he discovers inside the box, Sykes' two Dobermans, w:c:villains:Roscoe and DeSoto suddenly barge in and shoo him out to talk to their master while they taunt his dogs as Oliver hides from them.
While Fagin is out talking to Sykes, Roscoe tries in vain to flirt with a repulsed Rita while DeSoto sniffs around the place, only to be deliberately insulted by Francis later on, whom Tito cheers and congratulates with a high-five to encourage him some more. However, when Roscoe angrily confronts Francis, Einstein restrains an unintimidated Tito from challenging Roscoe to a fight and trying to attack him on Francis' behalf to avoid any real trouble. When Einstein further insults Roscoe, the latter angrily confronts him until Dodger intervenes in order to calm him down. When Dodger asks him if he's lost his sense of humor, Roscoe replies otherwise and deliberately smashes the T.V. with a kick to prove his point, sadistically stating that he finds that funny as he lets out a cold, sinister chuckle. Later, when it's time for the Dobermans to leave after hearing their master call for them with his car horn, Oliver is unfortunately discovered by DeSoto and when Oliver scratches him on the nose for trying in vain to eat him rather than to heed his master's call, both Dobermans try to attack him, but not before Dodger and later, the rest of the gang intervene in order to protect their new cat friend from their enemies; making them hesitate when they realize they are outnumbered.
When their master calls for them again, Roscoe and DeSoto leave but not before swearing revenge on their enemies, starting with Oliver.
Then, after accidentally falling off a pier, Fagin walks in all wet and sad, lamenting over the three days he has been given by Sykes as his last chance to pay him back or suffer the consequences that may befall both him and his dogs. Feeling sorry for their master, Einstein and the others do everything they can to cheer him up. Einstein helps relax Fagin's feet and later, feeds him a dog biscuit while the others fetch his slippers and cover him up. Rejoiced, Fagin thanks his dogs; much to their joy, as further demonstrated when Einstein gratefully licks him with joy a few times. After meeting and accepting Oliver into the gang, it's time for bed but Einstein insists Fagin read them a bedtime story first. At first, Fagin is reluctant as he is too tired but after hearing Einstein's sad whining, he changes his mind and chooses to read only one chapter for tonight. During the reading, however, Einstein breathes deeply on Tito's hair; much to the latter's annoyance. Later, Einstein is seen sleeping next to Fagin and Oliver before Oliver later chooses to sleep next to Dodger instead.
The next morning, the gang including Oliver is riding through the streets in Fagin's scooter. After crashing in an alley, Fagin instructs his pets to get out and search for food while he tries to find a way to earn or even steal money within the next two days before the deadline. Wanting to help their owner with his financial problems while searching for food at the same time, the dogs as well as Oliver agree on this plan and proceed to execute it, starting on Columbus Avenue. Then, the gang; especially Rita, teaches Oliver a lesson about how the best survive by keeping their dreams alive and working together through singing "Streets of Gold". During the song, the gang saves Oliver from a vicious alley dog by simply growling at him, which makes the alley dog cower and run away in fear. The gang is amused when they notice Oliver "barking" like a dog at his wannabe-attacker before carrying on with their objective.
Noticing a beige limousine in their path, Dodger comes up with a plan on how to steal the car's radio that Fagin can pawn off at a shop and earn money in exchange as minor payment for his debt to Sykes, using Einstein and mainly, Francis as distractions and Tito as the "electrician/electronics technician" with Oliver to help him out while Dodger and Rita handle the crowd. As part of the plan, Einstein deliberately runs headfirst into the car driven by Winston, leaving him completely dazed while Francis plays the former's role of the hit in order to distract Winston while Oliver and Tito mostly carry out the intended theft. However, when the plan backfires due to Oliver accidentally slipping on the ignition, thus, causing the car to go haywire and sending a barbecued Tito literally flying out the window in a flash, Einstein, having fully regained consciousness due to the electric current flowing through a street lamp from the electrocution on Tito having released its bulb that lands on his head, and the rest of the gang retreat somewhere in a nearby alley as the car drives away with Oliver still inside due to being caught in the wires. Worried about Oliver, Dodger and Tito follow the car he was taken in while the others return to Fagin.
A few moments later, Dodger and Tito return to the rest of the gang at a pawn shop, thinking that their friend is in danger when in fact, he has been adopted by a young girl named Jenny Foxworth as his new owner. Stuck to choose between either "rescuing" Oliver or helping Fagin with his financial problems and after Dodger breaks up an argument between Francis and Tito, Dodger suggests that first, they'll "rescue" their little cat friend and then, they'll take care of the "old man". Then, Einstein and the others gather around to listen to Dodger's plan for the following day.
The next morning, Dodger leads the "rescue mission". Einstein distracts Winston by ringing the doorbell. But then, when Einstein naively just sits there and does nothing, Dodger quickly points out to him that he needs to get out of the way, which, fortunately, he does at the last minute. After Francis distracts Winston again and leaves him locked outside while the dogs enter the mansion inconspicuously, Einstein and the others begin to admire the place rather than focusing on "rescuing" Oliver until Dodger reminds them about their true objective.
After Dodger enters and meets Georgette, the family's spoiled pedigree pet poodle and dog show queen, in her room and is given an uninteresting introduction about herself, the rest of the gang enters as Tito begins to develop a sudden crush on the poodle; much to her disgust. After the gang inadvertently causes a mess in her room, Georgette begins to call and bark for Winston countless times, who managed to sneak back inside through an open window in the kitchen. However, when Georgette learns that Dodger and the others are in fact, the friends Oliver keeps talking about who have come to "rescue" him, she becomes more cooperative. But before cooperating, Winston comes in to check up on Georgette. Einstein and Francis hide under Georgette's bed cover with half of Georgette's body sticking out while Dodger and Rita pose as dog statue replicas and Tito hangs on a coat hanger of the door. Though puzzled, Winston leaves nonetheless. Then, Georgette takes the gang to Jenny's room. Noticing Oliver happily sleeping on his pillow, Rita, being the first one convinced that he's okay, proposes they forget the plan, but Georgette, jealous and eager to get rid of him since the day he came into Jenny's life, convinces them that he's so "traumatized" and when Winston's voice is heard again, she quickly hands him to them in a pillow sack held by Einstein and Francis and allows them to flee through the fire escape.
Back at the barge, the gang brings Oliver in. However, the gang appears more confused when Oliver demands to know why they took him away. Einstein simply tells him that they just "rescued" and brought him back home, but then, the gang learns that Oliver actually wanted to stay now that he's happy living in a new home with someone who loves him. Nevertheless, despite an unpleasant conversation between a devastated Oliver and an upset but otherwise, stubborn Dodger, Dodger grudgingly allows Oliver to leave without anyone stopping him. Looking at each other with great sadness and sorrow, Einstein and the rest of the gang watch as Oliver leaves until a depressed Fagin returns and brings Oliver back inside. The gang watches as Fagin is about to lose faith and hope after how his previous attempts to earn or steal money have failed until he suddenly rejoices when he notices the address inscribed on Oliver’s collar that reads: "5th Avenue", meaning that where he currently comes from, his new owners must be rich, therefore, inspiring Fagin to come up with a plan to hold Oliver for ransom while writing a ransom note to his owners, which just might help him pay his debt to Sykes at last.
Later, at night, after Fagin's unpleasant meeting with Sykes at his warehouse leading to Dodger getting slightly injured from a previous attack by the Dobermans as a slightly unexpected result, Einstein and the others wait at the rendezvous spot between Fagin and Oliver's new owner before Dodger joins them. Oblivious to the fact that Sykes and his dogs are watching them from a distance in his Cadillac, when Fagin learns that Jenny is in fact, Oliver's new owner but with very little money in a piggy bank she brought as payment to get Oliver back, Jenny begins to cry and Fagin has a hard time deciding whether to give up the ransom and follow his good heart or not while feeling guilty as he watches Jenny and Georgette leave with great sadness in their eyes.
Finally, Fagin does the right thing, pretends to find Oliver in a box, and returns him to Jenny; much to both his and the latter's joy. Unfortunately, their happiness is cut-short when Sykes, having seen the whole thing, drives straight towards Jenny to make his move, kidnaps her, and throws Oliver out the window. Before driving away, Sykes tells Fagin to keep his mouth shut and to consider their account closed. Appalled to see their little friend injured, Dodger and the gang including Georgette rush to Oliver's aid and at the same time, generously promise to "absitively" help him get Jenny back as well. Without further hesitation and without riding in Fagin's scooter this time despite the latter's orders, Oliver and the dogs dash straight to Sykes’ warehouse.
At the warehouse, after Tito and Francis have finished inspecting the place to see if they can find a way in, they inform Dodger that it's all locked up. So, Dodger comes up with another plan on how to get inside. The plan is set with Tito as the "maestro" and Francis and Oliver (in a football helmet) as the "cannonballs". Then, Einstein and the others call out to Francis to see if he's ready, which he is before launching Oliver on a made-up seesaw and through a window, which somehow alerts Sykes who sends his dogs to investigate. Once Oliver's inside and after avoiding detection from Roscoe and DeSoto, he opens a hatch from the inside, which allows everyone to enter easily. Later, while sneaking inside in silence, Georgette suddenly screams in pain after breaking a nail, which somehow alerts Roscoe and DeSoto more than ever. Then, everyone is detected by a security camera facing their direction.
After Tito takes care of the camera as suggested by Dodger, Oliver and the dogs proceed until they reach somewhere above Sykes' office where they find Jenny tied up to a chair but otherwise, okay while Sykes is on the phone with Winston, demanding him to get in touch with Jenny's parents in order to ask about a ransom concerning their daughter since they are away on a business trip around Europe. Then, Dodger comes up with another plan on how to distract Sykes and rescue Jenny at the same time. The plan is set with Einstein, Francis, and Tito posing as a pizza delivery guy to lure Sykes away from his office while the others sneak in to help Jenny. Einstein, Francis, and Tito run until they unfortunately come face-to-face with Roscoe and DeSoto. Luckily, when all seems lost, Georgette suddenly appears and manages to temporarily trap the Dobermans under a tarpaulin net, thus, enabling Einstein and the others to safely return and reunite with the rest of the friends back at Sykes' office to save Jenny before locking the door behind them.
When chewing the ropes off of Jenny proves futile and their enemies are about to return, Dodger, noticing a crane at the top that could help them out, asks Tito to hot-wire it. Confident, convinced otherwise, and less reluctant than before; thanks to Georgette's charm, Tito quickly makes it up to the top where the crane's controls are located in order to operate and send the crane down just as Sykes and his dogs return to find the door locked. Luckily, Einstein and the others are carried up to safety once Tito manages to operate the crane to send it down then back up again just in time before Sykes and his dogs break through the locked door. All goes well as they are being carried away in another direction by the crane until Sykes takes out a fire axe and destroys the crane's controls, which causes everyone to fall and land on a long slide, only to find themselves cornered by their enemies at the end of the slide unfortunately.
Luckily, when all hope seems lost as Sykes is about to snap his fingers so as to order his dogs to attack again, Fagin arrives in his scooter breaking through a window just in time to save and drive everyone out to safety until Sykes tries to catch up to them in his car. Thinking Sykes won't bother following them any further, Fagin drives everyone down into a subway station but Sykes, driving like a madman, pursues them nonetheless. Once they drive into a tunnel with Sykes still in hot pursuit, Einstein and the other dogs are heard barking fiercely at their enemies until Sykes' car collides with Fagin's scooter, causing Jenny to fall and land on the hood of his car. Einstein and the others watch as Oliver jumps in to save Jenny by biting Sykes’ hand when the latter tries to pull Jenny back in, only to end up thrown in the backseat and cornered by Roscoe and DeSoto. Then, they watch Dodger jump in to rescue Oliver by fighting off and allowing Roscoe to fall to his death on the electric railway caused by the friction between Sykes' ruined car tires and the railway itself before Oliver comes to Dodger's rescue by scratching and allowing DeSoto to also fall to his death in the same manner when the latter tries to kill Dodger in vain as payback for Roscoe's death. Then, Dodger saves Oliver again just in time before meeting the same fate as well.
On the Brooklyn Bridge, while Fagin comes to Jenny's aid with Einstein to help make sure he doesn't fall as the latter calls for help, Tito takes command of the scooter. Suddenly, a train is heard and seen heading their way. When it looks like Sykes has got the upper hand by grabbing Jenny's leg and pulling her back in, Oliver and Dodger arrive just in time to save her by jumping on and fighting Sykes off, thus, enabling Jenny to jump back into Fagin's scooter. Luckily, Tito manages to save everyone at the last minute by driving them up to safety on one of the bridge's cables while Oliver and Dodger stay behind to fight Sykes off. After Sykes throws Dodger and Oliver off, the train approaches and finally collides with Sykes still in his car, thus, killing him and sending both him and his car down the Hudson River. Then, Tito drives everyone safely back down before Jenny runs out to search for Oliver, only to find a sad Dodger approaching with a supposedly lifeless Oliver in his mouth. At first, everyone thinks he's dead but when Jenny hears a soft meow coming out of Oliver, everyone minus Georgette, still in shock from the chase, quickly rejoices when they see that their little cat friend is still alive. Then, Einstein and the others begin to befriend Jenny.
The next day, back at Jenny's house, everyone including Fagin and his dogs is celebrating Jenny's 8th birthday. Once the gang has given Jenny birthday presents (garbage actually), to which she is kindly grateful to, it's time for them to go home as Jenny and Fagin bid each other a touching good-bye. While Tito stays behind with Georgette before quickly changing his mind later on when the latter proves to be too much for him, Einstein and the others leave to join up with Fagin after bidding Oliver a fond farewell until the next time they meet.
Then, Einstein joins up with the rest of his friends as they sing a reprise of "Why Should I Worry" altogether while jumping from car/truck to car/truck before joining up with Fagin in his scooter on their way home.
Trivia
Einstein says to Roscoe: "Why don't you pick someone of your own size?" is the same line Simba says to Shenzi in The Lion King since the two were protecting a smaller friend. (Zazu for Simba, Tito to Einstein.)
Being a Great Dane which is considered to be friendly and unintelligent, Einstein is dumb and friendly and yet he was ironically named after Albert Einstein, a German Nobel Winner Genius.
Einstein's gray spots and the bottom of his paws form a Hidden Mickey throughout the film.
During Jenny's birthday, Einstein appears to be sitting on her left but then appears to be sitting on her right the rest of the way in the next shot.
Despite Tito being the only dog to continuously call Francis; "Frank" or "Frankie," Einstein and Rita were first heard calling him Frankie once when they were disappointed to find out that he forgot it was his turn to get the food for them the day Dodger met Oliver.
Einstein is the only member of Fagin's dog gang that appears neither during the intro nor in any episodes of House of Mouse. He is also one of the few members that doesn't appear in any Disney Parks either.
Theme Parks Tom Sawyer | Society of Explorers and Adventurers (Mary Oceaneer | Lord Henry Mystic) | Albert Falls, Jr. | Professor R. Blauerhimmel | Dr. Albert Falls | Victoria Marie Falls | Tarzan | Indiana Jones | Tommy Ford | Renard | Rebel Pilots | Admiral Ackbar | Wayne Szalinski | Dreamfinder | Figment | Chimera | Wilby Daniels | Capricious Harmony | Dexter Reilly | Flubber | Weebo | Pecos Bill | Martha Ravenswood | Crane (Meet the World) | The Funmeister | Colonel Critchlow Sunchbench | Buzzy (Cranium Command) | The Timekeeper | Anna Petterson | Buzzy Crocker | Chris "Q" Todd | Beatrice Rose Endicott | Great Grand Dude | Manfred Strang
Disney-Hyperion Books Gum Girl |
Super Chicken Nugget Boy