Either way, watching The Aristocats was a nice refresher for me as it has easily been ten plus years since I've sat down to watch it. What was surprising to me, however, was just how much this movie borrows and is borrowed from by other Disney Animated Classics. In fact, were I not chronologically aware of when the "classics" were made, I might be inclined to think this movie was more of an amalgamation of countless Disney movies, but alas, I would be wrong.
The most apparent way that The Aristocats borrows is in its overarching story. Pets being separated from their owners was already a Disney staple by the time its twentieth release had hit theatres having been previously seen in Lady and the Tramp and 101 Dalmatians. With Lady and the Tramp in particular, there's the love story between the "high-born" lady and the stray male that is carried out, although with fewer complications in The Aristocats, plus there's the ending wherein the male comes to the rescue of the heroine. With 101 Dalmatians, we see the basic plot of the film carried out in the first act of The Aristocats, wherein the kittens and their mother are displaced to the country. There are also more subtle instances of borrowing seen throughout, too. For one, Madame Adelaide (the cats' caretaker) bears a close resemblance to the wicked stepmother in Cinderella as does her bedroom. The scene in which she realizes her cats have gone missing and runs around the house calling for them recalls Nanny from 101 Dalmatians. Another way the film borrows, and this is a more common thread for Disney movies made around this time, is the recycling of vocal talent, a topic I briefly mentioned several films ago in my Alice entry. I would make a list of all the repeated actors, but it would take far too long! So feel free to do some independent research of your own.
Of course, I don't mean to harp on the ways that this film borrows from others, in fact, it's more of my nerdy side showing through and wanting to point out everything I noticed - though I promise, I've already shown great restraint. That being said, many subsequent Disney films have found ways to borrow from The Aristocats and I'll share a few of those ways. Roquefort, the house mouse and friend to Duchess and her kittens, looks like Basil, the titular character from The Great Mouse Detective. Roquefort also has the investigative qualities later seen in Basil as it is he who sets out to uncover the cat-napper. Toulouse, the eldest of the three kittens, seems to be something of precursor to Simba in that he acts tough and fancies himself to be adventurous, but is still young and more afraid of the wild than he's willing to admit. There's something about the look of the countryside settings that feels Winnie the-Pooh-esque to me, too. Though The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was technically released in 1977, it was a combination of three shorts merged together, with two being released prior to The Aristocats in 1970. So, this comparison falls into some tricky grey area.
The best thing about the similarities between The Aristocats and the many films that came before and after it, is that it seems to be perfectly positioned between the new and the old. Especially fitting given Walt's death during the film's early days of production. It manages to both carry on in the tradition set forth by earlier Disney films and to give the audience a glimpse at what was yet to come.
The Aristocats struck me as surprisingly funny and that's not something I can say I remember liking about the movie from when I was younger. A lot of the comedy early on is inspired by the three kittens and their varied personalities. I found one line to be especially amusing and it comes from Marie, who is defending herself following a scuffle with Berlioz, "Ladies do not start fights, but they can finish them." If my cat could talk, she would've undoubtedly used this one by now. Anyway, the banter and fights that break out amongst the kittens is actually pretty entertaining. Thomas O'Malley provides some comedic moments as well, notably his attempt to swim after rescuing Marie. I would add to that that I was a big fan of O'Malley as a kid because we had the same name. I remember getting The Aristocats for Christmas one year and receiving a stuffed O'Malley to go with it. It was pretty awesome.
As for the overall narrative, The Aristocats obviously wasn't the most original plot, but it was entertaining nevertheless. And I think a large part of the film's greatness came from the personalities of its characters.
Next up: Robin Hood, which I just bought on Blu-Ray. Woo!
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