Disney Movie Challenge
The Aristocats (1970)
I once read that Disney disliked cats and that is why most of the cats in his early films were villains (Lucifer in Cinderella, the Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp, and the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland). So, after he died the first film they made was a movie all about cats. I can’t find any information if that is true and since he did personally approve the film and it was in the works since 1962 I assume it is false but I still think it’s a fun conspiracy theory. After Walt died some say Disney entered the “Disney Dark Ages”. These so-called dark ages would go til The Little Mermaid came out in 1989 and the “Disney Renaissance” started. But the first film of the dark ages was The Aristocats. Just knowing this really puts the film at a disadvantage since you are going in with a negative impression before you ever see it.
The film takes place in 1910 in Paris France. A wealthy older woman, Madame Bonfamille lives alone with her four cats and her butler Edgar. The cats include the mother Duchess and her three kittens Berlioz, Marie, and Toulouse. When Edgar overhears Madame Bonfamille making her will and that all the money would go to her cats first then to him he decides he needs to take the cats out of the picture. He drugs them with sleeping pills and drives them out into the country to leave them for dead. But they escape and meet up with Thomas O'Malley, an alley cat who says he knows how to get back to London. Along the way they have an adventure that includes meeting two English geese and a jazz band where they sing “Everybody Wants to be a Cat”. Duchess and Thomas end up falling in love but Duchess is loyal to Madame Bonfamille and says she must return to her home. When the cats do return home Edgar finds them and tries to have them shipped to Timbuktu. But the mouse Roquefort manages to warn O’Malley and he gets other alley cats to come help him rescue Duchess and her kittens. In the end Edgar gets shipped to Timbuktu and O’Malley gets adopted by Madame Bonfamille and they all live happily ever after.
This is one of those movies where there isn’t much to say about it. It’s a fine movie but not very memorable and kind of boring. Similar to The Sword and the Stone the film is mostly forgettable. The big exception is the song “Everybody Wants to Be a Cat”. The song feels random and doesn’t fit the tone of the rest of the film. It’s also shot completely differently and definitely feels like something out of the psychedelic 70’s. The plot seems to be cobbled together as part adventure rescue story of 101 Dalmatians and part love story of animals from the wrong side of the tracks of Lady and the Tramp. But it wasn’t as fun as the former nor as romantic as the later.
While the story doesn’t quite work the voice talent is pretty good for the most part. Phil Harris as O’Malley works well unfortunately I had recently watched The Jungle Book so as soon as he started talking all I could think of was Baloo, which is a much more memorable character. Another The Jungle Book alum is Sterling Holloway who was the voice of Kaa. He is the voice of Roquefort the mouse in this one, and would go on to be famous as the voice Winnie the Pooh later in the 70's. The biggest star at the time was Eva Gabor who brought a regal and calming voice to Duchess. She always seemed in control and never got flustered. Eva was perfect for the voice. At the time she was popular for being on the show Green Acres., and would go on to be a voice in The Rescuers. You also have Scatman Crothers appropriately enough as the voice of Scat Cat, the leader of the Alley Cat band that sings “Everybody Wants to be Cat”. Originally Louis Armstrong was supposed to voice Scat Cat but he had to drop out due to illness.
There is a subplot about these two dogs (Napoleon and Lafayette) who live in the country and harass Edgar. These are the funniest parts of the movie and kind of steal the show. It’s very cartoony with Edgar and the dogs getting picked up by a windmill and running upside down under a bridge. So while it is funny it feels very different from the main part of the story.
OVERALL: A fine movie but not memorable. It’s perfect for smaller children since it doesn’t have many scary parts and has a few cartoony parts with the dogs (although there is an odd scene with a drunk Goose that kids probably won’t get). The movie lacks the fun of 101 Dalmatians and romance of Lady and the Tramp.
RANDOM FACTS
It was the last film approved by Walt Disney directly and therefore the last to end with A Walt Disney Production”
The song “Everybody Wants to be a Cat” has to be edited due to some lyrics by the Chinese Cat Shun Gon being insensitive.
The Sherman Brothers convinced Maurice Chevalier to come out of retirement to record the title song.
It was the last animated film the Sherman Brothers would work on until 2000’s The Tigger Movie. After Walt’s death they had a lot of problems at the studio and had a number of their songs cut from this movie. The songs that did make it in are not very good.
The film was originally planned as a two part live action segment for Disney’s TV show The Magical World of Disney in the early 60’s. Disney himself suggested it should be animated and production on the animated film officially began after The Jungle Book was finished.
A sequel had been planned to be made by DisneyToons (the same part of Disney that did the sequels to Cinderella and Bambi). It was supposed to feature a grown up Marie on a cruise boat trying to capture a jewel thief. The film was ultimately scrapped.
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