The AristoCats (1970)

With the help of a smooth talking tomcat, a family of Parisian felines set to inherit a fortune from their owner try to make it back home after a jealous butler kidnaps them and leaves them in the country.

Director:

Wolfgang Reitherman

Writers:

Larry Clemmons (story), Vance Gerry (story)

Stars:

Phil Harris, Eva Gabor, Sterling Holloway

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Phil Harris	...	O'Malley (voice)
Eva Gabor	...	Duchess (voice)
Sterling Holloway	...	Roquefort (voice)
Scatman Crothers	...	Scat Cat (voice)
Paul Winchell	...	Shun Gon - Chinese Cat (voice)
Lord Tim Hudson	...	Hit Cat - English Cat (voice)
Vito Scotti	...	Peppo - Italian Cat (voice)
Thurl Ravenscroft	...	Billy Bass - Russian Cat (voice)
Dean Clark	...	Berlioz (voice)
Liz English	...	Marie (voice)
Gary Dubin	...	Toulouse (voice)
Nancy Kulp	...	Frou-Frou (voice)
Pat Buttram	...	Napoleon (voice)
George Lindsey	...	Lafayette (voice)
Monica Evans	...	Abigail (voice)

Storyline

Retired madame Adelaide Bonfamille enjoys the good life in her Paris villa with even classier cat Duchess and three kittens: pianist Berlioz, painter Toulouse and sanctimonious Marie. When loyal butler Edgar overhears her will leaves everything to the cats until their death, he drugs and kidnaps them. However retired army dogs make his sidecar capsize on the country. Crafty stray cat Thomas O'Malley takes them under his wing back to Paris. Edgar tries to cover his tracks and catch them at return, but more animals turn on him, from the cart horse Frou-Frou to the tame mouse Roquefort and O'Malley's jazz friends.

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Plot Keywords:

butler | cat | animal protagonist | talking animal | singing cat | 

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Taglines:

Get with the cats who know where it's at!

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Music

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Disney DVD [United States] trailer

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 December 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los aristogatos

Filming Locations:

Walt Disney Feature Animation - 500 S. Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,168,071, 10 April 1987, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$55,675,257

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the 2008 DVD re-release version, the main menu of the movie shows that Toulouse's and Berlioz's neckties are mixed up.

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Goofs

In the scene where Thomas O'Malley is saving Marie after the train passes, he grabs a log. You can see the white boot marking on his foreleg disappear. When his paws go into the water and come out, the white marking reappears.

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Quotes

Amelia Gabble: I am Amelia Gabble. And this is my sister.
Abigail Gabble: Abigail Gabble.
Amelia Gabble: We're twin sisters.
Abigail Gabble: In fact, you could say we're related.

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Crazy Credits

There are no closing credits at the end of this film.

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Connections

Referenced in Michelle Kwan Skates to Disney's Greatest Hits (1999)

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Soundtracks

Thomas O'Malley Cat
Words and Music by Terry Gilkyson
Sung by Phil Harris

User Reviews

The Paris Book

In 1920s France an eccentric Duchess plans to leave her estate to her privileged kitties (Cattingtons?). Her nefarious, Prince Charles-lookalike butler overhears her plans and schemes to have the cats disappeared. He drugs them, for some reason, and dumps them in the countryside. Surely a quick warm up in the oven would have been a more foolproof plan. And why even bother disposing of the cats? Surely getting rid of the Duchess should be his first priority. I mean she could potentially live for another 25 years.

Once out in the French countryside they meet up with jiving, self-confident stray Tom (that's an original name for an animated cat) who makes it his mission to take them back to Paris. He's basically a feline Baloo. He's even voiced by Phil Harris. Along the way they meet various characters and eventually confront the Butler who plotted against them.

If it sounds familiar that's because it's basically a rewritten version of Disney's Jungle Book. It even has King Louie type of cat. This isn't really a bad thing, but it lacks the necessary spark to make it a classic. The animation is colorful and the period French setting provides some lovely backgrounds. It's just not anything too special, sadly.