On DVD: The Aristocats Special Edition

 

 

Directed By Wolfgang Reitherman

Starring Phil Harris, Eva Gabor

 

Disney's 20th film is a classic even if it isn't as well received as some of the others such as Snow White but nonetheless it deserves a special edition and it finally gets one.  Does the movie hold up after all these years?  That's the question I was asking myself as I was cracking this one open.

 

The Movie

 

Let me start by admitting I'm not and never was as a child a huge fan of Disney films or television.  I was an outsider type child though.  I preferred The Electric company to Sesame Street any day and would skip over all the animal cartoons on Saturdays in favor of the one or two super hero cartoons that came on.  So, depending on your perspective I'm either the absolute worst writer to cover this film or the perfect objective one.  I don't really know which is right.  I'll leave that to you to decide.

 

This film, originally released in 1970 was about as hip as most classic Disney animated films.  They always seem to be behind the times, waiting to use things like jazz music until the controversy had passed and the music was safe for mass consumption.  This however does give Disney animated films a sort of timelessness, as if they exist in their own world for children.  It's only later in adulthood that you catch more of the influence of cultural morays of the era in which the film was made.  This film isn't as offensive as certain other films may be deemed nowadays but there is just a little stereotyping going on here and there.

 

So a rich crazy cat lady has decided to leave all of her wealth to her cats.  Her butler gets the riches after the cats have all died.  Well, he doesn't want to wait around so he kidnaps the cats and ditches them in the French countryside.  He had much more nefarious plans for them but he was sidetracked by some dogs.  The pampered kitties meet up with some street wise cats that take them on a tour of a side of Paris they've never seen before as they find their way home.  As you'd expect there's comedy, romance, and music to follow.

 

So, it's not my type of animated film but I have to say that seeing this classic animation hold up so well was surprising and refreshing.  That's right there's no fake 3-D or stiff computer animation here.  Children should still quite enjoy this film and their parents will appreciate the nostalgia.  Honestly though the film is just a bit derivative of some of Disney's previous films such as 101 Dalmatians but in the end there's enough difference to make both films worth buying for fans of Disney.

 

8/10

 

The Video

 

Previous to this release The Aristocats was available in a basic full frame version.  Now we get the film in the original anamorphic widescreen presentation and it looks great.  Colors are vivid and the image is fairly clean for its age.  There aren't any big issues with aliasing or grain either.  Everything looks quite good here, probably as good as it's likely to look outside of a hi def version.

 

8.5/10

 

The Audio

 

The new Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation is very strong featuring good surround usage, especially during heavy music and the dialogue, score, and sound effects are crisp and well balanced.

 

8/10

 

The Packaging and Bonus Features

 

The single disc is presented in a standard amaray case and slipcover featuring classic Disney-esque artwork that'll easily draw fans to it on the shelves of Best Buy.

 

There's only one brief real featurette here and it is an interview with the two composers discussing their approaches to the music of the film.  It's interesting but I really wanted more variety of information about the making of the film.  There's an excerpt from a 1956 episode of Wonderful world of Disney that of course has nothing to do with the film itself but it's featured here because it's about cats.  Walt himself discusses the history of cats along with some animation.

 

Perhaps for hardcore fans the biggest feature is the deleted song.  Richard Sherman plays the demos for the two times the song was supposed to appear in the film and brings the music to life with production sketches, storyboards, and cast photos.

 

There's an extensive gallery of images from the film featuring production art, cast and crew pictures, poster art, and even character development including that of a maid that never made it into the film.  Other than that there are a couple of games for young children that can be played on the DVD player or by placing the DVD into a computer DVD-ROM. 

 

There are some interesting bits here but nowhere near the substance the film deserves.  Even a commentary by a Disney historian would have been cool.

4/10

 

Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

The Review

The Movie 8/10

The Video 8.5/10

The Audio 8/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 4/10

Overall (Not an Average) 8/10

 

-Stephen Lackey