Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #934 in VHS
• Released on: 2000-03-27
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Animated, Closed-captioned, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 76 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
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

Synopsis
When Madame Adelaide Bonfamille, the eccentric millionairess, passes away, she leaves her fortune to her cat, Duchess and her three kittens. Unfortunately Edgar her greedy butler has other ideas and catnaps Duchess and her kittens, takes them to the countryside and abandons them. There they meet Thomas O'Malley, the alley cat, and he offers to help them to return home...

From the Back Cover
Disney's 2000th full-length animated classic, The Aristocats is an unforgettable mix of wild adventure, colourful characters and jazzy music your family will find absolutely irresistable!

The enchanting tale begins in Paris, when a kind and eccenric millionairess wills her entire estate to her family - a family of adorable high-society cats. Overhearing her plan, Edgar, the greedy, bumbling butler, catnaps Duchess, the elegant, soft spoken mother, and her three mischievous kittens and abandons them in the French countryside. The charming Thomas O'Malley, a rough-and-tumble alley cat, saunters by and offers to escort them home. Along the way, they stop at Thomas' "pad" where Scat Cat and his band of swingin jazz cats perform a memorable "Ev'rybody Wants To Be a Cat".

Enriched by high-style Disney animation and engaging music by Oscar-winning songwriters, the Sherman Brothers (Mary Poppins) The Aristocats makes the perfect addition to your family's video collection!

Customer Reviews

The Aristocats Special Edition (Upgrading?)
I purchased this copy to replace my current copy of the original dvd release.
Please be aware that this version has not been "Digitaly restored". They claim "Digital Transfer", but I could still see film spots etc, which are removed in a "restoration" i.e. the quality was not as good as it is when they restore.
They have also converted the movie into Widescreen format using Pan and Scan.
If you are interested in the animation side of the movie, then you will find lots of original detail missing as the top and bottom are chopped off.
If you just want the movie to fill the whole screen, then this is the dvd version for you.

One of the best
There's so much to love about this movie- Phil Harris' delightful Thomas O Malley (-cat), the cute-as-anything-ever kittens Berlioz, Toulouse and Marie (best names ever), the trippy colours of the jazz scene, the racist Chinese cat, the dancing old man at the start of the film, the pair of (not French) dogs from the countryside, Roquefort the vigilant mouse (played by Stirling "Winnie The Pooh" Holloway), the designs, the music, everything, makes for a bona fide classic, less talked about than some of the other 70s Disney films.

Kids'll love it, as will any fan of brilliant animation (the process itself, as well as the genre). Highly recommended.

'Miaou-miaous'
Good hearted Disney film suitable for the smallest kids- my little 2 year old loves watching her 'Miaou-miaous'.

On the other hand it's quite amusing with some adult humour thrown in for 'grown-ups'.

It has the usual loveable characters too- even the baddy (Edgar the butler) isn't REALLY bad (just greedy). Phil Harris (Thomas O'Malley) plays his usual likeable part, and there's Scatman Crothers (Scat Cat) as well!

Charming animation, stylish and 'artistic' (not 'unfinished & sloppy' as some have moaned). Not the usual 'Disney feel' as it's in line with a French style and elegence. The backgrounds are particularly good. Apparently this was the last film to get the 'nod' from Disney himself and it was directed by the Disney regular Wolfgang Reitherman (Jungle book, The Rescuers, 101 Dalmations).

Not as many songs as some other Disney films, but at 1hr 15mins what do you expect?