The Aristocats: Difference between revisions
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A 1970 American animated feature film produced and released by [[Disney|Walt Disney Productions]].
▲"[[Gay Paree|Paris]], [[The Edwardian Era|1910]]. The [[Uncle Pennybags|fabulously wealthy]] retired opera singer Madame Adelaide Bonfamille has decided to [[Pet Heir|leave her entire fortune to her high-society pet cats]]. Her butler, Edgar, wanting the fortune for himself, drugs the felines with sleeping pills and abandons them in the French countryside... the night after the will was made... [[Sarcasm Mode|which isn't the least bit suspicious]].
▲"Unlike cats in the real world, classy Duchess and her three kittens decide to make their way back home with the help of streetwise alley cat Thomas O'Malley. Along the way, he takes them to hang out with his alley cat friends, who treat the pets to some anachronistic jazz music (accompanied by even more anachronistic [[The Sixties|psychedelic graphics]]). No prizes for guessing the ending: Duchess hooks up with Thomas O'Malley, and Edgar gets what's coming to him courtesy of the alley cats."
{{tropelist}}
* [[Aluminum Christmas Trees]]: Yes, they did have motorcycles in 1910. They were invented in [[Older Than They Think|1885]]. Likewise, the [[Le Metropolitain|Métro 1]] opened in 1900.
** [[Anachronism Stew]]: On the other hand, swing music and a ''hippie'' cat in 1910.
Line 26 ⟶ 14:
*** In a children's book of the film, they say that jazz comes from America, meaning one of the cats they met brought it to Paris.
*** Then again, [[Acceptable Breaks From Reality|talking cats didn't come around]] 'till ''at least'' the '80s.
*** Some of the cars and trucks seen in the film appears to be from the 1960s. Justified, considering [[
* [[Animal Talk]]: At the very least, cats, horses, mice and geese all speak the same language; a couple of talking dogs also appear, but we never see them interact with the cats.
** A joke right near the end implies that either Madame can speak the animal language, or she just believes they speak.
* [[Anti
* [[Author Existence Failure]] This was Walt Disney's final film. He died during the late stages of its production.
* [[Big "Shut Up!"]]
* [[Blonde, Brunette, Redhead]]: The three kittens: Marie (white), Berlioz (dark) and Toulouse (orange).
* [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]]: Madame's attorney who has to be interrupted during an impromptu rendition of ''[[
* [[Butt Monkey]]: Edgar. Also, Lafayette and Napoleon at times.
* [[The Butler Did It]]: Edgar is Disney's epitome of this.
* [[
* [[Captain Ethnic]]: O'Malley's pal, Scat Cat, who was [[No Celebrities Were Harmed|modeled on]] (and almost voiced by) [[
** Scat Cat also bears no small resemblance to [[Ink Suit Actor|his voice]] [
* [[Casanova]]: Implied with O'Malley, who lathers Duchess in praise like a pro. He later seems surprised by how true his comments were.
* [[Cats Are Mean]]: Averted by the kindly Duchess and her kittens who are friends with a mouse named Roquefort. Used straight when Scat Cat's gang tries to eat Roquefort, then immediately subverted when he manages to spit out O'Malley's name and tell them Duchess and the kittens are in trouble -- they run off to go help.
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* [[Cool Cat]]: A major theme of the movie. From upbeat wanderer Thomas O'Malley, to collectedly refined Duchess, to swingin' hep cat Scat Cat, the moral of the story is "nothing keeps a good cat down."
* [[Cute Kitten]]: But, of course!
* [[The Danza]]: Contrary to popular belief, Scat Cat was ''not'' originally intended to be voiced by Scatman Crothers, but by [[
* [[Deep South]]/[[Not Even Bothering
** Possibly the dogs and their owners [[Wild Mass Guessing|immigrated from Louisiana]]?
* [[Department of Redundancy Department]]:
{{quote|
'''O'Malley:''' Waldo?
'''Amelia:''' Yes, he's our uncle. }}
* [[Disappeared Dad]]: The father of the kittens is never seen or mentioned, although they express hope that O'Malley will take up the job {{spoiler|which he does}}.
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*** A sequel storybook was written sometime in the 80s. It obviously takes place after the movie as the geese sisters show up. But, O'Malley is completely absent from the story! Hmmm...
* [[Disney Acid Sequence]]: Both uses of "Ev'rybody Wants To Be A Cat".
* [[Disney Animated Canon]]: Depending on how you look at it, this film is either the last of Disney's "Golden Era", or the beginning of their Dark Age. It was the last movie Walt personally green-lit before his death, but the first he never worked on directly (''[[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|The Jungle Book]]'' was the last film he produced).
* [[
* [[
* [[Expy]]/[[Pigeonholed Voice Actor]]: O'Malley has a similar personality (and the same voice actor, Phil Harris) as Baloo from ''[[The Jungle Book (Disney film)|The Jungle Book]]''. Harris would play another, even more blatant, expy of Baloo as Little John in ''[[Robin Hood (Disney film)|Robin Hood]]''.
** The Geese sisters Abigail and Amelia are based on the "Pigeon Sisters" from ''[[The Odd Couple]]'' movie and are voiced by the same actresses, who went on to voice Maid Marian and Lady Cluck in ''[[Robin Hood (Disney film)|Robin Hood]]''.
** The whole movie, plot-wise, is essentially ''[[
* [[The Edwardian Era]]
* [[Fantastic Racism]]: Two words--Shun Gon.
* [[French Cuisine Is Haughty]]: Featured a dish called Prime Country Goose a la Provençale, which is apparently "stuffed with chestnuts" and "basted in white wine."
* [[Freudian Excuse]]: Edgar served Madame Bonafamille faithful and loyally all his life for having her leaving all her fortune to her cats which don't even know what is it.
* [[Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!]]: Okay, admit it. Madame Bonfamille's pretty hot for an lady her age. This is actually most noticeable during the scene where she is shown climbing out of her bed and discovering that her cats are gone.
* [[G
* [[Gay Paree]]
* [[Germans Love David Hasselhoff]]: Marie is getting a disproportionate amount of attention in Japan, and is more frequently featured in the Disneyland Tokyo. The reason why? Japanese love kittens..
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: Seriously, have you ever paid attention to the lyrics of Ev'rybody Wants To Be A Cat?
{{quote|
** Don't forget that one of the characters (Uncle Waldo) is implied to be completely drunk in his debut scene. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] during this scene:
{{quote|
'''O'Malley:''' *looking disgusted* Basted? He's been ''marinated'' in it.
'''Waldo:''' [[Comically Missing the Point|Dreadful! Being British, I would've preferred sherry.]] }}
** The scene with a sleepy Napoleon and Lafayette and a back-scratching Edgar is fairly full of innuendo.
** Madame revealing herself to be extremely beautiful at night.
* [[Hey,
** [[The Jungle Book|Baloo]] is O'Malley.
** [[The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh|Tigger]] is Shun Gon.
* [[Hoist
* [[Horrible Judge of Character]]: Averted with Toulouse, who is pretty much the only character who suspects Edgar from the beginning.
* [[Hot Mom]]: Duchess, as far as the cat world is concerned.
Line 106 ⟶ 94:
* [[Meaningful Name]]: Translated from French, Madame Adelaide Bonfamille's last name literally means "good family".
** And her first name comes from a Germanic word meaning "of a noble kind".
* [[Mid
* [[Murder Is the Best Solution]]: Totally subverted. Edgar is shown to be never willing to kill Duchess and her kittens, but just to send'em away from him.
* [[Musicalis Interruptus]]: Near the end when Roquefort is trying to crack the lock on trunk holding the cats.
* [[Mysterious Animal Senses]]: Just from sound, Napoleon can tell what size and shape shoes Edgar is wearing (though colour? That's just ridiculous), and can also identify a one-wheeled haystack.
{{quote|
'''Lafayette:''' What color are they?
'''Napoleon:''' Why, they're bla-[[Lampshade Hanging|now how would I know that?]] }}
** And they ARE black...
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* [[No Fourth Wall]]: The last scene.
* [[No More for Me]]: At one point, a man sees Scat Cat and his gang run past, with Roquefort apparently in hot pursuit (he's just trying to catch up so he can tell them where they're headed) and promptly pours away his bottle of wine.
* [[One
** Even the main characters comment on it. "I like Uncle Waldo." "Yes, especially when he's 'marinated.'"
*** Unfortunately, this was also Bill Thompson's final role in an animated film, due to him dying of a heart attack a few months later.
** More of a two-scene wonder, but Napoleon and Lafayette steal the show whenever they appear. Their southern accents and hilarious dynamic helps a lot.
* [[Overly Long Name]]: Thomas O'Malley's full name is Abraham De Lacey Gi-u-sep-pe Casey Thomas O'Malley. He introduces himself with an [["I Am" Song]] based on the name.
** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by Duchess:
{{quote|
** He later calls himself "J. Thomas O'Malley", so it's possible the [[Overly Long Name]] is just something he made for the song.
* [[Papa Wolf]]: O'Malley.
* [[Parent
* [[Parental Bonus]]: Most young children won't catch the pun on "aristocrats," but their parents will.
** Also, O'Malley calling his buddies swingers and Shun Gon saying Berlioz "blew it". ''Yeah''...
* [[Pet Heir]]
* [[Pun
* [[Railroad Tracks of Doom]]: Over an insecure bridge, no less. Between ending up in the locomotive's plow and the fast-flowing river below, the cats choose the river.
* [[Sarcasm Mode]]: Although O'Malley's compliments of Duchess seem fairly genuine, the way he lathers the geese seems to be dripping with sarcasm.
* [[Say My Name]]: O'Malley learns Marie's name solely due to [[
* [[Shout
** This isn't [[
** Shun Gon apparantly bears some resemblance to the Siamese cats in ''[[Lady and
* [[Smug Snake]]: Edgar becomes this when he thinks he's gotten rid of the cats for good.
* [[Spit Take]]: Edgar, when he hears meowing at the door.
* [[Spoiled Brat]]: Marie acts like one sometimes.
* [[Straight Man]]: Napoleon.
* [[Stock Footage]]: It's pretty clear Disney was already experiencing the financial woes that forced them to make their next film, ''[[Robin Hood (Disney film)|Robin Hood]]'', so economically. The difference here is that the recycled animation is ''also'' from this film. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8N0XLpKVew&t=3m33s This shot] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8N0XLpKVew&t=5m50s this shot] occur less than three minutes apart from each other in the movie.
** Many of the vehicles in the film are actually recycled from ''[[
* [[Street Smart]]: O'Malley.
* [[Talking Animal]]: To be specific, [[Animal Talk|translated animal]].
* [[Tempting Fate]]: "You're going to Timbuktu if it's the last thing I do!" Guess who ends up going there instead!
** "It's not exactly the Ritz but it's peaceful and quiet an-" Cue the lights turned on and Scat Cat and the gang playing music. That being said, Duchess and the kittens do end up joining the fun, so it's not bad at all.
* [[That's All Folks]]: The dogs at the end of the film.
* [[That Was Not a Dream]]: Toulouse wakes up while being kidnapped. He somehow gets back to sleep, and when he wakes up again, he dismisses the events as a dream at first.
** It happened to Madame, too, although her dream probably didn't show Edgar committing the deed, or she'd have suspected him.
* [[Theme Naming]]: Toulouse, Berlioz, Napoleon, LaFayette...
* [[Those Two Guys|Those Two Dogs]]: Napoleon and
* [[What Song Was This Again?]]: "Ev'rybody Wants To Be A Cat" becomes ''Every cat is a musician'' in the Greek version, "Everyone wants to play some Jazz" in the Italian version, and "Cats need lots of music" in the German version.
* [[White and Grey Morality]]: The protagonists are a family of good cats. The antagonist is a greedy butler who, on the other hand, probably served faithfully Madame Bonfamille the whole life and he arguably had rights to the inehritance.
* [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]]: Edgar basically "turned evil" after he learns all the inheritance will pass to the cats.
* [[You Fail Animal Care Forever]]: Pouring half a bottle of sleeping pills into a bowl of milk and feeding it to cats is a fantastic way to get them killed. If nothing else, it will do a mouse in quickly.
** But cats have nine lives! At least, that's what Edward thinks!
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Animated Films]]
▲[[Category:Disney Animated Canon]]
[[Category:Films of the 1970s]]
[[Category:Animal Title Index]]
▲[[Category:The Aristocats]]
[[Category:Disney]]
[[Category:Western Animation of the 1970s]]
[[Category:Western Animation]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aristocats, The}}
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