The Aristocats

***The Aristocats*** is a 1970 American animated romantic adventure musical comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions. It is the 20th animated film in the Disney animation canon and directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, and was the final animated film to be approved by Walt Disney prior to his death. It was released on December 11, 1970.

## Plot

In Paris 1910, mother cat Duchess and her three kittens, Berlioz, Marie and Toulouse live with retired opera diva Madame Adelaide Bonfamille, and her English butler, Edgar. One day while preparing her will with lawyer George Hautecourt, Madame declares her fortune to be left to her cats until their deaths, and thereafter to Edgar. Edgar hears this through the speaking tube, and plots to eliminate the cats as he literally believes that they nine lives and he will die long before they do. He sedates the cats by putting sleeping pills in their milk, and then drives them out to abandon them in the countryside. There, he is ambushed by two hounds named Napoleon and Lafayette, and the cats are stranded in the countryside. Their absence is discovered by Madame Adelaide, Roquefort the mouse and Frou-Frou the horse, and Roquefort sets out into the night to look for them.

The next morning, Duchess and her kittens meet an alley cat named Thomas O'Malley, who instantly becomes smitten with Duchess and offers to guide them to Paris. They briefly hitchhike in the back of a milk truck before being discovered by the driver and chased off. Later, while crossing a railroad track, the cats narrowly avoid an oncoming train, but Marie falls into the river. O'Malley manages to save her, who in turn has to be rescued himself by two English geese, Amelia and Abigail Gabble, who accompany the cats to Paris. Meanwhile, Edgar reveals to Frou-Frou his making the headline in the news, disgusting Frou-Frou and Roquefort. Edgar then remembers that he has accidentally left his hat and umbrella behind and returns to fetch them as they are the only evidence that could incriminate him. Roquefort attempts to follow him on his motorcycle but fails to hang on and is left behind, while Edgar successfully retrieved his items from Napoleon and Lafayette.

The cats now have to travel by rooftops and come to O'Malley's pad, where they meet a gang of musician cats led by Scat Cat, who are friends of O'Malley's, and they all perform *Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat*. After the band has departed, O'Malley and Duchess converse on a rooftop while the kittens listen from a windowsill. Duchess declines O'Malley's marriage proposal out of loyalty to Madame Adelaide. The cats return to the mansion, where Edgar places them in a sack and prepares to ship them to Timbuktu; they direct Roquefort, who attempted to stop Edgar earlier, to fetch O'Malley. He does so, and O'Malley returns to the mansion, instructing Roquefort to recruit Scat Cat and his gang for help. This done, the alley cats and Frou-Frou fight Edgar, while Roquefort frees Duchess and the kittens. In the end, Edgar is locked in his own packing case and shipped off to Timbuktu himself. Madame Adelaide's will is re-written to exclude Edgar, whom she presumes left without ever hearing about the will. O'Malley is adopted into the family and Madame establishes a foundation housing Paris' stray cats (represented by Scat Cat and his gang, who reprise their song with everybody participating)

## Why It's Great

1. The characters are all wonderful, especially Duchess and Thomas O'Malley, who have great chemistry together
2. A great voice cast, with Eva Gabor and Phil Harris being memorable for their performances as Duchess and Thomas O'Malley
3. *Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat* is a really fun song to listen to