THE ARISTOCATS (1970) is a Disney animated film by director
Wolfgang Reitherman. Reitherman was an animator on a lot of the
classic Disney films (FANTASIA, DUMBO, and LADY AND THE TRAMP among
others). THE ARISTOCATS was written by a host of writers (Kenneth
Anderson, Larry Clemmons, Eric Cleworth, Vance Gerry, Julius Svendsen,
Frank Thomas, and Ralph Wright) based on a story by Tom McGowan and Tom
Rowe that tells of a family of Parisian felines: mother Duchess (voice
of Eva Gabor) and her three little ones, Berloiz (voice of Dean Clark),
Toulouse (voice of Gary Dubin), and Marie (voice of Liz English).
The plot of the movie is quite simple. The cats live in a
Parisian mansion owned by Madame Adelaide Bonfamille (voice of Hermione
Baddeley). The cats try to become sophisticated aristocrats like their
owner, so they study painting, piano, and singing. Madame Adelaide
Bonfamille's butler Edgar (voice of Roddy Maude-Roxey) thinks he will
inherit when the old woman dies, but then he comes to believe that she
has left everything to her cats, so he abducts the cats and takes them
far away where they can never be able to return.
Once far away in the country they are befriended by a smart alley
cat named Thomas O'Malley (voice of Phil Harris). They are also aided
by a host of other animals including, but not limited to, two redneck
dogs named Lafayette (voice of George Lindsey) and Napoleon (voice of
Pat Buttram), two silly geese named Abigail Gabble (voice of Monica
Evans) and Amelia Gabble (voice of Carole Shelley), and a sweet little
mouse named Roquefort (voice of Sterling Holloway from MY FAIR LADY).
The film is a musical, but the numbers, while pleasant enough, are
not at all memorable. The dialog has few good lines and these
typically come from the sage O'Malley. He is down on humans as a
species reflecting, "Humans don't really worry too much about their
pets."
The animation is not up to the Disney standards of today, but does
have interest. The characters are animated against a flat background
without realistic lighting. This is not a problem since the backdrops
are artistic ones as befits a movie set in and near Paris. There are
several nice visuals. My favorites is when the geese tell the cats to
"think goose" and force them to all waddle like geese in a line behind
them. Having cats waddling like geese is a sight gag that works.
The other part of the movie is a love story between O'Malley and
Duchess. This is sweet and low key. The ending is full of the
psychedelic images from the late 60s when the film was made. Most of
the score (George Bruns), on the other hand, is actually upbeat jazz
music.
THE ARISTOCATS runs just 1:18. It is rated G, and there is
nothing to offend or scare anyone of any age. Although this is a
pleasant little film, it is never compelling. Nice safe homogenous
entertainment. A safe choice at the video store if not a very
involving one. Although my son Jeffrey (age 7) liked it when he saw it
for the first time tonight, I can not quite bring myself to recommend
it. I do give it ** for its pleasantries.
Copyright © 1996 Steve Rhodes
