Marie

**Marie** is a major character in the 1970 Disney animated feature film, *The Aristocats*. She is a white-furred kitten who is the middle and only female kitten of Duchess, the older sister of Berlioz, and the younger sister of Toulouse.

## Background

### Personality

Marie believes herself to be quite the little lady, and so tries to mimic the elegance and propriety of her mother, Duchess. As a result, she can be somewhat prissy and spoiled and is quick to tattle on her brothers when things don't go her way. Although Marie makes an effort to appear ladylike, she does enjoy the occasional tumble with her beloved siblings and has an insatiable curiosity once Thomas O'Malley opens her eyes to the wonders of Paris.

A hopeless romantic and daydreamer, Marie frequently is seen lost in her thoughts and sighing deeply. She also appears to be somewhat danger-prone, as she is consistently in harm's way throughout the movie. This may be because either her head is up in the clouds, or because she is the kitten who has had the least practice of "biting and clawing", and thus the least capable of fending for herself in the wild.

Also, Marie is shown to be the most open and accepting of Thomas O'Malley, and also the most eager for him to become her and her siblings' new father. She loves romance as she eagerly watched O'Malley flirt with her mother and complimented on his poetry.

### Physical appearance

Marie is a small white purebred Turkish Angora kitten. She has long, white fur and bright blue eyes with long lashes; out of the 3 kittens, she bears the strongest resemblance to her mother. Her nose and paw pads are light pink, and she has 3 or 4 whiskers on either side of her face. Marie wears a large pink bow around her neck and another pink bow, which is smaller, decorating a tuft of fur on her head.

## Appearances

### *The Aristocats*

Marie is first seen at the beginning, riding in the carriage with Madame Bonfamille, along with her mother and brothers. At home, she excitedly tries to be the first one in the door but ends up stuck in the cat door alongside her two brothers. Marie insists she should be first because she is a lady. She ends up fighting with Berlioz and Toulouse until Duchess scolds them and asks the three kittens to begin their lessons.

While Toulouse practices his painting, Marie and Berlioz have a music lesson. Berlioz plays the piano while Marie sings (though the former does some of the singing, too, as do their mother, and a painted-pawed Toulouse, who also pushes on the keys). In the beginning, Marie attempts to tattle on Berlioz after he strikes the keys in such a way that her tail gets caught. After the lesson, Edgar, the butler, brings them milk for dinner. He claims that it was prepared a special way, and it is in a way; the milk is laced with sleeping pills. The pills do their jobs and the cats are kidnapped by Edgar in their sleep and dropped off into the countryside. Unknown to the cats, they had been chosen to inherit Madame Bonfamille's fortune upon her death. Edgar had kidnapped them so that he could inherit it instead, as otherwise, he would not inherit until the cats had all died, which he thought would take years.

Marie and company awaken near a bridge, and after spending the night in the rain, are approached by Thomas O'Malley, an alley cat. Though he initially offers to help Duchess as he is enamored by her, he soon discovers that Duchess has children, after Marie appears and asks if his poetic description of Duchess applies to her as well. Once over his shock, he helps them into a milk truck bound to Paris. He sends them on their way but rescues Marie after she falls from the truck. Deciding to go along with them, O'Malley uncovers some milk for Marie and the other kittens to drink. Eventually, the driver notices the cats and runs them out of the truck. O'Malley decides to lead them to Paris on foot. On the way, they cross a railway bridge. The cats are forced to hide from an oncoming train, but Marie falls into the river beneath. O'Malley saves her a second time.

After returning to Paris, Marie and the others spend the night at Scat Cat's pad. Like her siblings, she is impressed by the alley cats and enjoys a loud and colorful party. The next day, Marie returns home with her mother and brothers and sadly says goodbye to O'Malley. When they find that the cat door is locked, Marie comes up with the idea of meowing to get Edgar's and Madame's attention. Edgar traps the cats in a sack, with the intention of mailing them to Timbuktu, so that they cannot come back. Luckily, they are saved by O'Malley and the alley cats from Edgar that gets mailed away instead. Marie continued to live with Madame, Duchess, and her brothers, with the addition of O'Malley and the Alley Cats, who are the start of Madame's foundation for the alley cats of Paris.

### *Miriya & Marie*

Marie is one of the two main protagonists of the manga *Miriya & Marie*. In the manga, Marie is Miriya's mentor and is capable of using magic. Marie's first appearance is when she magically appears from Miriya's phone and tells Miriya that she is preparing her to become a witch. She then sends Miriya back in time to 1910 in Paris, France by unwrapping the large bow around her neck as a form of transportation. Throughout the manga, Marie takes Miriya on various magical adventures throughout Paris.

### *Other Appearances*

On some logos and promotional material for Disney Digital Network, Marie is featured as an illustration alongside Dopey, Pascal, and the Cheshire Cat.

In The Princess and the Frog, during the film's prologue showing Tiana and Charlotte as children. Charlotte owns a white kitten resembles Marie.

In a video promoting the release of *Ralph Breaks the Internet*, a white kitten who resembled Marie complete with a pink bow. In some merchandise, Vanellope is seen riding on top of Marie (along with two other Marie's that are flying) as a giant who is seen firing lasers from her mouth and eyes.

## Trivia

* Marie was going to be voiced by Tara Strong in the sequel, replacing her original voice actress Liz English.
* It is unknown what happened to Marie's birth father (Duchess's first mate).
* Despite not having the lead role, Marie is the most popular and most marketed character from the film. Starting in the mid-1990s, Marie became the solo representation of the film previously being Thomas O'Malley.
* Berlioz and Marie appear to have a sibling rivalry throughout the film.
* Marie won a manga series called *Miriya & Marie*. The manga was previously exclusive in Japan and Brazil in 2015, it later gained an English translation and released in the U.S. and Canada on June 2018 courtesy of "Tokyopop".
* Marie starred in her own Japanese music video called "Disney Marie - Walk in Paris" (パリのお散歩　～　ディズニー マリー) released in 2014.
* Marie is named after Marie Antoinette who was the queen of France from 1774 to 1791. One of the earliest concept art for the film featured had Marie named "Marie Antoinette".
* Marie has her own day called "Marie Day" which first began on February 22, 2015, the same day as "Cat Day" in Japan mainly celebrated in Tokyo Disney Resort.
* At Tokyo Disneyland's Fantasyland, there is an entire shop that is dedicated to Marie.
* In a book called *The Aristocats Join Scat Cat's Band*, it is revealed that Marie knows how to play a washboard.
* In the British television series *Doctor Who*, one of the pins that the Sixth Doctor wears is a pin of Marie. The Doctor is seen wearing it in the episode "Revelation of the Daleks".
* In the *Miriya & Marie* manga, Marie is able to live on her own and actually owns her own house. Marie's house is colored pink and filled with jewelry and ribbons. As a result, she no longer lives with her mother Duchess but visits her instead. Berlioz and Toulouse aren't seen when Marie is living on her own.
* Marie, alongside her brothers Toulouse and Berlioz, starred in a spinoff comic series called "The Aristokittens" which ran from October 1971 to October 1975. The series featured the kittens going on various adventures in Paris, France and encountered various Disney characters (such as Dumbo and Tinker Bell). The most notable is Jiminy Cricket who shows up in the first issue.
* Marie along with Berlioz and Toulouse are absent from House of Mouse.
* Marie's name has only been mentioned once by Thomas O'Malley.
* Marie's name is only mentioned once by Berlioz.
* Marie doesn't talk until the part where she races her brothers Berlioz and Toulouse to their little cat door.
* Marie, Berlioz, and Toulouse don't have any other kitten friends their ages.
* Marie's ribbon that comes apart or untied for the only time would be after falling off the bridge and almost drowning in the river.
* Marie would've made her appearance in Princess Academy, which unfortunately got cancelled.
* In the 2012 book "The Aristocats: The Runaway Kittens" (known in Sweden as "Marie på rymmen"), Marie becomes a stray kitten and wild cat for the day after losing her bow and ribbon and getting very dirty. She befriends a wild kitten named "Teo" who knows everything about the streets of Paris (similar to Thomas o'Malley's role in the original film). After learning about the hard life of being a wild cat, Marie starts crying over losing her ribbon and bows since she no longer looks lady like. Teo is confused with Marie's reaction due to never living in a wealthy and rich lifestyle as she does.