| content | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007) |
| The Aristocats | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Wolfgang Reitherman |
| Produced by | Winston Hibler Wolfgang Reitherman |
| Written by | Ken Anderson Larry Clemmons Eric Cleworth Vance Garry Tom McGowan Tom Rowe Julius Svendsen Frank Thomas Ralph Wright |
| Starring | Phil Harris Eva Gabor Liz English Gary Dubin Dean Clark Sterling Holloway Roddy Maude-Roxby |
| Music by | George Bruns Richard and Robert Sherman (songs) |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 11, 1970 (premiere) December 24, 1970 (regular) |
| Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English, French |
| Budget | $4,000,000 (estimated) |
| IMDb profile | |
The Aristocats is a 1970 animated feature produced and released by Walt Disney Productions. It is the twentieth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon. Based on a story by Tom McGowan and Tom Rowe, the story revolves around a family of aristocratic cats, and how an alley cat acquaintance helps them after a butler has kidnapped them to gain his mistress' fortune which was meant to go to them. It was originally released to theaters by Buena Vista Distribution on December 11, 1970. The title is a pun on the word aristocrats.
The film's basic idea - an animated romantic musical comedy about talking cats in France - had previously been used in the UPA animated feature Gay Purr-ee.
Contents |
Plot
 |
The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. (September 2008) |
Set in Paris, France, in 1910, the story centers around a mother cat named Duchess and her three kittens Marie, Berlioz, and Toulouse. The cats live in the mansion of retired opera singer Madame Adelaide Bonfamille, along with her English butler Edgar. Also living on the estate are Frou-Frou (a horse) and Roquefort (a mouse who is a good friend of the cats).
Madame Adelaide, early on, settles her will with her lawyer Georges Hautecourt, an aged, eccentric old friend of hers, stating that she wishes Edgar to look after her beloved cats until they die and then inherit the fortune himself. Edgar hears this from his own room and miscalculates that each cat will live nine lifetimes of which each consists of twelve years. He therefore believes he will be dead before he inherits Madame Adelaide's fortune, and plots to remove the cats from a position of inheritance. He sedates the cats by putting an entire bottle of sleeping pills into a dish the cats like called "Creme de la creme a la Edgar" and then heads out into the country side to abandon them. However, two hound dogs named Napoleon and Lafayette, who think Edgar is an intruder, attack him, biting him on the rear end. Edgar leaves behind his umbrella and hat, the cats' bed-basket, and the sidecar of his motorcycle. The cats are left in the country side, while Madame Adelaide, Roquefort, and Frou-Frou discover their absence. In the morning, Duchess meets a friendly, romantic, cheerful, self-absorbed, jolly alley cat named Abraham D'Lacey Giuseppe Casey Thomas O'Malley, who flirts with her and ultimately offers to guide her and the kittens to Paris. From their meeting onward, Duchess is enamored of the handsome Thomas O'Malley (as he is most frequently called) and he with her; the kittens, too, are enraptured and he fond of them.
The cats have a struggle returning to the city, briefly hitchiking on the back of a milk cart before being chased off by the driver. Marie subsequently falls into a river and is saved by O'Malley. They then meet a pair of English geese, Amelia and Abigail Gabble, who are travelling for Paris. The group head off, marching like geese, until they reach Paris and come across the girls' drunken Uncle Waldo. Abigail and Amelia then depart to take Waldo home. Travelling across the rooftops of the city, the cats meet Scat Cat and his band, close friends to O'Malley, who perform the song Everybody Wants to Be a Cat. After the band have departed and the kittens lie in bed, O'Malley and Duchess spend the evening on a nearby rooftop and talk, while the kittens listen at a windowsill. The subject of their conversation is the question of whether Duchess may stay and marry Thomas.Eeventually, she refuses, largely out of loyalty to Madame Adelaide. Edgar, meanwhile, retrieves his sidecar, umbrella, and hat from Napoleon and Layafette (who had made beds out of them) with some difficulty.
The cats make it back to the mansion, whereupon O'Malley departs sadly. Edgar sees Duchess and Kittens coming and captures them, places them in a sack and briefly hides them in an oven. The cats tell Roquefort to pursue O'Malley and get help. He does so, whereupon O'Malley races back to the mansion, ordering Roquefort to find Scat Cat and his gang. Edgar places the cats in a trunk which he plans to send to Timbuktu, Africa. O'Malley, Scat Cat and his gang, and Frou-Frou all fight Edgar, while Roquefort frees Duchess and kittens. In the end, Edgar is tipped into the trunk, locked inside, and sent to Timbuktu himself. Madame Adelaide's will is rewritten to exclude Edgar and include O'Malley; simultaneously, Madame Adelaide starts a charity foundation providing a home for all of Paris' stray cats. The grand opening thereof, to which most of the major characters come, features Scat Cat's band, who perform a reprise of Everybody Wants to Be a Cat.
Releases
International release dates
- Brazil: February 20, 1971
- Argentina: May 14, 1971
- Australia: August 5, 1971
- Italy: November 13, 1971
- U.K.: November 22, 1971
- Sweden: December 4, 1971
- Spain: December 6, 1971
- France: December 8, 1971
- West Germany: December 16, 1971
- Finland: December 17, 1971
- Trinidad and Tobago: December 20, 1971
- Denmark: December 26, 1971
- Norway: December 26, 1971
- Iceland: December 29, 1971
- Hong Kong: January 20, 1972
- Japan: March 11, 1972
- Portugal: October 25-27, 1977 February 6, 1978 February 10, 1978 February 14-16, 1978
- Mexico: December 6, 1978
- Pakistan: April 20, 1981
- Russia: March 27, 2008
- Romania:March 27, 2008
- Bulgaria: March 27, 2008
Theatrical re-releases and home video
The Aristocats was re-released to theaters on December 19, 1981 and April 10, 1987. It was released on VHS in Europe on January 1, 1990.
It was first released on VHS in North America in the Masterpiece Collection series on April 24, 1996 and DVD on April 4, 2000 in the Gold Classic Collection line. The Aristocats had its Gold Collection disc quietly discontinued in 2006.
A new single-disc Special Edition DVD (previously announced as a 2-Disc set) was released on February 5, 2008.
Characters and Cast
The Aristocats uses the funny animals convention of talking animals who are understood by all other species except humans. Species featured include Cat, Dog, Mouse, Frog, Horse, Goose, and Rooster. Specific characters are as follows:
- Abraham de Lacey Giuseppe Casey Thomas O'Malley - an alley cat who befriends Duchess and the kittens and becomes Duchess's mate. Goes by the shorter name of "Thomas O'Malley" - Phil Harris
- Duchess - a white-furred "aristocat" that lives with Madame Bonfamille. Very adherent to her own codes of right and wrong. - Eva Gabor
- Marie - Duchess's white-furred, somewhat prissy daughter, a meetable character at Walt Disney World, the Tokyo Disney Resort, and Hong Kong Disneyland. Marie also makes a cameo appearance in Hong Kong Disneyland's version of It's a Small World. - Liz English
- Berlioz - Duchess's black-furred son, named after the famous composer. Mischievous and prone to sibling rivalry. - Dean Clark
- Toulouse - Duchess's ginger-furred son, named after a town in Southern France and the artist Henry Toulouse-Lautrec. Prone to self-aggrandizing shows of bravura. - Gary Dubin
- Edgar Balthazar - Madame Bonfamille's avaricious, but slightly comic butler - Roddy Maude-Roxby
- Roquefort - a mouse who lives with Duchess and her kittens - Sterling Holloway
- Scat Cat - a leader of an alley cat band and a friend of O'Malley's - Scatman Crothers
- Madame Adelaide Bonfamille - the owner of Duchess and her kittens - Hermione Baddeley
- Napoleon and Lafayette - Two hound dogs who attack Edgar. Napoleon (not to be confused with Napoleon Bonaparte), is a Bloodhound, while Lafayette is a Basset Hound. The two organize themselves to act as a hierarchy of soldiers, of which Napoleon insists himself to be the one more highly ranked. A running joke appears wherein Lafayette makes a suggestion, only to have Napoleon insist that as leader, he will decide whether or not this is true, and then do so. - Pat Buttram (Napoleon) George Lindsey (Lafayette)
- Frou Frou - Madame Bonfamille's horse. A loyal friend to Roquefort, Duchess, and the kittens. - Nancy Kulp
- Amelia and Abigail Gabble - Two English geese (twin sisters) who save O'Malley from drowning - Monica Evans and Carole Shelley; who also voiced together in Disney's Robin Hood.
- Uncle Waldo - Amelia and Abigail's drunken Uncle - Bill Thompson.
- Georges Hautecourt - Madame Bonfamille's elderly lawyer. Madame tells her lawyer her will (also heard by Edgar). Georges is brash and lively for his age, though he describes himself as "not as spry as I was when I was 88", indicating that he is older than 88, and perhaps is even older than Madame Bonfamille. Madame refers to him as her "oldest and dearest friend" - Charles Lane
- Shun Gon - a Chinese Siamese cat, who plays the drums and the piano using chopsticks - Paul Winchell
- Hit Cat - an English cat, having wild blonde hair - Lord Tim Hudson
- Peppo - an Italian cat, wearing a look-alike Robin Hood hat and a red scarf - Vito Scotti
- Billy Bass - a grey, longhaired Russian cat, who plays the double bass in Scat Cat's band. Very outspoken, sometimes in imperfect English - Thurl Ravenscroft
- Frog - The frog who scares Berlioz in the swamp. - Mel Blanc
- The Milkman - Milkman who chases O'Malley and Aristocats out of his milk truck, in which they had been hitchhiking - Peter Renaday
Cast & Crew
- Phil Harris - Thomas O'Malley the Alley
- Eva Gabor - Duchess the white Cat (speaking voice)
- Liz English - Marie (kitten)
- Gary Dubin - Toulouse (kitten)
- Dean Clark - Berlioz (kitten)
- Sterling Holloway - Roquefort the Mouse
- Roddy Maude-Roxby - Edgar Balthazar the Butler/Trunk Movers/Removal Men
- Scatman Crothers - Scat Cat
- Paul Winchell - Shun Gon the Chinese Cat
- Lord Tim Hudson - Hit Cat the English Cat
- Vito Scotti - Peppo the Italian Cat
- Thurl Ravenscroft - Billy Boss the Russian Cat
- Pat Buttram - Napoleon the Bloodhound
- George Lindsey - Lafayette the Basset Hound
- Hermione Baddeley - Madame Adelaide Bonfamille, owner of Duchess
- Charles Lane - Georges Hautecourt the Lawyer
- Monica Evans - Abigail Gabble the Goose
- Carole Shelley - Amelia Gabble the Goose
- Nancy Kulp - Frou-Frou the Horse
- Bill Thompson - Uncle Waldo the Goose
- Robie Lester - Duchess (uncredited) (singing voice)
- Peter Renaday - French Milkman the Driver/Le Petit Cafe Cook/Truck Movers (voice) (uncredited)
- Mel Blanc - The Frog
- Ruth Buzzi - Frou-Frou's singing voice
- Maurice Chevalier - Singer
Writers:Ken Anderson,Larry Clemmons,Eric Cleworth,Vance Garry,Tom McGowan,Tom Rowe,Julius Svendsen,Frank Thomas,Ralph Wright Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Producers: Wolfgang Reitherman and Winston Hilber
Sound Effects: Dan MacManus and Dick Lucas
Directing Animators: Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and John Lounsbery
Music: George Bruns
Songs: Richard and Robert Sherman, Terry Gilkyson, Floyd Huddleston, and Al Rinker
Orchestration: Walter Sheets
Story: Larry Clemmons, Vance Gerry, Ken Anderson, Frank Thomas, Eric Cleworth, Jullus Svendsen and Ralph Wright
Production Design: Ken Anderson
Character Animation: Hal King, Eric Larson, Eric Cleworth, Jullus Svendsen, Fred Hellmich and Walt Stanchfield
Production Manager: Don Duckwall
Film Editor: Tom Acosta
Music Editor: Evelyn Kennedy
Based on a story by Tom McGowan and Tom Rowe
Soundtrack Listing
- "The Aristocats" - Maurice Chevalier
- "Scales and Arpeggios" - Liz English, Gary Dubin, Dean Clark, Robie Lester
- "Thomas O'Malley Cat" - Phil Harris
- "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat" - Phil Harris, Scatman Crothers, Thurl Ravenscroft, Vito Scotti, Paul Winchell
- "She Never Felt Alone" - Robie Lester
- "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat(reprise)" - Phil Harris, Scatman Crothers, Thurl Ravenscroft, Vito Scotti, Paul Winchell, Ruth Buzzi, Bill Thompson
On Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic, this includes Thomas O'Malley Cat on the purple disc and Everybody Wants to Be a Cat on the orange disc. And on Disney's Greatest Hits, this also includes Everybody Wants to Be a Cat on the red disc.
The Aristocats II
The Aristocats II was supposed to be a direct-to-video sequel to the 1970 Disney animated film The Aristocats. It was scheduled to be released in 2007, but the production was canceled in early 2006 after Disney acquired Pixar and canceled all projects not related to a consumer product line. It's still unknown if the sequel is now in production again.
- John Goodman as Thomas O'Malley
- Jim Cummings as Roquefort the Mouse & Shun Gon the Siamese Cat
- Darius McCrary as Scat Cat
- Jess Harnell as Hit Cat
References
See also
External links
- Official Disney DVD website
- The Aristocats at the Internet Movie Database
- The Aristocats at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Aristocats at the Disney Archives
- Aristocats Character Name Origins at FilmSmarts.com
|
|||||||||||||||||
