The Aristocats
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Cast: Eva Gabor, Phil Harris, Liz English, Gary Dublin, Dean Clark, Sterling Holloway, Scatman Crothers, Patt Buttram, George Lindsey, Hermione Baddeley
The 20th addition to the Disney animated canon and based on a story by Tom McGowan and Tom Rowe, the Aristocats is based on the true story of a retired opera singer who leaves her inheritance to her cat, Duchess (Eva Gabor), and her three kittens. Trouble arises when Edgar, the butler, drugs the cats and abandons them in the French countryside so he can inherit the fortune for himself. Lost and alone, Duchess and her kittens meet Thomas O'Malley (Phil Harris), an alley cat willing to help them return to their home in Paris.
Love is a very powerful theme in this film and nowhere is love illustrated more perfectly than in the character of Duchess and the love which is shared between this beautiful mother cat and her children, her mistress, and Thomas O’Malley, the charming and handsome alley cat that Duchess meets on her journey home.
While in the beginning, Duchess’s love for her kittens is shown in her wise and gentle desire for her children to become elegant and well-mannered “aristo-cats” and to show affection and respect, both to their siblings and to their owner Madame Adelaide and her butler, Edgar, her love for her children is shown most vividly when Duchess finds herself and the children abandoned in the French countryside, far from her home. She comforts her children when they are frightened by the storm and later, despite the terrifying and stormy night, we see Duchess protecting her children.
The love that Madame Adelaide (Hermione Baddeley) has for Duchess and the kittens is equally as strong and it is expressed in three ways. Although Madame lives a life of wealth and privilege in her lavish mansion, none of her glittering jewels are quite as precious to Madame as Duchess and her kittens. When Madame Adelaide writes her will, she names her cats as the beneficiaries who will inherit her lavish estate, because she wishes them to be well taken care of after she is gone. When Duchess and her kittens are stolen by Madame’s butler, Edgar, in a fiendish scheme to claim the inheritance for himself, Madame has a terrible nightmare that awakens her, and she is deeply upset when she discovers that Duchess and the kittens are missing. Later, we learn that upon finding her beloved cats gone, she couldn’t sleep for worrying about them. In the end, Madame’s joy from being reunited with her beloved family of cats is illustrated by her making a safe home for all the stray cats in Paris…and making O’Malley a part of their little family as well.
Duchess’s love for O’Malley, and for her mistress, Madame Adelaide, is tested when she must choose between returning home to her beloved mistress and following her heart’s desire to be with the handsome and charming O’Malley. When Duchess finds herself lost and alone in the French countryside with her children, it is O’Malley who finds them and promises to escort Duchess and her kittens back to their home in Paris. O’Malley endears himself to Duchess even more when he saves Duchess’s daughter, Marie, from the river and the road and returns Marie to her mother. He also encourages Toulouse in his dream to be a tough alley cat. While Duchess is quite drawn to O’Malley’s charming and flirtatious manner, and even considers his wish for Duchess to stay with O'Malley and let him be a father-figure to her children, she tells him that she must return to Madame, because they are more than mere pets…they are Madame’s family, and she doesn’t want her mistress to be alone. When Duchess and her kittens are again captured by Edgar after they arrive back at home, it is O’Malley who bravely returns to rescue Duchess and her children from Edgar. In the end, I think Duchess finds the best of both worlds.
While not my favorite Disney film, The Aristocats is still a very worthy addition to Disney's animated collection. The animation is absolutely stunning. The casting is stellar, particularly for Eva Gabor who voices the beautiful and elegant Duchess. The songs are very catchy and the story, while not a fairy-tale like so many Disney films, is very heartfelt and beautiful. I would highly recommend this film.
© 2021 Keriane Kellogg
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Cast: Eva Gabor, Phil Harris, Liz English, Gary Dublin, Dean Clark, Sterling Holloway, Scatman Crothers, Patt Buttram, George Lindsey, Hermione Baddeley
The 20th addition to the Disney animated canon and based on a story by Tom McGowan and Tom Rowe, the Aristocats is based on the true story of a retired opera singer who leaves her inheritance to her cat, Duchess (Eva Gabor), and her three kittens. Trouble arises when Edgar, the butler, drugs the cats and abandons them in the French countryside so he can inherit the fortune for himself. Lost and alone, Duchess and her kittens meet Thomas O'Malley (Phil Harris), an alley cat willing to help them return to their home in Paris.
Love is a very powerful theme in this film and nowhere is love illustrated more perfectly than in the character of Duchess and the love which is shared between this beautiful mother cat and her children, her mistress, and Thomas O’Malley, the charming and handsome alley cat that Duchess meets on her journey home.
While in the beginning, Duchess’s love for her kittens is shown in her wise and gentle desire for her children to become elegant and well-mannered “aristo-cats” and to show affection and respect, both to their siblings and to their owner Madame Adelaide and her butler, Edgar, her love for her children is shown most vividly when Duchess finds herself and the children abandoned in the French countryside, far from her home. She comforts her children when they are frightened by the storm and later, despite the terrifying and stormy night, we see Duchess protecting her children.
The love that Madame Adelaide (Hermione Baddeley) has for Duchess and the kittens is equally as strong and it is expressed in three ways. Although Madame lives a life of wealth and privilege in her lavish mansion, none of her glittering jewels are quite as precious to Madame as Duchess and her kittens. When Madame Adelaide writes her will, she names her cats as the beneficiaries who will inherit her lavish estate, because she wishes them to be well taken care of after she is gone. When Duchess and her kittens are stolen by Madame’s butler, Edgar, in a fiendish scheme to claim the inheritance for himself, Madame has a terrible nightmare that awakens her, and she is deeply upset when she discovers that Duchess and the kittens are missing. Later, we learn that upon finding her beloved cats gone, she couldn’t sleep for worrying about them. In the end, Madame’s joy from being reunited with her beloved family of cats is illustrated by her making a safe home for all the stray cats in Paris…and making O’Malley a part of their little family as well.
Duchess’s love for O’Malley, and for her mistress, Madame Adelaide, is tested when she must choose between returning home to her beloved mistress and following her heart’s desire to be with the handsome and charming O’Malley. When Duchess finds herself lost and alone in the French countryside with her children, it is O’Malley who finds them and promises to escort Duchess and her kittens back to their home in Paris. O’Malley endears himself to Duchess even more when he saves Duchess’s daughter, Marie, from the river and the road and returns Marie to her mother. He also encourages Toulouse in his dream to be a tough alley cat. While Duchess is quite drawn to O’Malley’s charming and flirtatious manner, and even considers his wish for Duchess to stay with O'Malley and let him be a father-figure to her children, she tells him that she must return to Madame, because they are more than mere pets…they are Madame’s family, and she doesn’t want her mistress to be alone. When Duchess and her kittens are again captured by Edgar after they arrive back at home, it is O’Malley who bravely returns to rescue Duchess and her children from Edgar. In the end, I think Duchess finds the best of both worlds.
While not my favorite Disney film, The Aristocats is still a very worthy addition to Disney's animated collection. The animation is absolutely stunning. The casting is stellar, particularly for Eva Gabor who voices the beautiful and elegant Duchess. The songs are very catchy and the story, while not a fairy-tale like so many Disney films, is very heartfelt and beautiful. I would highly recommend this film.
© 2021 Keriane Kellogg