The Aristocats

The Aristocats was an extremely sweet movie.  It's fun, it's cute, and it's got a decent plot line.  It's lasted fairly well throughout the years, and while it's not necessarily one of the biggest smash hits that Disney has ever created, it's certainly still appreciated by many people.

I think one of the reasons for this is that the movie is just so likable.  Take Duchess, our main character.  She is extremely easy going and always happy.  She doesn't really get super upset about things, and finds amusement in other characters that you might think would annoy her.  Although she's clearly spent her whole life being rich and spoiled, she's not stuck up about it at all.  And the kittens.  They are soooo cute, how could you not love them?  They really do make the movie.  Tom O'Malley is fun as well, and while he might be a little rough around the edges it's definitely clear that he has a good heart.

Another thing that was interesting about this movie, and could be seen as either good or bad, was that aside from the ending, they never really seemed to be in any real danger.  Sure, they're left in the rain, but they're quickly found by Tom.  And then they really just head on home.  They encounter some adventures, such as the geese and the alley cats, but none of them are particularly dangerous in any way.  The worst that they face is probably when they come home and Edgar puts them in the oven - I thought for a moment he was going to cook them!  But of course it's clear they're going to get rescued.

  

The one thing that was a bit odd was the plot line with the two dogs.  It seemed to be a little bit out of place.  It almost seemed like it was more of a time killer in order to add something a bit more to the movie, but we didn't really feel like it did much for the film.

The Music

There are definitely a few good songs in this one.  In particular, there is one outstanding tune, which is, of course, "Everybody Wants To Be a Cat."  It's jazzy, fun, everyone knows it, and the animation that goes along with it is great.  The only other song that was memorable for me was the cute "Scales and Arpeggios."  There were a few other songs, such as Tom's song and the intro song of "The Aristocats," but nothing too noteworthy.

The Villain

In this movie, Edgar is a really surprising villain.  We first see him as the faithful butler, and he seems like a decent guy.  He laughs a little at the kittens and from what they say about him it's clear that he's doted on them in the past.  However, once he hears that the will leaves everything to the cats, he just snaps.  Anyone who would try to get rid of cute, adorable kittens like that is clearly a bad person.  It's awful the things that money can do to people.  While Edgar is clearly a villain, he's not very good at it.  At least he gets shipped off to Timbuktu.

The WDW Connection

It seems that occasionally you might be able to see Marie around Disney, most likely in France in Epcot.  There used to be a restaurant at the Port Orleans resort named after a character in this movie, but it's no longer open.

Becky's rating:  8 out of 10

Jason's rating:  7.5 out of 10