Product Description

This enchanting tale begins in Paris, when a kind and eccentric millionairess wills her entire estate to her family a family of adorable high-society cats. But when Edgar, the greedy butler, overhears her plan, he catnaps Duchess, the elegant, soft-spoken mother, and her three mischievous kittens and abandons them in the French countryside. Soon, they re being escorted home by the charming Thomas O Malley, a rough-and-tumble alley cat, who takes them to his pad along the way, where Scat Cat and his band of swingin jazz cats perform the memorable Ev rybody Wants To Be A Cat. Enriched by highstyle Disney animation (The New Yorker) and toe-tapping music by Academy Award® winning songwriters the Sherman brothers, The Aristocats is a timeless treasure and the last animated feature to get the nod from Walt Disney himself.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #575 in DVD
• Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
• Released on: 2008-02-05
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Aspect ratio: 1.75:1
• Formats: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 79 minutes

Features

• Disney's irresistibleic THE ARISTOCATS is all jazzed up in a spectacular Special Edition, complete with a new digital transfer. In the heart of Paris, a kind and eccentric millionairess wills her entire estate to Duchess, her high-society cat, and her three little kittens. Laughs and adventure ensue as the greedy, bumbling butler pulls off the ultimate catnap caper. Now it's up to the roug

Amazon.com
Duchess and her three kittens are enjoying the high life with their devoted human mistress until the wicked butler Edgar, with his eyes on a big inheritance, decides to dope them and get them out of the picture. How can these fragile creatures cope in the unfamiliar countryside and the meaner streets of Paris? Only by meeting the irrepressible alley cat O'Malley, a rough diamond with romance in his heart. After they get a taste of the wide dangerous world, he guides them home, and Edgar gets his just desserts at the wrong end of a horse. As always, it's really the voices rather than the animation that are the heart of the Disney magic: Phil Harris is brilliant as O'Malley, Eva Gabor as Duchess is... well... Eva Gabor; but perhaps the most memorable turns are by Pat Buttram and George Lindsay, who turn the old hounds Napoleon and Lafayette into a couple of bumbling Southern-fried rednecks. Their scenes with Edgar, and the musical numbers with Scat Cat and his cool-dude band, are classic. Most striking about seeing The Aristocats now is how deeply Disney's style of animation has changed since this was at the cutting edge in 1970. Perhaps the nostalgic, dated feel are just a result of being plonked down in Belle Epoque Paris, but the illustrations are fussier (a pity) and the animation and overall pace much less frenetic (sometimes a relief) than in more recent efforts such as Aladdin. --Richard Farr

On the DVD
This 2008 special edition DVD boasts a host of new special features including a great deleted song featurette with composer Richard Sherman in which he presents Madame Bonfamille's melody "Porquois" and Duchess's deleted song "She Never Felt Alone" complete with a recorded temp-track featuring the vocals of Robie Lester accompanied by piano and set against a variety of storyboard sketches. Major songs "The Aristocats," "Scales and Arpeggios," "Thomas O'Malley," and "Ev'rybody Wants To Be A Cat" are presented with or without on-screen lyrics, a virtual kitten game with television and DVD-ROM options allows viewers to care for their very own kitten, and a second game teaches kids the names of five major musical instruments. One "Backstage Disney" presentation features Robert Sherman and Richard Sherman detailing the process of composing music for film and relating the story of how they convinced the retired Maurice Chevalier to make one last Disney recording and a second consists of an Aristocats scrapbook filled with Ken Anderson's concept art, storyboards, color and character development sketches, and behind-the-scenes photographs. A twelve-minute excerpt from the 1956 Wonderful World of Make Believe television program "The Great Cat Family" features Walt Disney narrating an animated and completely captivating history of the domestic cat and a bonus Figaro and Minnie Mouse short "Bath Day" rounds out the DVD special features. --Tami Horiuchi

Review
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Customer Reviews

Amazon Lumps All Reviews Together Again :o(
There are over a hundred reviews for The Aristocats as of this date. They all refer to the previous edition (Disney Gold Classic Edition or whatever they called it years ago when it first came out on dvd).
So now we will have those reviews mixed up with new reviews for the Feb 5, 2008 version which offers more extras and a different aspect ratio. This may make things a bit confusing.

Moving on...
People compare this film to 101 Dalmations. This is Disney's "cat" movie, they say. You can't compare them; they're too similiar somehow.
But they are both decent, cute family films.
Yes, Cruella is scary compared to the bumbling butler Edgar. There is a sense of jeopardy but Dalmations is much stronger in that sense.
Both films were made using the 1960's Xerox method where the resulting animation is more sketchy looking and more close to the original animator's drawings.
The Aristocats is more of a musical, definitely. A few forgettable songs, but also the charming and infectious tune "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat". That is the tune I think of when I remember the adventures of Duchess and Thomas and the kittens. (101 Dalmations had the little "Cruella De VIl" song, but that's it.)

Overall this is a fun vehicle but it is not a classic such as Peter Pan, Cinderella, or Lady and the Tramp. It has a nice, relaxing pace and is probably most appealing to youngsters. The voice talent, as ever with Disney cartoon features, is great. Eva Gabor's Duchess is warm and maternal while Phil Harris as Thomas O'Malley is macho yet sweet (and sounds like a lifelong diehard smoker). He also lent his vocal prowess to The Jungle Book when he played Baloo the bear.

This special edition for 2008 has some cute extras. But unless you're a total stickler for aspect ratios or you collect every version they release, the previous edition should suffice. It was fine, with a clear and bright picture/sound presentation.

Wonderful film!
I'm so glad that Disney made this film. I much prefer the more innocent Disney movies of the past. Movies like Lady and the Tramp and The Aristocats are truly fun, wholesome entertainment. Don't get me started on the new Disney films which are way too interested in pushing hit pop songs and attracting adults with more action, violence, and suggestive dialogue. I know things can't stay the same so I'm glad we have this film from a more innocent era. I particularly like the fact that the pacing is relaxed and the villain is not very scary. I'm always looking for what I call "calm" movies and videos for my 2 and a half year old. I don't want him seeing frightening or fast-paced images. Lady and the Tramp and Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas are other great shows for young viewers. Unlike the sterile environment of the Teletubbies, these movies are full of wonderful images and interesting music. I find the backdrop drawings extremely interesting and stylized. I also like the setting of the film (France) as opposed to the mainly exotic locations lately of Disney films.

The approach Disney seems to have forgotten
Considering Disney's recent track record, it would appear that they think the average kid is maturing faster than before. Thus, they seem to put out movies that are dark and inappropriate for the average kid. The only exceptions to this trend are the wonderful Toy Story movies and A Bug's Life. Flash back a decade or two, and you'll find a different Disney, a Disney that made movies everybody could enjoy. Aristocats comes from that era. True the animation from this decade is weak, and the story loses a few points in some areas. The villain is also quite tame. All of that, however, disappears under the movie's charm, upbeat attitude, and general fun. It's certainly more fun than Hercules. People looking for something intense should avoid this. Families with small children and those who love adorable cats will love this movie. From this era, I also recommend Robin Hood. As I've said before, you just can't beat old school Disney.