Aristocats, The [Special Edition]

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It seems that with every Disney full-length cartoon feature there is always a "first" or a "last" of some kind attached to it. You know, like the first full-length animated movie ever made or the first to use classical music or the last to use hand-drawn cells or...whatever. In the case of 1970's "The Aristocats," it's the first full-length animated feature made after Disney's death in 1966 and the last full-length animated feature to which Uncle Walt had any serious input. So, "The Aristocats" is a milestone of sorts and a pretty decent film, too, for the younger set. Adults, however, may find that it lacks some of the old Disney magic.

The movie has plenty of things going for it. First, its director, Wolfgang Reitherman, also gave us "One Hundred and One Dalmatians," "The Sword in the Stone," "The Jungle Book," "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh," "Robin Hood," and "The Rescuers," so he knew what he was doing. "The Aristocats" is at least on a par with "Robin Hood," even if it doesn't match "Dalmatians" or "Jungle Book." Second, the Disney artists used a slightly different artistic approach for this one, one they would continue in "Robin Hood" a couple of years later. The style is not quite as bright or colorful as previous Disney films, generally substituting more pastels, with a greater emphasis on rougher line-type drawings than on the detailed watercolor backgrounds of older times. To be fair, though, there are occasional touches of the old Disney style as well, particularly in the country scenes. Then, too, there is an abundance of wonderful voice talents on hand (more of that in a moment), and a fair assortment of songs.

It's just that the voice talents can't quite save some of the commonplace characters, and with the exception of the opening song, most of the tunes lack much spark and sparkle. Ah, but there is that wonderful opening title song, "The Aristocats," sung by Maurice Chevalier, whom the studio coaxed out of retirement to do. After that, though, the rest of the songs are unremarkable, including "Scales and Arpeggios," "Thomas O'Malley Cat," and "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat." Still, the songs by Richard and Robert Sherman, Terry Gilkyson, Floyd Huddleston, and Al Rinker are not at all distracting, and youngsters, especially, might find them of interest.

The story takes place in Paris, 1910, so one can welcome the old-timey atmosphere and the ornate architecture of the city. A rich, elderly lady, Madame Adalaide Bonfamille (voiced by Hermione Baddely), lives for her cats--a mother cat, Duchess (Eva Gabor), and her three kittens. Madame Adalaide loves her cats so much that she stipulates in her will that they should inherit all of her wealth when she dies, and only if the cats should die would her loyal butler inherit the estate. Well, you can guess what happens. The greedy butler, Edgar (Roddy Maude-Roxby), overhears the Madame dictating her will and determines that "Those cats have got to go." He plots to rid himself of the cats by drugging them, carrying them off to the countryside, and dumping them there. The movie concerns the cats' attempts to get back to Paris and their mistress.

Most of this initial intrigue seems perfunctory, developing little suspense or tension. The butler doesn't seem nearly evil or dastardly enough for us to care much about him one way or the other. And, frankly, Duchess and her kittens are rather bland characters; they're cute, to be sure, but they don't generate much enthusiasm for them, either.

Fortunately, things pick up considerably once the butler dumps the cats in the French countryside. That's because we finally get to meet the movie's most interesting characters. There is a pair of hounds (who sound more like they belong in the American South than in France, but who's counting?) whom we get to like, voiced by Pat Buttram and George Lindsey. There is a pair of geese, the Gabble sisters, voiced by Monica Evans and Carole Shelley. And, most important of all, there is the real star of the show, Thomas O'Malley, a cool cat voiced by Phil Harris, who helps the feline family and becomes Duchess's romantic interest. A few years earlier, Harris had pretty much carried "The Jungle Book," and clearly Disney wanted him to do the same for "The Aristocats." He almost pulls it off. It's just that this time he doesn't have a showstopper like "Bare Necessities" to work with, and the way the Disney artists draw him he looks more like a cougar or mountain lion than a swingin' alley cat. Two other characters of note: Roquefort the mouse, voiced by the inimitable Sterling Holloway, and Scat Cat, voiced by Scatman Crothers (in lieu of Louis Armstrong, who pulled out of the production at the last minute). I just wish some of these characters had had bigger parts in the movie.

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