The Aristocats/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Alternative Character Interpretation: Is Edgar really a villain, or a Jerkass Woobie? After all, he put the cats asleep and abandoned them when he could have poisoned them.
    • Regardless of the interpretation of his character, Edgar remains an idiot.
  • Ear Worm: Most of the songs
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: The hound dogs, who come close to stealing the show despite only having a few scenes.
    • Uncle Waldo and the geese too. Even non-fans agree he's really funny in his dru-...marinated state.
  • Follow the Leader: Basically Disney's version of Gay Purr-ee.
  • Jerkass Woobie: Edgar to some point of view.
  • Moral Event Horizon: The only truly evil thing Edgar does was try to skewer O'Malley with a pitchfork. Then again, he did have a few lives to spare.
    • And it's accidental, too. He actually tried to trap him against the wall, not to impale him. It's quite clear Edgar is, yes antagonistical, but too honorable to commit murder.
  • Straw Man Has a Point: Edgar's reason for abducting the cats.
  • Values Dissonance: If the film were made more recently, it's seriously doubtful they'd be able to get away with having an Asian cat who has crooked eyes, buck teeth, a thick accent, and who plays the piano with his chopsticks.
  • What an Idiot!:
    • The entire plot hinges on the fact that Edgar apparently believes each the cats literally have nine lives. There is also that fact that the Disney Encyclopedia writer, John Grant, points out that had Edgar obeyed the wishes of the will, he would have had a guaranteed job taking care of the Duchess' "heirs" until he almost certainly outlives them and gets the remainder of the inheritance all for himself.
      • Not to mention he miscalculates how long they'll live; cats live about 12 years, on average. (This is accurate). He believes they have nine lives, and there are four cats altogether. He then does the math; twelve, multiplied by nine, multiplied by four. He's forgetting that the cats aren't going to take turns aging.[1]
      • It is a Disney movie after all, so for all we know, Disney cats actually do have nine lives.
    • Not to mention, well, they're freaking cats. As Edgar was the only human beneficiary, and cats have little need or use for money, the will basically was saying Edgar gets everything, as long as he takes care of the cats.
    • At the very worst, Edgar would need to take care of the cats, then later on the offspring of the cats. And he could probably justify hiring somebody who really likes cats to take care of them as well. Considering that for this small task he will become a millionairre, it's not a lot to ask. Edgar really isn't very bright...

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  1. At the very least, he admits he got that wrong immediately after.