The Aristocats
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| The Aristocats | |
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| 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.
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[edit] Plot
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 wants to settle her will with her lawyer Georges Hautecourt, an aged but eccentric old friend of hers. Madame Adelaide wishes Edgar to look after her beloved cats until they die and then he will get the fortune. Edgar hears this from his room and miscalculates that the cats each have nine lives all together and he believes he will be dead before he gets Madame Adelaide's fortune. He decides to remove the cats so he gets the fortune. He sedates the cats by putting a special potion in their milk and then heads out into the country side to remove them. However, there are two hound dogs Napoleon and LaFayette who think Edgar is an intruder. The dogs attack Edgar by biting him on the rear end, ripping a part of his pants off, and giving him a big chase. Edgar leaves behind his umbrella, hat, baby basket, and side of the motorcycle. The cats are left in the country side, Madame Adelaide, Roquefort and Frou-Frou discovering their absence. The cats meet Thomas O'Malley, a friendly and flirtacious alley cat who offers to guide them back to Paris.
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 falls into a river and is saved by O'Malley. They then meet a pair of English geese, Amelia and Abigail Gabble, who are heading for Paris. The group head off, marching like geese, until they reach Paris and come across the girls' drunken Uncle Waldo. Uncle Waldo and the girls 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 and they have a musical evening. O'Malley and Duchess spend a moment of the rooftop together, falling in love, although Duchess becomes worried that it will trouble Madame Adelaide. Edgar, meanwhile, retrieves his motorcycle, umbrella and hat from Napoleon and Layafette with some difficulty.
The cats make it back to the mansion, O'Malley departing. However, Edgar sees them coming and captures them, places them in a sack and briefly throws them into the oven. The cats tell Roquefort to pursue O'Malley and get help. He does so, but O'Malley races back to the mansion, Roquefort having to find Scat Cat and his gang. Edgar places the cats in a trunk which he plans to send to Timbuktu, Africa. However, O'Malley, Scat Cat and his gang, and Fru-Fru all fight Edgar to free the cats. In the end, Edgar falls into the trunk, is locked inside and sent to Timbuktu in replacement of the cats. Madame Adelaide's will is rewritten, Edgar removed due to his absence, and Madame Adelaide starts a charity for all of Paris' cats.
[edit] Releases
[edit] 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
[edit] 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 with the Sorcerer Mickey Classics logo (1988-94) 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.
[edit] Crew
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
[edit] 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. She's a meetable character at Walt Disney World, the Tokyo Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland. She 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 - Pat Buttram (Napoleon) George Lindsey (Lafayette)
- Frou Frou - Madame Bonfamille's horse - Nancy Kulp
- Amelia and Abigail Gabble - Two English geese (twin sisters) who save O'Malley from drowning - Monica Evans and Carole Shelley
- Uncle Waldo - Amelia and Abigail's drunken Uncle - Bill Thompson.
- Georges Hautecourt - Madame Bonfamille's lawyer. Madame tells her lawyer her will (also heard by Edgar). Georges is old; while getting out of his car he says that "he was not as spry as he was when he was 80", indicating that he is older than 80, 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 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.
- The Milkman - Man who chases O'Malley and Aristocats out of his milk truck, in which they had been hitchhiking. Voiced by Peter Renaday.
[edit] Voice cast
- Phil Harris - Thomas O'Malley the Alley Cat
- 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
[edit] Soundtrack Listing
- "The Aristocats" - Maurice Chevalier
- Scales and Arpeggios - Liz English, Gary Dubin, Dean Clark, Robie Lester
- Thomas O'Malley Cat - Phil Harris
- Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat - Phil Harris, Scatman Crothers, Thurl Ravenscroft, Vito Scotti, Paul Winchell
- "She Never Felt Alone" - Robie Lester
- Ev'rybody 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.
[edit] The Aristocats II
The Aristocats II was 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.
[edit] References
[edit] 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
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