Disney has released many entertaining animated movies over the years. I have seen and enjoyed most of them. I still enjoy the older Disney movies in addition to the newer ones. I recently watched The Aristocats again after picking up the new DVD.
In Paris in 1910, a rich older woman, Madam Adelaide Bonfamille, doted on her cat Duchess and the three kittens, Marie, Berlioz, and Toulouse. Adelaide's butler Edgar wasn't happy when he learned that she intended to leave all her money to the cats. Knowing that he would get the money if something happened to the cats, Edgar came up with the idea to get rid of Duchess and the kittens.
Duchess and the kittens ended up out in the country. They soon met Thomas O’Malley, an alley cat, who ended up helping Duchess and the kittens find their way back to Paris. Despite coming from very different backgrounds, Duchess and O’Malley developed feelings for each other during the journey.
When I watched The Aristocats this last time, I noticed during the opening credits that it was based on a story or book. I haven’t been able to find out if there is an actual book of the same name or not. I’m guessing that the original story wasn’t that long, but I could be wrong. I have no idea if some things were changed for the movie or if the story was written specifically for the movie. There are some similarities in the plot to the plot of 101 Dalmatians, so some people may not feel that the story is that original. I still thought it was entertaining.
The Aristocats had a fairly simple plot, which is normal for many animated movies, especially the older ones. Most of the movie focused on Duchess and the kittens trying to find their way back home with help from O’Malley. Some of the movie did focus in on Edgar and what he was doing to try to make sure he would get Adelaide’s money instead of the cats. Even though there wasn’t a lot going on, I still thought the movie was entertaining.
The whole idea of someone plotting to get rid of cats isn’t exactly a happy one in my opinion. Some children, depending on how sensitive they are to those types of things, may be upset by that aspect of the movie. Despite that, The Aristocats had a decent amount of humor throughout the movie. Much of the humor involved Edgar in some way. The funniest parts were probably when he was trying to outsmart two dogs, Napoleon and Lafayette. Later in the movie, some other animals also joined in battling Edgar, which added some more funny moments. Some of what happened in those scenes was a bit silly, but it was funny. The humor was much more gentle than what tends to show up in many of the newer animated movies.
Music was used in several scenes of The Aristocats. That is common for many of the Disney animated movies. Some of the music used was jazz, and I think this was the first time that type of music was used in one of Disney’s animated movies. I might be wrong about that though. Different characters sang a few songs during the movie as well. The songs did fit in well with what was going on. Everybody Wants to be a Cat is probably the most well known song from the movie.
It is very obvious from the first scenes that The Aristocats is an older animated movie. The animation doesn’t have the same cleaner, crisper look that newer hand drawn animation can have and it doesn’t come close to the best computer animation. That doesn’t bother me because the animation was done well and the story was entertaining. Some people may not like the older style of the animation. The backgrounds looked flatter and more static than what has been done with newer movies. The look of the animation was very much like what was done in 101 Dalmatians.
Duchess was a sophisticated, high society cat. She was use to a pampered life with Madam and she enjoyed the privileges she had. Duchess was trying to raise her kittens to be cultured like she was. Eva Gabor’s voice fit Duchess perfectly. Gabor also did a voice for a mouse, Miss Bianca, in two other Disney movies. Duchess does sort of remind me of one of my cats, Lillie. They are both all white cats with blue eyes and Lillie is very spoiled - though so are my other cats. Marie, Berlioz, and Toulouse were very well behaved and cultured kittens though they did still cause some mischief when they could. They had little spats with each other at times, but it was clear they loved each other. Toulouse kept trying to act like a tough alley cat, hissing and spitting, but only when the danger was gone.
O’Malley was an alley cat use to being on his own. He liked being able to come and go as he please without having to answer to anyone. He didn’t really care for humans that much and didn’t understand how Duchess felt about Madam. Phil Harris did a good job with the voice for the character. Harris also did voices for other Disney animated movies including The Jungle Book and Robin Hood.
Madam was a kind older woman who wanted to make sure that her cats would always be taken care of. She pampered and spoiled them and could be considered a crazy cat lady by some. Edgar worked for Madam and didn’t particularly care for the cats. He was very greedy and was willing to get rid of the cats to get his hands on Madam’s money. He wasn’t a nice character. Some other animals, like Roquefort the mouse who lived in Adelaide’s house and considered the cats friends, Frou-Frou the house, twin goose sisters, and a group of cats who were friends of Thomas, also ended up helping the cat family get back home.
Voice Talent
Hermione Baddeley - Madam Scatman Crothers - Scat Cat Pat Buttram - Napoleon Dean Clark - Berlioz Gary Dubin - Toulouse Liz English - Marie Eva Gabor - Duchess Sterling Halloway - Roquefort Phil Harris - Thomas O’Malley Robbie Lester - Singing Voice of Duchess George Lindsay - Lafayette Roddy Maude-Roxby - Edgar
Wolfgang Reitherman - Director
DVD Information
I picked up my DVD copy of The Aristocats after the new DVD release in February of 2007. I didn’t have the earlier DVD version. The disc has the widescreen version of the movie. I don’t think there is a full screen version available. After the movie was over, more previews started to play. Then there was a cartoon featuring Minnie Mouse and Figaro the cat that was cute. There are a few games, something called The Great Cat Family that was hosted by Walt Disney, a scrapbook, something about The Sherman Brothers, men who wrote the songs for the movie, and a deleted scene. I had thought that there might be more extras when I learned of this DVD release. I think it was originally supposed to have two discs instead of just one.
The Aristocats isn’t as popular as some of Disney’s other animated movies, but I still think it is worth watching. It is a fun, cute movie that cat lovers will probably enjoy. It really should be required viewing for crazy cat ladies and anyone who hopes to become a crazy cat lady.
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