The Aristocats
Year: 1970
Directed by: Wolfgang Reitherman
Starring: Dean Clark, Gary Dublin, Liz English, Eva Gabor & Phil Harris
Runtime: 79 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 03/05/21
Directed by: Wolfgang Reitherman
Starring: Dean Clark, Gary Dublin, Liz English, Eva Gabor & Phil Harris
Runtime: 79 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 03/05/21
The Bronze Age of Disney Animation is usually the most overlooked when looking back at the series' long history. It’s an era that continued the use of Xerography from the end of the Silver Age but began to introduce more elements that would come to typify the Renaissance, such as considerably more complex stories. It’s a strong start too with The Aristocats.
Duchess (Eva Gabor) and her three kittens Berlioz, Marie, and Toulouse (Dean Clark, Liz English & Gary Dublin) live a life of luxury in Paris. The pampered cats of a former Opera star, they spend their days refining their skills of artistic practices like singing and painting. The house butler, Edgar (Roddy Maude-Roxby), overhears the lady of the house declaring her will, in which she leaves everything she owns to her cats, and to be left to Edgar once they have all died.
Not so young himself anymore, Edgar hatches a plot to get rid of the cats to ensure he receives the lady’s enormous fortune upon her death. However, when Duchess and her kittens meet O’Malley (Phil Harris) their fortunes are turned upside down as he agrees to help them get back home.
Duchess (Eva Gabor) and her three kittens Berlioz, Marie, and Toulouse (Dean Clark, Liz English & Gary Dublin) live a life of luxury in Paris. The pampered cats of a former Opera star, they spend their days refining their skills of artistic practices like singing and painting. The house butler, Edgar (Roddy Maude-Roxby), overhears the lady of the house declaring her will, in which she leaves everything she owns to her cats, and to be left to Edgar once they have all died.
Not so young himself anymore, Edgar hatches a plot to get rid of the cats to ensure he receives the lady’s enormous fortune upon her death. However, when Duchess and her kittens meet O’Malley (Phil Harris) their fortunes are turned upside down as he agrees to help them get back home.
The weakest part of the Aristocats is the story, but not because it’s bad, more because it feels very similar to One Hundred and One Dalmatians and Lady and the Tramp; in fact it’s basically just the two stories mixed together and with cats instead of dogs. It’s a perfectly decent story with plenty of memorable moments, but it does feel a little been there done that.
It does feel significantly more cohesive than some of the Silver Age stories too. Particularly towards the end of that era the stories often felt like scenarios strung together by a flimsy narrative. The Aristocats however feels as though the story of Duchess and the kittens is front and centre and the things that they encounter are opportunities for the story to progress.
The animation is once again superb. I know the xerography technique is not to everyone’s tastes, but I really love how crazy The Aristocats goes with colours at points. It’s just so vibrant and fun to look at. This combined with the frequent musical numbers make The Aristocats a very enjoyable film to look at and listen to. The standout moment for this really is ‘Everybody Wants to Be A Cat’, and whilst there’s certainly some questionable racial stereotyping going on in that song, it’s the high point of the film’s animation and soundtrack.
Overall, The Aristocats is just fine really. It’s certainly very enjoyable, and I feel like you’re likely to enjoy it more if you don’t make the connections to One Hundred and One Dalmatians and Lady and the Tramp. But when taken into consideration how much the story re-tread’s those films it is somewhat underwhelming. Great animation, great songs, just needed a more original story.
It does feel significantly more cohesive than some of the Silver Age stories too. Particularly towards the end of that era the stories often felt like scenarios strung together by a flimsy narrative. The Aristocats however feels as though the story of Duchess and the kittens is front and centre and the things that they encounter are opportunities for the story to progress.
The animation is once again superb. I know the xerography technique is not to everyone’s tastes, but I really love how crazy The Aristocats goes with colours at points. It’s just so vibrant and fun to look at. This combined with the frequent musical numbers make The Aristocats a very enjoyable film to look at and listen to. The standout moment for this really is ‘Everybody Wants to Be A Cat’, and whilst there’s certainly some questionable racial stereotyping going on in that song, it’s the high point of the film’s animation and soundtrack.
Overall, The Aristocats is just fine really. It’s certainly very enjoyable, and I feel like you’re likely to enjoy it more if you don’t make the connections to One Hundred and One Dalmatians and Lady and the Tramp. But when taken into consideration how much the story re-tread’s those films it is somewhat underwhelming. Great animation, great songs, just needed a more original story.