My rental selection at the video store last night was The Aristocats, one of the few Disney animated movies I don’t personally own. I saw this movie as a child but remembered very little about it. You don’t hear much about this film really, although the cat stuffed animals it inspired used to be heavily marketed at Disney parks and gift shops and I think I own one somewhere. I think that is because they are cute, though, and not so much because of any incredible selling power of this particular film.

Plot Information
The setting is Paris in the early 1900’s. Duchess the cat (voiced by Eva Gabor) and her three kittens Berlioz, Marie, and Toulouse, are the pampered pets of Madame Bonfamille. Madame’s butler, Edgar, is a shady fellow who hopes to inherit Madame’s fortune after her death. After hearing of her plans to leave most of her estate to her cats, he decides he must stage a cat-napping to get them out of the picture.

Duchess and her family are drugged and taken out into the countryside far from home. Luckily, they run into Thomas O’Malley the alley cat (Phil Harris) who is able to assist them in the ways of living on the street. In the mean time, a romance is budding between Duchess and O’Malley, despite their different backgrounds. Along the way, assorted other animal friends pitch in to help the cat family find their way home. These include some dogs, twin sister geese and their inebriated uncle Waldo, and the whole Scat Cat musical ensemble.

The Good
This film offers an entertaining mixture of characters. The kittens are adorable, and quite entertaining. Each manages to have its own personality. My favorite is Toulouse the orange kitten. He likes to pretend to be a tough alley cat and go into hissing fits, but usually only after the danger has left the area. Marie is entertaining as the clearly spoiled “lady” of the group, who only wants to be a lady at times when it is convenient to her. Abigail and Amelia Gabble are also entertaining, as twin geese who move in unison and tell jokes that only make each other laugh. One of my favorite parts of the film is when they position the cats into a V formation and force them to walk goose style.

There are some pretty good songs featured in this film, but of course the most famous is “Everybody Wants to be a Cat.” I know this was one of my favorite tracks on my Disney favorites record! The song has a jazzy feel and an adorable cast of cats playing and singing along. It is reprised at the end of the film with all the characters participating.

I really enjoy watching these older Disney movies and picking out the voice actors from the different films they have done. The Aristocats offers a fine variety of some of Disney’s best voice talent. You will easily recognize O’Malley’s voice as very similar to Baloo the bear in The Jungle Book, as both were done by Phil Harris within three years of each other. Eva Gabor, who voices Duchess, returns seven years later in The Rescuers as the adorable Miss Bianca. I knew I recognized Napoleon the dog’s voice (Pat Buttram) and sure enough, Buttram voiced the nasty Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood. And, of course, if you listen hard enough to Roquefort the mouse you will see a tinge of Sterling Holloway’s Winnie the Pooh accent since he voices Pooh in several films in the 60’s and 70’s. This film is basically a who’s who game for some of the most frequently used Disney voice artists.

The Not So Good
It does little good to get picky about animation style in a film done so long ago. Needless to say, this isn’t Finding Nemo in terms of animation. A complaint could also be made that the plot in this story isn’t exciting or dramatic. It is a simple story, with the kittens taken from home and trying to return. This could be why the movie never made it very big by Disney standards, but it does allow the film to focus more on its characters. However, if you or your children are looking for an exciting, dramatic, plot this is probably not the best choice.

There are a couple of things about this movie that are just odd. For one thing, there is a scene where the cats meet Uncle Waldo the goose, who is drunk. This adds little to the film and may raise some questions from young children. Additionally, it’s kind of odd that Duchess makes a big deal about O’Malley not wanting to start a romance with her because of her kittens, and the kittens keep talking about wanting a father. My husband pointed out last night, though, that there is never any mention of the kitten’s father. This brings to mind the possibilities of kitty custody battles and love triangles in the future, so perhaps it just would have been simpler if the movie would have mentioned he was gone for good, or dead, or something. I never would have noticed that without my husband’s comment, however.

Overall…
This isn’t a big, dramatic Disney classic on the scale of The Lion King or Cinderella. It is a nice family film with likable characters and a great cast of voices. If you like jazz, cats, or animation, Aristocats is an underrated Disney film that’s worth watching at least once.




Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS