BACKGROUND
After Walt Disney’s death in 1966, the Disney Studios struggled to find their feet.
The Aristocats was the first film to be produced after Walt’s death, and began what came to be known as the Bronze Age of Disney Animation. Not a great name considering there had already been a Silver Age and a Golden Age. This just shows how much difficulty there was in recreating some of their more magical, charming movies of the decades before.
Though The Jungle Book (1967) was the first animated film to be released after Walt Disney’s passing, Walt’s involvement in The Jungle Book is evident and this contributed to the good box-office and critical results. Unfortunately, The Aristocats did not have this luxury, and was not able to benefit much from Walt Disney’s expertise, something that was plain to see at the time.
That’s not to say The Aristocats is awful and should never see the light of day ever again. In fact, though reviews were lukewarm, The Aristocats did perform well financially, both at the time and in its theatrical re-releases. It’s just that The Aristocats sits within the decade of the 1970s, a time where many of those Disney animated films are remembered for their “problems”, and not their good points.
Before this week, I hadn’t watched The Aristocats in years. I think the last time I watched it was probably when it was last shown on Channel 5 in the UK, where, for a time, a while ago, they used to show a Disney animated film on a Sunday afternoon. This was before Disney+ came out, so there’s no need to do this now, but anyway, the point is I’ve spent years believing that The Aristocats is terrible and that I don’t like, probably because no-one else really talks about it and no-one seems to reference it, so if no-one is mentioning it, then it can’t be good, can it?
Well, once again, I was wrong about this film – and therefore, myself. Though I hadn’t seen The Aristocats for a while, many of the scenes were very familiar to me, which suggests, like The Rescuers Down Under (1990), I must have watched it a lot on VHS when I was younger, and, as I grew up, decided it wasn’t worth my time to go back to. Although I can’t claim that The Aristocats is my new favourite film and regret all the years I spent not watching it, it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it was. The cats are cute, for the most part, the music is catchy and jazzy, and the story is quick and more entertaining than I remembered. There were some funny moments too, though a few did border on the line of ridiculous and almost “too silly”!
PLOT
The Aristocats begins with the standard, for this time, Opening Credits, which show pencil sketches of the cats from the movie, and sequences of animation that will be shown later in the film. Then, we get into the story, and see Paris in 1910. A lady with her cats is being driven in a horse and carriage by her butler, Edgar. The lady is a former opera singer named Madame Adelaide Bonfamille, and she has named her fluffy white cat, Duchess. Duchess has three kittens, a white kitten named Marie, a grey one named Berlioz, and a ginger one named Toulouse. It is clear Madame adores her cats as they are treated like royalty, with butler Edgar having to carry out specific instructions when taking care of them.
On this day, Madame Bonfamille says her attorney, the old but sprightly, Georges Hautecourt is coming round to discuss her will. Little do they know that as they are discussing this, Edgar is listening through a speaking tube from the servants’ quarters. Edgar is expecting to be left the whole of Bonfamille’s estate as he has looked after her for many years, and she apparently has no living relatives, however, this is not the case, and Edgar listens in horror as Madame says that her fortune will go to the cats, and only once all the cats have passed, will Edgar receive anything. Edgar believes that he will not be able to outlive the cats, as he thinks cats have nine lives so does his calculations all wrong, and plans to get rid of them. Meanwhile, the cats go through their day as usual, with Duchess telling her kittens they must work on their “self-improvement”. This is done through their different artistic talents: Marie likes to sing, Berlioz plays the piano, and Toulouse is a painter. Soon, Edgar comes in with the cats’ cream. The cats even share it with resident mouse, Roquefort. But what they don’t know is that Edgar has spiked the cream with sleeping tablets – and a fair few of them, probably enough to kill them…
But the cats aren’t dead, luckily, though whilst they are sleeping, Edgar bundles them into a basket and drives them out into the countryside on his motorbike. As he approaches a windmill somewhere in a field, two dogs attack him, because they like to chase vehicles that drive on to their turf. They chase Edgar around the lake, and up and over the under side of a bridge. Somehow, the bike separates from its sidecar, and the dogs claim that as their own, but Edgar quickly drives back home on his bike – even driving straight through the windmill. That can’t be structurally sound with a huge hole in it now… We see that the basket with the cats in it must have been thrown out of the sidecar and ended up under the bridge. Duchess was thrown from it and wakes up. She soon finds Marie in a tree, and Berlioz in the lake, being terrorised by a frog. They look for Toulouse, only to find he was still in the basket. He says he dreamt that Edgar did this to them, but Duchess doesn’t believe him. They get spooked by the thunderstorm and take shelter in the basket to wait for daylight.
The next day, it is bright and sunny. Duchess is woken up by singing and looks for the noise. It is a ginger cat, singing his own theme song. How pretentious. This cat is called Thomas O’Malley, and he starts flirting with Duchess, telling her about taking a ride on a magic carpet or something. The three kittens hear this and want to go too. Thomas is surprised to find that Duchess has children, but nevertheless, he tells the kittens to wait for the “carpet”. Thomas then jumps onto the windscreen of a van, scaring the driver so he stops the van. Thomas tells the others to get into the back, but as he waves them goodbye, Marie falls out and Thomas must retrieve her, so he ends up in the van too, going along for the ride. Thomas tells Duchess that she could stay with him, but Duchess knows it’s important they get back home, back to Madame, who will be missing them terribly.
Back at home, Madame is certainly upset by the disappearance of her cats, as are Roquefort, the mouse, and Frou-Frou, the horse. The two discuss the situation in the stables, until Edgar comes in. He starts bragging to them about how he was the one who took the cats away, even showing the front page of the newspaper, telling them that the police believe it was a criminal mastermind who did the job. Edgar is proud of himself, believing that there is nothing that could possibly link him to the crime – but he remembers, his umbrella and his hat, and the sidecar, are all still in the country. He sets out to get them.
Back with Duchess, Thomas, and the kittens, the van driver soon notices the cats in the back of the van, and shoos them away, quite aggressively. They get walking towards Paris, on the edge of a train track. Because that’s a safe way to travel! Sure enough, a train rushes towards them, and the cats duck underneath the rails, onto the wooden frame below. However, Marie falls into the river. Thomas dives in to get her. He successfully saves her, and passes her to Duchess who is waiting on the riverbank, but Thomas can’t get himself out. He keeps himself afloat on a log, but as he can’t swim, he tries to get himself to the edge by using tree branches and vines. This would probably have worked for him, if it weren’t for British geese, Abigail and Amelia Gabble. They see Thomas and think he’s trying to learn to swim. They swim over to him and tell him the best way to practise is to strike out on his own and let go of the vine. The geese cut the vine, leaving Thomas floundering in the river, grabbing on to anything he can to keep him afloat, even the Gabble’s tails, basically “goosing” them. The geese soon notice that Thomas is actually drowning, so they rescue him and swim him back to solid land. They meet up with Duchess and the kittens, where the Gabble sisters introduce themselves, saying they are on their summer holiday, and going to Paris to meet their Uncle Waldo at Le Petit Café. They all walk like geese to Paris together. Once in the city, they soon find Uncle Waldo, being chased out of the kitchen of Le Petit Café. It turns out he’s drunk – no, wait – “basted” in white wine, as per the café’s menu listing. The three geese all leave together, giggling, and go on their way.
In the meantime, Roquefort tries to follow Edgar on his journey back into the countryside, but falls off the bike, so cannot help find the cats. Edgar does get back to the windmill though, and after some difficulty, retrieves his umbrella, hat, and sidecar from the two dogs, Napoleon and Lafayette.
In the city, the kittens are too tired to make it all the way back home that day, but being in Paris is good progress. Thomas leads them to his apartment, only to find that the Scat Cats are there, a group of musical swingers, a literal band of cats. They sing, dance and party through the night, encouraging Duchess and the kittens to join in, which they do, with Marie singing, Berlioz playing piano, and Duchess singing and playing the harp at one point. Somehow, the noise causes part of the floor of Thomas’ “penthouse apartment” to give way, dropping all the Scat Cats through various floors of the building, into the streets. They dance away. Duchess puts her kittens to bed, and her and Thomas go out onto the rooftops to talk. Duchess says the area Thomas lives in is nice but needs a bit of tidying up. Thomas thinks this is Duchess saying she wants to stay with him. The kittens, who haven’t gone to sleep as they were told to, listen in. Thomas says he wants to be a father to the kittens and that they should all stay together right here, but Duchess says they must return to Madame. Thomas is hurt that she’d rather be a house pet, but he understands. He says he’ll miss her. The kittens are sad that Thomas isn’t going to be with them too.
The next day, the cats return home, with the kittens meowing at the door as they realise their cat flap appears to be locked. Roquefort ties Edgar’s shoes together to stall him, and goes to the window and tries to tell the cats to leave, but they don’t understand. At the door, Edgar puts them all in a sack. Thomas has already left so he doesn’t realise this has happened. Madame believes she’s heard the cats and rushes downstairs, but Edgar tells her she was mistaken, putting the sack of cats in the oven to hide them. The cats tell Roquefort to get Thomas to help and runs down the street to get him. Thomas rushes back to the house, telling Roquefort to find the Scat Cats and to mention his name so he doesn’t run into any trouble with them, since he is a mouse after all. But Roquefort struggles to remember the name, failing all three chances to tell it to the Scat Cats. Just as they are about to scratch him, Roquefort finally remembers the name and they rush to the house.
In the stables, Edgar has locked all the cats in a trunk, which will be sent to Timbuktu. Thomas attacks Edgar, who in turn tries to stab Thomas with a gardening fork, but he is slim enough to get through the spikes. The Scat Cats then attack Edgar as he opens the stables to take the trunk to the driveway. Roquefort works on breaking the padlock, even asking for a quiet, at which point all action stops, until they hear the click of the padlock unlocking, when it then resumes! Edgar shuts the lid closed again, but the animals manage to trap him in a saddle, giving Duchess and the kittens time to get out of the trunk. Edgar is then kicked into the truck by Frou-Frou and sent off to Timbuktu, which is a bit concerning since there don’t seem to be any air holes, so I don’t know if he’ll survive the journey. Bit grim…
The movie ends with Thomas now a member of the family, and a group photograph of the cats being taken by Madame. Georges removes Edgar from the will, as Madame says he has left, thinking perhaps he wouldn’t have if he’d heard about the will. Little does she know, right? Madame is pleased that her fortune will be able to provide for all of them now, for many years to come. The cats are told to run downstairs, and they see, and hear, that the Scat Cats are now at Madame’s home, as she has started a new foundation to give a home to all the alley cats of Paris. The three geese and the two dogs appear in this finale as well, seemingly suggesting that the Scat Cats’ music is so loud, it can be heard all across Paris, even the outskirts. I don’t know for certain, but that’s the end anyway!
CHARACTERS & CAST
So, let’s begin by talking about Duchess and her three kittens. Duchess is a regal, elegant, and well-spoken white, fluffy cat, apparently a Turkish Angora. She encourages her kittens to practise their artistic talents, and to behave properly, reprimanding them when the three kittens fight or argue. Duchess is a good mother to the kittens, and she is also very loyal to Madame, much more so than most cats would be, both fictional and real! Because of this, she is torn over her affection for Thomas O’Malley, choosing instead to go back to Madame. But in the end, Duchess doesn’t have to choose because Thomas is adopted into the family, and becomes her “husband” anyway. Duchess is voiced by Hungarian-American actress Eva Gabor. Gabor appeared in stage productions, television series, and films throughout her career from the 1940s until her death in 1995. Some of her credits include portraying Liane d’Exelmans in Gigi (1958), which won all nine of its Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, at the Oscars ceremony in 1959, and Lisa Douglas in the sitcom Green Acres (1965-71). After The Aristocats, Gabor would also voice Bianca in The Rescuers (1977) and The Rescuers Down Under (1990).
For the three kittens, the oldest one is ginger kitten, Toulouse. He likes to behave like an alley cat, hissing and spitting at his enemies, despite Duchess trying to turn him into a well-behaved gentleman. Toulouse is a painter, and is encouraged to practise his talent often. Toulouse is named after French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Gary Dubin provides the voice for Toulouse. Dubin continued to act and voice act from the 1960s into the 2010s. He was best known for playing Punky, a friend of Danny Partridge, in The Partridge Family (1971-74), and for his role in Jaws 2 (1978), as Eddie Marchand, who is apparently mauled by the shark at one point in the film! Dubin passed away in 2016.
Marie is the middle kitten and the only girl, making her quite bossy and precocious. She wants the best and excepts everywhere to treat her as a queen, hence why she is named after Marie Antoinette, the queen of France from 1774 to 1792. She has two brothers though, so that’s not likely! Marie refers to herself as a lady, saying that “ladies don’t start fights, but they can finish them”, showing that, although she is elegant and graceful, like her mother, and they both enjoy singing, Marie is perhaps more outspoken and more feisty than Duchess! Marie is voiced by Liz English. Berlioz is the youngest kitten, who is a skilled pianist. I think he’s the most talented of the three. Berlioz is named after French composer Hector Berlioz. Dean Clark voiced Berlioz here. Clark and English did not seem to pursue further acting roles after voicing their characters in The Aristocats.
Thomas O’Malley is the love interest for Duchess. He seems a bit arrogant and full of himself when Duchess first meets him. Despite Duchess being a pure breed cat, and O’Malley being an alley cat, he is very confident and enjoys flirting with her. When he discovers that she has children, Thomas is not put off by this, and grows to love them like they are his own by the end of the film. Unfortunately, Duchess is unable to forget about Madame and start a new life with him, but, although Thomas is upset by this, he ultimately respects Duchess’ decision and helps her get home, which shows how much he loves her. And then they end up together anyway, so it ends well for everyone! Thomas O’Malley is voiced by Phil Harris. Disney fans will recognise Harris as the voice of Baloo in The Jungle Book (1967), and as Little John in Robin Hood (1973). Before these credits, Harris was known for his work on radio and as a band leader.
Moving on to the human characters, the villain of The Aristocats is Edgar Balthazar, Madame Bonfamille’s butler. At the start of the film, he seems to be a dignified butler, serving Madame and her cats well. But that all changes when he gets greedy and believes that Madame’s fortune, built up over a long career as a singer, should be his after she dies. By Madame passing the fortune to the cats first, it means Edgar would be expected to wait on the cats for the rest of their days, which would naturally be embarrassing for him. However, to choose to kidnap the cats and leave them in the middle of nowhere, instead of either sucking it up, or leaving his job, is a stupid decision, especially as he would’ve been likely to outlive the cats, and Edgar would have been aware of this had he been in his right mind to do the maths correctly. Frankly, he should have been thankful that Madame put his name in her will at all, because it’s not like she had to do it. Many feel that Edgar is one of the weakest Disney villains. I guess that’s accurate, but to even call him a villain is a stretch, because he doesn’t do anything particularly evil. He doesn’t actually try to kill the cats, and he is so dim and bumbling that it’s hard to take him seriously as a person, let alone a villain! Edgar may or may not survive his journey to Timbuktu, which is a harsh ending for him. Let’s hope the delivery men heard him crying for help, or he would’ve been in big trouble…Actor Roddy Maude-Roxby voices the role of Edgar, in his only voice role. He appeared in movies such as Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984) and White Hunter Black Heart (1990). Maude-Roxby was also one of the UK’s first performance artists and was a student at the Royal College of Art in the 1950s.
Then there are long-time friends, Madame Adelaide Bonfamille and Georges Hautecourt. Georges Hautecourt might be an elderly man, but he is certainly energetic, and doesn’t want anyone to think he is frail or infirm, as we see when Georges is trying to walk up the stairs to meet Madame. This is one of those silly-funny scenes that I mentioned earlier. Georges is about to fall down the stairs, having refused to take the elevator, so he uses his cane to hang onto Edgar’s braces, pulling back so much that Georges is able to spring onto Edgar’s back and get a piggy-back ride up the stairs. It’s such a ridiculous scene! Georges also sings a strange tune throughout all of this, and don’t even get me started on the glasses he puts on to do the paperwork! Georges also kisses Duchess’ tail believing it to be Madame’s hand, and Madame and Georges dance an odd tango to a song from the opera, Carmen. He’s so strange, but he’s the best character in The Aristocats for me. Charles Lane voices Georges Hautecourt. He had a long career in acting, having appeared in films such as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and The Music Man (1962), and frequently appeared in Lucille Ball’s television series. His final role was as the narrator of The Night Before Christmas 2006 short, which he did at the age of 101. He died the next year.
Madame Bonfamille is a kind and generous owner to her cats, and employer to Edgar. She is well-spoken, elegant, graceful, just as Duchess is, and she sees the good in everyone, even willing to open up her home to the alley cats at the end of the film. She dotes on her cats, and she is not ashamed to admit that her world revolves around them, and that she would struggle without them in her life. In fact, Madame is distraught when her cats are seemingly stolen and seems so relieved when they are returned to her. Hermoine Baddeley voices Madame, having already appeared in Mary Poppins (1964) for Disney as Ellen, one of the household staff for the Banks family. She also appeared in well-known British comedy films such as Passport to Pimlico (1949) and The Belles of St. Trinian’s (1954).
Those are the characters that make sense in the film. Now for a few familiar names that voiced characters that were strange additions to the story of The Aristocats! Firstly, Roquefort the mouse is voiced by Sterling Holloway, original voice of Winnie the Pooh, voice of Kaa in The Jungle Book (1967), the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland (1951), and many more for Disney. Roquefort is kind and willing to help, even risking his life with the Scat Cats to save Duchess and the kittens. Though he is a cute character, probably more for his voice than anything else, it is an odd choice to have a mouse be such a permanent resident of Madame’s mansion, and for Roquefort to be friends with Madame’s cats.
The Scat Cats are a band of alley cats that like to play jazz. Their leader is Scat Cat, who was designed to look and sound like Louis Armstrong, all the way from his physique, to the way he played his trumpet, to the gap between his teeth. Sadly, Armstrong was not well enough to voice the role himself at the time, so Benjamin Sherman “Scatman” Crothers, an actor and musician, came in to voice the characters. The other Scat Cats all come from outside France, such as an Italian cat, an English cat, and a Russian cat, named Billy Boss and voiced by Thurl Ravenscroft, voice of Tony the Tiger for Kellogg’s as well as being part of The Mellomen singing group who performed in numerous Disney projects. These are all quite stereotypical portrayals of natives of these countries, however, the most offensive of all is Shun Gon, the Chinese cat. At the time, in the 1970s, although still wrong, it was unlikely to have been considered a problem by audiences of that time period. Now, it is embarrassing to sit through at best, and horrifying to watch at worst. It’s really not good, and even worse, the original voice of Tigger, Paul Winchell, voices this character. Naturally, because of this character, many versions of “Ev’rybody Wants to be a Cat”, the Scat Cats’ signature song, that have been released since have edited out Shun Gon’s chorus, and on Disney+, a warning is played stating the film contains negative depictions and harmful stereotypes.
Moving on to the British geese, who don’t really need to be in this film. Carole Shelley and Monica Evans voice Amelia and Abigail Gabble respectively. Both starred as sisters Gwendolyn and Cecily Pigeon in the Broadway play of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, as well as the subsequent 1968 film and 1970s television series[1]. The two also voiced characters again for Disney, as Lady Kluck and Maid Marian in Robin Hood (1973). Uncle Waldo is voiced by Bill Thompson, who was known for his voice roles in other Disney animated films, such as White Rabbit and Dodo in Alice in Wonderland (1951), Mr. Smee in Peter Pan (1953), and King Hubert in Sleeping Beauty (1959). Uncle Waldo was Thompson’s final film role as he died in 1971.
Finally, the two dogs, Lafayette the basset hound and Napoleon the bloodhound, who are named after one of the leaders of the French Revolution, just watch Hamilton if you’re not sure who this is, and Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815. Lafayette is the more timid of the two, with Napoleon the leader, thinking his ideas are best even though that is not always the case. The two fights they have with Edgar are very comedic, but again, bordering on being too silly. They are an interesting addition to the story as they are not really needed; Edgar could have still carried out his plan without them, and they must have been included to give more comedic, action scenes to the film, so I guess the dogs are good for that, but that’s about it! Pat Buttram voices Napoleon and George Lindsey voices Lafayette. Buttram went on to voice the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood (1973), alongside Lindsey as Trigger, one of the vulture sidekicks, and then Luke in The Rescuers (1977), alongside Lindsey as Deadeye, the Rabbit. Buttram would also later voice Chief in The Fox and the Hound (1981). The two French dogs have very strong Southern US accents, since both voice actors were from Alabama. I guess audiences like to hear familiar voices, even if they make no sense to the story!
PRODUCTION
The Aristocats was first planned to be a two-part live-action show to be aired as part of Walt Disney’s television series. In December 1961, Harry Tytle, who had worked at the Disney Studios for decades at this point and produced many of their live-action films, was asked by Walt Disney to find animal stories that the Studios could use in their features. Tytle was asked to work with Tom McGowan, who was a director, whilst they were both in London. By the New Year in 1962, Tytle and McGowen had found many of these “animal stories” that the Disney Studios would be able to adapt into films or television spots. Supposedly, one of these was a children’s book about a mother cat and her kittens that was set in New York City, however, I have not been able to find the name or author of this book, and some say that The Aristocats was based on a true story, of a wealthy owner giving their fortune to their pet cats, but again, specifics of this story are hard to come by.
Regardless, it was decided that this story, wherever the inspiration had come from, would benefit from being based in the real-life location of Paris. So, Tytle and McGowen began planning out the story to fit this two-part television show format, with the aim being for the two shows to be combined and realised theatrically after airing on television. Tom Rowe, an American writer who lived in Paris and had been a film reviewer for Variety and would go on to write the script for Tarzan the Ape Man (1981), was brought in to write the script for this version of The Aristocats. The story written was based on the idea that a maid and butler were due to inherit their mistress’ fortune after the death of her cats. This not being enough for the maid and butler, they would try to get rid of the cats but found themselves unsuccessful as the mother cat continued to move her kittens throughout Paris to keep them safe. The original opening sequence was later added to a home release of the film, which included the original maid character, Elvira, and a deleted song. This version of the film still opened in Paris in 1910, but began at The Louvre Museum, where Duchess is telling her kittens about their ancestors at Le Galerie des Chats, as portraits of famous felines hang on the walls. They then go home to Madame Bonfamille’s mansion, where the attorney comes to talk about Madame’s will. Elvira and Edgar, still the butler, are curious about the details of the will, so Edgar listens in. Edgar hears that the two will inherit the estate and will share it between the two of them. Edgar wants it all though and decides to “propose” to Elvira, who is ecstatic at this point but says he’ll have to court her and give her time to plan the big wedding. Madame continues with the will and Edgar hears that actually, him and Elvira will not even benefit from the estate until the end of her cats’ lifespans[2]. Though this version of The Aristocats was meant to be live-action, Walt agreed that the animals could talk, in order to develop their personalities, but only when humans weren’t around.
This script was sent to the Burbank studios where it was rejected. However, as it was not rejected by Walt Disney personally, McGowan decided to send the story treatment to Walt who was in London at the time. Walt liked it, and asked Tytle to buy the story and make the live-action feature, with McGowan directing, and Tytle producing. Having said that, Walt did ask for some changes to the script, such as reducing the number of kittens, and editing out the family history of the cats, which he said was interesting but unnecessary to the overall story. Tytle made the changes and preparations to start filming began. However, Rowe was unhappy with the changes that were made to his script and felt that Tytle was simply being Walt’s “minion”. Tytle responded by saying that it was just a difference of opinion and that Walt had asked for the changes and was now happy to go ahead, so they would stick with it. Soon after, the story was shelved for various reasons.
Later, Tytle suggested that The Aristocats should become an animated feature film instead. Walt ran this by Woolie Reitherman, the supervising director for animation at the time, along with some of the animators, who agreed that animation would work for the story. In August 1963, The Aristocats was formally announced as Disney’s next animated feature, though work did not start on it until May 1964. Yet still, the project kept running into delays, which only worsened after Walt Disney’s death in December 1966.
Tytle was then told to focus only on live-action films, and was removed from the animated project, with Winston Hibler taking over. Hibler struggled with the film so he was removed, and Woolie Reitherman took over. The story was then changed again, with many of these changes annoying Tytle. In particular, he did not like the fact a mouse had been added to the feline story as he had deliberately avoided this, and Tytle felt the movie as a whole had lost its French charm because of the changes. The voice cast was changed, the maid role was cut, and additional odd characters, like the geese and dogs, were added to make up for the edits. Tytle stated that his version of the film would have worked much better. Rowe and McGowan did receive story credit for the final film[3].
Unfortunately, the resulting film is not as beautifully animated as previous Disney animated films, probably due to budgetary reasons, and the story is not as entertaining or as interesting as other movies from the Studios, potentially because of the huge changes made to the story, and the loss of Walt Disney. The Aristocats was animated using the xerography technique, which made animation cheaper as hand-painting was no longer required, but did give the imagery a sketched look to it. Xerography had been used since the 1960s, starting with One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) and some say that it cheapens the look of the film, however, I don’t believe this is the case with The Aristocats.
What can be off-putting in The Aristocats though is the amount of borrowed story ideas and animation that appears in the film. One of the biggest story ideas, of Duchess, a pure breed cat, meeting Thomas O’Malley, an alley cat, is very much the whole storyline of Lady and the Tramp (1955), with Thomas also being adopted into the well-to-do family at the end of the film, as was the case with Tramp. Also, there are some discussions around whether Edgar’s fights with the animals are just like those that Horace and Jasper experience in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). I’m not sure I see all much that seems to be an exact copy, but I’m sure some of the scenes were used as inspiration. But for me, one of the most annoying reusage of animation in The Aristocats is one section of Toulouse, hissing and spitting like an alley cat. This is replayed at least three times in the film, and I just don’t think it was necessary! Some of the choreography within “Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat” could be seen as being quite similar to “I Wanna Be Like You” from The Jungle Book (1967), but if you really want to see excessive “borrowing” of animation, Robin Hood (1973) is the one to watch for that, not The Aristocats.
MUSIC
Speaking of “Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat”, this song was written by Floyd Huddleston and Al Rinker. The two had collaborated together on hundreds of songs whilst under contract with Decca Records. For Disney, Huddleston would go on to co-write the song “Love” from Robin Hood (1973), alongside Disney Studios composer George Bruns. This song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. “Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat” is the most well-known song from The Aristocats and has been included on Disney compilation albums for years, though as mentioned earlier, certain offensive lyrics have since been edited out. This song is performed by the Scat Cats and Thomas O’Malley, as well as Marie and Duchess providing some singing. Robie Lester provides the singing voice for Duchess throughout The Aristocats, not Eva Gabor. Lester also sang for Bianca in The Rescuers (1977); Eva Gabor voiced Bianca. The song is reprised at the end of the film.
Another song called “Thomas O’Malley Cat”, basically Thomas’ theme song, performed by Phil Harris as Thomas, obviously, and was written by Terry Gilkyson. Gilkyson had previously written the song “The Bare Necessities” for The Jungle Book (1967), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. He also wrote songs for live-action Disney television series and movies. Little did I know that “Thomas O’Malley Cat” actually states Thomas’ full name within it. It is Abraham DeLacey Giuseppe Casey Thomas O’Malley. I never had any idea what he was saying until this week, but I’ve always liked this song. It’s my favourite in the whole movie, because it’s so catchy and smooth. Duchess says that Thomas’ name covers all of Europe, because it is a mixture of names from different European countries, yet we don’t know where he actually comes from. Interestingly, in the Italian dub, Thomas’ name is Romeo and he is stated as being “the best cat in the Colosseum”. This is because, at the time, the Colosseum was home to many alley cats.
Outside of these songs, the other two that feature in the film were written by Richard and Robert Sherman, also known as the Sherman Brothers. The duo had worked with Walt Disney for years, including for movies such as The Parent Trap (1961), Mary Poppins (1964), and The Jungle Book (1967), and for themes for some of Disney’s longest-running theme park attractions like “It’s a Small World (After All)” from the boat ride of the same name, and “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” for Carousel of Progress.
For The Aristocats, they knew that the music would need to fit the location and time period of 1900s Paris. This is reflected in the title song, “The Aristocats”, which is the other song in the movie that I most enjoy. The Sherman Brothers wanted French singer Maurice Chevalier to sing the song for them, however, Chevalier had already retired. Richard had the idea to impersonate the singer for the demo and to play it to him to try and convince Chevalier to come out of retirement. It worked! This was Chevalier’s last professional recording before his death in 1972. It is performed in English to begin with, before moving into French just as the animation of the story begins, however, on some versions of this song, I don’t think the French verses are always included. The song “The Aristocats” does evoke the feeling of being in France and even uses that quintessentially French, iconic instrument the accordion frequently.
Another factor that the Sherman Brothers knew had to be in the film was a song to introduce the kittens. This is done through “Scales and Arpeggios”, which shows Marie singing and Berlioz playing the piano, with Toulouse coming in to make a mess on the piano with his paint-covered paws! Duchess also sings alongside Marie at one point. As this song mentions the musical tools of scales and arpeggios, these make up the majority of the melody[4]. Though I’m not a huge fan of the song, I do like when Berlioz interrupts Marie’s singing with his piano solo. I would prefer to watch the animated sequence instead of just listening to the song.
This makes up the entirety of the songs in the final film of The Aristocats, however, the Sherman Brothers wrote many more that were not used. One of these was a song sung between Elvira, the maid, and Edgar, the butler, as part of that original opening sequence. This deleted song was called “How Much You Mean to Me/Court Me Slowly”, and details Edgar trying to convince Elvira to marry him, so he doesn’t have to share Madame’s fortune. The demo song was recorded by both Richard and Robert Sherman. It is apparently one of the few times the two sang together on a demo recording.
A two-part song was also written by the Sherman Brothers, but was also cut. The first sung was to be performed by Hermoine Baddeley as Madame Bonfamille and was called “Pourquoi?”. It was storyboarded to be included at the beginning of the film as Madame uses her new gramophone. She sings about how the cats are her family, with the kittens chiming in, meowing “pourquoi?” or “why?”. The second-part was called “She Never Felt Alone”, to be sung by Robie Lester as Duchess. It would’ve taken place at the point when Thomas is asking Duchess to go away with him, as they are sat in the milk truck heading to Paris. Duchess says she can’t as they can’t leave Madame alone because she adores them, and they adore her. Though the song was cut, the opening lines of the song were used as dialogue for Duchess in the final film instead[5]. The Sherman Brothers had also written a song to be the big show-stopping number of The Aristocats called “Le Jazz Hot”, however, it was decided that “Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat” should be used instead. Some of these deleted songs were re-recorded and included on re-releases of The Aristocats soundtrack.
The instrumental music was composed by George Bruns, who composed scores for multiple Disney animated films, such as Sleeping Beauty (1959), The Sword in the Stone (1963) and The Jungle Book (1967), as well as many live-action Disney movies, such as The Love Bug (1968). He also co-wrote the song “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me)” with Xavier Atencio for the Pirates of the Caribbean theme park attraction.
RECEPTION
The Aristocats was first released on 24th December 1970. It took four years to produce and cost over $4 million dollars to make according to Disney publicity. It was a box-office success, however, critically it was compared negatively to The Jungle Book (1967), which was the last animated film that Walt Disney had been specifically involved in[6]. For many critics, they felt his influence was sorely missed in The Aristocats, specifically in relation to the story elements and the character choices. Though others did say it was entertaining enough, and that the voice cast in particular were a highlight. The Aristocats was later re-released in theatres in 1980 and 1987, continuing to bring in audiences and higher box-office profits. It also benefited from multiple home releases over the years.
In January 2022, a live-action remake of The Aristocats was announced. It was presumed at the time that this would be a live-action/animation hybrid, much like the remake of Lady and the Tramp (2019). In March 2023, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson was named as the director of this remake. He is perhaps most known for appearing with the band The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, becoming the official house band of the show in 2009, and then moving to The Tonight Show when Jimmy Fallon became the host in 2014. Questlove also won numerous awards, including the Oscar for Best Documentary in 2022, when he directed the 2021 film Summer of Soul, focusing on the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival[7]. Since this announcement, there appears to have been no further news or details on The Aristocats remake.
Back in 2005, a direct-to-video sequel was proposed by the Disney Studios, however, it was swiftly cancelled in 2006, along with many others, when John Lasseter came on as Chief Creative Officer of the Walt Disney Animation Studios after the Walt Disney Company acquired Pixar. It was probably for the best that this sequel was cancelled, given how little praise is given to all those direct-to-video sequels of the 90s and 00s! In 2003, the Disney Channel considered making a television series focused on Marie, Toulouse, and Berlioz as teenagers, but again, this never happened[8]. There is, however, a series of graphic novels called The Aristokittens, which began in 2022. A fourth book was released in August 2023. The series follows the three kittens reopening an abandoned café for animals in Paris.
Generally, you can find merchandise lines based on The Aristocats and its characters, though Marie is the most popular of all of them, especially in Japan. Marie will likely feature the most on anything that can be bought. At the D23 Expo in 2022, a home accessories collection by Ann Shen debuted, which included images of Marie, Toulouse, and Berlioz on things like plate sets, teapots, and of course, pet accessories.
Specifically, at the Disney Parks, there are few references to The Aristocats, with no rides or attractions based on the movie. At Walt Disney World’s Riviera Resort, you can find Le Petit Café, which is named after the restaurant in the film. Apart from being themed as a French café, there is nothing specific linking it to The Aristocats in its theming or décor. At the France pavilion in Epcot, there may be The Aristocats merchandise and at certain times of the year, you can see a painting of the three kittens on the wall next to La Maison du Vin. These images of Disney characters used to be put in place at the Epcot World Showcase pavilions during Epcot Festivals, but I’m unsure if they are now permanent fixtures or are only around at limited times. Only at Hong Kong Disneyland, a small figure of Marie is visible towards the start of the it’s a small world attraction here.
For character meet-and-greets, Marie is the most popular one, although her brothers Toulouse and Berlioz have been spotted before. At Walt Disney World, Marie used to meet guests both at Magic Kingdom and at the France Pavilion in Epcot but this was at least five years ago. You’ll probably have more luck seeing all three kittens at Disneyland if you’re in the US, as they have appeared at Disneyland during seasonal events before, and were at Grad Nite in 2022. Outside of the US parks, Marie, Berlioz, and Toulouse were spotted at Tokyo Disneyland in 2022, which makes sense seeing as Marie has quite a following in Japan. Marie was also available to meet at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel in the 2010s. Marie has been seen on the finale float of the Mickey’s Storybook Express parade at Shanghai Disneyland before, but it seems that the characters on this float are changed up fairly regularly, and it seems that she is not currently featuring here. At Disneyland Paris, they have been sighted in recent years, including at a character breakfast in 2016, and at Halloween and Christmas events until around 2018. At the Disney Loves Jazz event at the park in September 2018, the three kittens were available to meet once again, and for the first time, Edgar was a character meet-and-greet! It has never been possible to meet Duchess or Thomas O’Malley at the Disney Parks. It seems that the kittens are getting rarer to see and it is more likely that they will show up at Special Events now than at random.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The 1970s was another difficult decade for the Disney Studios after the loss of their visionary leader. Many of the other animated releases of the 1970s could be seen as “middling efforts”, but none of them are terribly bad; they just lack direction and charm. The Aristocats is not one of Disney animation’s best films, and seemingly, it is remembered for the character of Marie these days or for the song “Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat”, more so than its full story. These few elements of The Aristocats have kept it relevant enough that is not a film that is easily forgotten, yet not favoured by many.
But as I’ve said before, everyone has a favourite Disney film, and every Disney film is a favourite to someone. We can’t all enjoy the same movies or life would be boring, so whether or not The Aristocats is your favourite, like all the others, it has a history to it, and deserves to be remembered both for the things it got wrong, and for the things it got right.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Aristocats (1970)’, pp. 58-60.
[2] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scene: “The Lost Open””, from The Aristocats (1970) Special Edition Blu-Ray (2012).
[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Revised Vault of Walt: Volume 1 (2012), ‘Secret Origins of The Aristocats’, pp. 113-118.
[4] Credit: Disney, “The Sherman Brothers: The Aristocrats of Disney Songs”, from The Aristocats (1970) Special Edition Blu-Ray (2012).
[5] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Song: “She Never Felt Alone”, from The Aristocats (1970) Special Edition Blu-Ray (2012).
[6] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Revised Vault of Walt: Volume 1 (2012), ‘Secret Origins of The Aristocats’, pp. 113-118.
[7] Credit: Justin Kroll, ‘Questlove To Direct Live-Action/Hybrid Adaptation of ‘The Aristocats’ For Disney’, Deadline.com, 27th March 2023.
[8] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Revised Vault of Walt: Volume 1 (2012), ‘Secret Origins of The Aristocats’, pp. 113-118.
The Disney Purist 
