A Walt Disney Production: “The Aristocats”
By: Mary Mckeon
Tags: Animation, Disney, Film History, Film Reviews, Film

In late 2017, when I decided to start a series of film retrospectives leading up to the release of Ralph Breaks the Internet, I settled on covering all of the Walt Disney Animation Studios films that hadn’t been adapted from any source material. A cursory internet search told me that the 1970 release The Aristocats was based on a story by Tom McGowan and Tom Rowe, which I took to mean it had been adapted from a short story in the same vein as the Ward Greene story that became Lady and the Tramp. I realized my mistake earlier this year and wasn’t sure if I wanted to remedy it with a full article until I found out that the film’s 50th anniversary would be on Christmas Eve. A post concept was effectively delivered to me on a silver platter. How could I pass it up?

I hadn’t seen the movie since high school and didn’t remember that much about it except that it was fairly cute and had the sketchy animation style denoting Disney’s Xerox era, which also included 101 Dalmatians and The Rescuers. The Aristocats is by no means as popular or well regarded as the likes of The Lion King or Cinderella, but unlike other Disney films considered to be underrated gems, most people are at least aware of its signature song and the heavily merchandised Marie.

Setting aside the cuteness of the characters and a catchy song here and there, there isn’t much to The Aristocats that makes it a classic on the same level as something from the Disney Renaissance. What makes it stand out is its distinct art style and its unique place in the studio’s history.

Background

[For a deeper look into the conception of the film, I recommend Wade Sampson’s 2009 column for MousePlanet, which was instrumental to this section of the piece.]

Comparatively rare for an animated Disney film with an original story, The Aristocats was first conceived nearly a decade before its release. In late 1961, Walt Disney asked producer Harry Tytle and writer Tom McGowan to find animal stories for the studio to adapt similar to Greyfriars Bobby, Perri, and the extensive True-Life Adventures series that had been running since the late 1940s. One of the stories McGowan found came from a children’s book about a family of cats, and he, Tytle, and Tom Rowe began work on a script about a maid and a butler who stood to inherit their employer’s fortune only after the deaths of her cats, and the servants’ attempts to kill the mother cat and kittens. The production would be a live-action two-part television special that could later be combined for a theatrical release.

Though Walt liked the story, development was stalled until 1964, at which point it had been changed to an animated feature rather than a television film. The Aristocats would end up being the last animated film officially approved by Walt Disney, and the first to be produced entirely without his involvement. Following his death in December of 1966, the maid character (to be played by Elsa Lanchester) was cut and several other talking animal characters were added. The film was released on December 24, 1970, to fairly positive reception and a decent box office return, but it sadly marked the beginning of Disney Animation’s Dark Age, which would last until The Little Mermaid ‘s release in 1989.

A direct-to-video sequel set on a luxury ocean liner at Christmastime was planned for release in 2008. A few storyboards and animatics from the sequel are available online, but production seemingly didn’t advance very far before the film was cancelled in 2006 due to executives doubting its ability to draw in a big enough audience. It was a valid concern, and in any case the company as a whole was moving away from the slew of Disneytoon sequels at that time. Though The Aristocats II probably would have been a cute and harmless entry into the Disneytoon catalog, I can’t see much in its predecessor to bank on so many years later.

Positives

Though it’s clear from viewing the film that Walt Disney was not involved in the actual production, the staples of his classic animated films are still present throughout. Six of Disney’s Nine Old Men, including director Wolfgang Reitherman, worked on the story and animation, giving it a similar feel to Golden and Silver Age animal films like Dumbo and Lady and the Tramp. The Xerox style of animation probably wouldn’t work for one of their animated fairy tales or any of their more recent hand-drawn animated films, but here it makes for a more memorable visual style that enhances the movie’s charm. The animation itself is fluid and well-paced for Looney Tunes-esque slapstick and some solid visual gags. The pacing in the script is a different beast, but in my experience, the frame rate and style of an animated project can make or break a comedy or action sequence. The character animation on Madame Bonfamille feels especially unlike anything else the studio has done, though I can’t quite place what it is that gives me that impression.

Much like the depiction of London in 101 Dalmatians and Mary Poppins, the film’s version of Paris creates a visually interesting setting, with colorful and atmospheric backgrounds emulating Parisian architecture of the time. The art is very pleasing to look at and calls to mind illustrations from the Madeline and Winnie the Pooh books.

The characters aren’t especially complex, but they’re likable and have some cute dynamics. The love story between Duchess and O’Malley is charming, as is O’Malley’s position as a father figure to the kittens, who are admittedly quite adorable. If nothing else, the cast somewhat elevates a simple plot to a more enjoyable use of 80 minutes. The musical numbers are catchy per the Sherman Brothers’ norm, but none of them hold a candle to “Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat”, which is probably the one element of the film that has completely cemented itself in pop culture at large. The style of jazz feels accurate to the time period and lends itself to a fun and energetic sequence in a pretty mellow film.

Negatives

When I say The Aristocats is mellow, that’s not strictly a bad thing. For some, it might be a comforting movie to have on. Others might just have to be in the right mood to watch it. For me, it’s rather boring. This seems to be an issue with many of the Disney animated films released in between 101 Dalmatians and The Great Mouse Detective. There are exceptions in that stretch of time, but for the most part it’s clear why it was called the Dark Age.

The exploits of the animal side characters are some of the most obvious padding I’ve seen in any family film, and none of them are particularly interesting. They’re not aggravating to watch like the characters in Home on the Range, but it begs the question of why this was turned into a theatrical feature if there wasn’t enough story to fill its run time. They can be entertaining, but they mostly engage in mundane comedic vignettes that lead nowhere. A handful of them come back to help our heroes in the climax (including the ethnically caricatured ones), but the rest simply appear in the finale for the sake of having one last callback. Edgar the butler is one of the weakest villains in Disney history, which is a major disappointment from the studio that gave us Maleficent, Cruella de Vil, Ursula, Jafar, Scar, and Dr. Facilier. There are a few moments where he tries to cover his tracks, but there’s never any tension over whether he’ll succeed or get caught.

There’s very little conflict overall, least of all a solid conflict that lasts through the movie and gets resolved in the third act. There’s a mention here and there that O’Malley wants Duchess and the kittens to stay with him, and for exactly one scene the kittens are hopeful of getting a father despite being perfectly content in their life at the beginning of the film. Each scene feels like a short film created by a different team of people. There’s the connection of the cats trying to get home and Edgar wanting to get rid of them, but the journey there is mostly them wandering from place to place with no transition or rising action. The events of the film simply happen and then stop happening, including the musical numbers. The ending is rushed and clumsily executed, with blatantly recycled animation from earlier sequences (not earlier movies — earlier sequences) that act as a sad reminder of the financial state this animation powerhouse was in at the time.

Final Thoughts

The Aristocats is mostly harmless kiddie fare, with a few heartwarming moments and decent gags spread across a pretty short film. Visually and musically, it fits in with the old Disney classics, but despite a heartwarming story of a family coming together hidden within it, the plot meanders constantly with no point to be found. Outside of one standout sequence, it feels like a cheaper version of Lady and the Tramp or 101 Dalmatians, which might have been easier to get away with in a time before home media and streaming, but now makes it redundant. It’s pleasant enough that you won’t lose anything from watching it, but there’s nothing especially memorable about it either, which is a sad thought given the knowledge that Walt Disney Animation Studios dove into financial turmoil not long after its release. As far as my final ranking for this series, I would put The Aristocats above Home on the Range and below Atlantis, which positions it at number eleven out of thirteen. It’s a perfectly cute movie, just not one that can hold up next to any better-known Disney musicals.