Aristocats

1970 • 78 minutes

About this movie

In the heart of Paris, a kind and eccentric millionairess wills her entire estate to Duchess, her high-society cat, and her three little kittens. Laughs and adventure ensue as the greedy, bumbling butler pulls off the ultimate catnap caper. Now it's up to the rough-and-tumble alley cat, Thomas O'Malley, and his band of swingin' jazz cats to save the day.

Ratings and reviews

From 101 Dalmatians (1961) to "The Jungle Book (1967), there have been some popular Walt Disney animated films involving animals over the years. Unlike these two films, this one is inspired by an actual historical event where in 1910 (as shown in the former) a family of Persian cats inherited a small fortune. Also as an animal lover myself, I am a sucker for precious cats. Not to mention I have a cat myself; a ten-year-old female calico named "Tiger." I liked these two Disney movies, but I did have some problems with them; For instance, "101 Dalmatians" has an unfunny running gag involving Rolly. "The Jungle Book" has intrusive encounters where Mowgli aggressively forces every animal he meets to go away, and the idea of a Bengal tiger being the main antagonist for a reason (people with guns/poachers) brings a major concern to me. In "The Aristocats," there is nothing intrusive, heavy, or empty here. And as far as I can remember (as well as I'm concerned), and none of these two films has entertained me more often than The Aristocats. My only two problems that I have is that there are a few empty comedic moments and the latter is a bit anti-climactic. The voice talent offers plenty of funny amusement all the way. Every single actor in the cast is a pitch-perfect choice for their roles to bring their characters to life and adding persuasive weight to the emotional execution, but not too heavy. Eva Gabor is fantastic as Duchess the mother cat; Her voice is soft, sweet, and perfectly maternal. she is a great mom to her three playful kittens who immediately respects her. The three kids who played the kittens are really-well directed and absolutely cute. Berlioz is the youngest who plays piano, Marie is cute with her fast-blinking eyelids and her sassy attitude at times, and Toulouse is fun-loving, because he shows off his feral bravery. Phil Harris voices Thomas O'Malley the alley cat; the delivery of his voice makes Thomas sounds charming (but not in a suave sort of way) and he also sounds surprisingly grounded. As a character, he is a good role model for anyone. Scatman Crothers nailed his role as Scat Cat. Sterling Holloway is lively as Roquefort the mouse. The Gabble goose sisters are a fun pair of leaders. Charles Lane is amusing as Georges Hautecourt; the clumsy and silly lawyer of her friend Madame. Madame is a good-looking and wealthy cat owner who loves her cats. Duchess and her cats love Madame for good reason as Duchess herself mentions "we mean far more to her than that." That's true, because cats bring uplifting happiness with love and even health benefits (I know that for a fact). Edgar the butler is the main antagonist of the film. With an entertaining voice performance by Roddy Maude-Roxby who voices him, the personality and animation design, Edgar strikes a superb balance between greedy criminal and amusing comic-relief. Edgar also uses his head to solve tricky problems that he comes across, especially when he deals with two funny attack dogs named Napoleon (Pat Buttram) and Lafayette (George Lindsey). The art style and tone delivers an upbeat atmosphere and pleasant results for my taste; the animation designers for the cats are so talented, they did their best to make the cat family look cute while making their faces expressive. Wolfgang's direction is simple yet effective; for a lightweight animated film, it has enough humor and drama for everyone. There are also some witty jokes too. I love every song in the soundtrack; the songs are dynamic, uplifting, and the singing from the whole cast is a great effort, especially the impressive harmonies. The dynamic score by George Bruns sets the movie deftly for the mood and fits every element of the film superbly. Recommended.

I watch movies and TV shows when commuting on NYC subway and the volume on this movie was way too low. I love this movie but this was a total waste. I'm extremely disappointed.

this is a classic Disney film for sure but not one of my favorite ones the Disney movies have came out with but I love the little girl cat when she plays the piano.