Hey everyone! With a little encouragement from Nate, I decided to continue with my Disney movie list. Thanks, Nate, for bolstering my self-confidence! 8-D
I admit that part of my love for this movie comes purely from my love of cats. As a cat lover, I feel somewhat responsible for supporting cat-centric movies. But it really is cute! It centers around Duchess, a pampered, rich house cat who is trying to raise her three spirited children to be "lovely, charming lady and gentlemen." Duchess and her kittens are owned by Madame Adelaide, a kind, rich, retired opera singer. As Madame has no living relatives, she wants her cats to inherit her whole fortune, with the promise that her faithful butler, Edgar, will inherit her fortune after her cats have lived their lifespan. Edgar, who eavesdrops on the will conversation Adelaide is having with her ancient but energetic lawyer (Yay, a good lawyer character!! :) ), is frustrated with this idea and decides to dispose of the cats. He tries to dispose of the cats in the country, but after being chased by two watchdogs, the cats' basket falls off Edgar's motorbike, leaving the cats stranded in the French countryside. As fate would have it, the family meets Thomas O'Malley the alley cat, who takes it upon himself to help the family back to Paris and win the fair Duchess's affections.
This movie may not be epic or spectacular, but it is still a fun romp. It has excellent voice casting, including Pat Buttram as Napoleon the watchdog and Sterling Holloway as Roquefort the mouse. Eva Gabor and Phil Harris also do an excellent job as Duchess and Thomas, respectively. The watchdogs are one of the highlights of the show, and the geese Abigail and Amelia are funny, if a little annoying. (It's their Uncle Waldo who really steals the show.) The art is a little sketchy, but I think that's the look the animators where going for and it helps give the movie its own style. Thomas's alley cat friends add a fun, jazzy flavor to the movie.
Good Quotes from the AristoCats:
1. Marie: "Ladies do NOT start fights, but they can finish them!"
3. Berlioz: "We were just practicing biting and clawing."
Duchess: "Aristocats do not practice biting and clawing, and things like that. It's just horrible!" (Ha, try telling that to Alexander... Doesn't Berlioz have the coolest name? He must be named after Hector Berlioz, the French composer who had a rare appreciation for the viola. It's true that Berlioz is the most talented of the kittens. Like Colonel Brandon, "he plays the pianoforte very well...")
4. Lafayette: "Okay, let's charge!"
Napoleon: "Wait a minute, I'm the leader, I'm the one that says when we go...Here we go. Charge!!"
5. Thomas: "Basted? He's been marinated in it!"
6. Thomas: "You know something...I like Uncle Waldo."
Duchess: "Especially when he's marinated!"
7. Lafayette: "I still say it was a little old cricket bug!"
Napoleon: "Wait a minute, I'm the leader, I'll decide what it was...It was a little old cricket bug."
8. Napoleon: "Lafayette! Lafayette, listen."
Lafayette: "Oh, shucks, Napoleon. That ain't nothin' more but a little ol' cricket bug."
Napoleon: "It's squeaky shoes approachin'."
Lafayette: "Oh, cricket bugs don't wear shoes!"
Napoleon: "Hush your mouth! [cocks his ear up] Let's see. They're Oxford shoes, size nine and a half. Hole in the left sole, it sounds like."
Lafayette: "What color are they?"
Napoleon: "why they're bla... Now how would I know that?"
9. Thomas: "Hiya chicks."
Abigail Gabble: "We're not chickens. We're geese."
Thomas (sarcastically): "No... I thought you were swans."
10. Georges Hautecourt: "Whoops! Not as spry as I was when I was eighty."
For more quotes, go to http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065421/quotes or just watch the movie.
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Yay! You posted! That was quick!
ReplyDeleteWhat the heck!?!? I never picked up on Madame being a retired opera singer!!
Yup, she is. I read about her being an opera singer in a summary of the plot somewhere, but it makes sense that she's an opera singer because in a scene with Georges towards the beginning of the movie, Madame and the cats are listening to a recording of Bizet's "Carmen." Georges says "Adelaide, that music! It's from "Carmen" isn't it?" Madame responds, "That's right, it was my favorite role." and then they talk about old times. I didn't pick up on her being a retired opera singer either until I read that she was; but now that I know she sang opera, that scene makes more sense!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading! I loff you!
Yeah, I remember now. She does say that. That's just one of those things that goes over little kid's heads. :)
ReplyDeleteI loff you too!!!!