Cat Classics on Film: The AristoCats (1970)

The AristoCats is a 1970 Walt Disney movie that, nearly 50 years after its release, still has a lot of charm and entertainment value. Besides lots of cats, the film also features a Grammy-nominated soundtrack that includes the jazzy classics “Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat” and "Thomas O'Malley Cat." The Blu-ray version we watched recently had the option of scrolling the song lyrics on screen so you can sing along; we didn't do that, but if you're into sing-alongs...

Classy cats and a mean butler

The story takes place in Paris in 1910. Duchess (voiced by Eva Gabor) is a classy cat with three kittens who lives with an appropriately upper-crust woman. “Madame” dotes on Duchess and the kittens—so much so that she plans to will her entire estate to them. This upsets Madame’s longtime butler, Edgar, who is basically a jerk and thinks everything should go to him. Edgar decides to get rid of the cats.

He does this by lacing their cream with sleeping powder and, while they’re fast asleep, driving them out to the country and leaving them (Edgar also has a rather hilarious encounter with two dogs). The cats wake up not knowing where they are, but they are fortunate enough to meet a self-assured tomcat named O’Malley (voiced by Phil Harris). O’Malley will help them get home. The journey takes some twists and turns, of course, including a love spark between Duchess and O’Malley.

And by the way, how are Duchess and the kittens going to get back to Madame when it was Edgar the mean butler who tried to get rid of them in the first place? Well, at times like this, you just need a little help from your resourceful and streetwise friends.

Real Cat Webster helped with this
review.

(Spoiler: There’s a happy ending! But then you probably guessed that already; this is Disney we're talking about.)

Our verdict

Every cat person should see The AristoCats, in our humble opinion. Even people who aren’t necessarily “cat people” should see it. The film is classic Disney, so it’s got some great animation from the old school—not as amazingly realistic as today’s computer animation, but it has a warm, rich quality that computer animation, for all its detail, often lacks. Plus, the story is just plain fun, as is the music. One of our favorite parts is when the cats meet the English goose sisters and waddle part of the way to Paris. (When you waddle, “think goose!”). And then there’s that thing with the dogs … and there’s “Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat,” and O’Malley’s song (see the clip below). If you’re looking for a serious theme for group discussion, there’s the question of where cats and other critters fit into the definition of “family.”

The AristoCats is a film to watch when you want some good, clean entertainment. Highly recommended!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good movie; two paws is for a great movie. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the movie through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!