The Aristocats,” originally released in 1970, was the first animated feature produced by Walt Disney Pictures after Disney`s death. Technically it is as fine as anything made in Disney`s last decade, but the absence of his hand is evident. The characters are not as vivid, the structure not as clean or efficient, and the psychological resonance not as strong as they might have been under Disney`s direction.
Actually, Disney had begun to remove himself from the animation process as his attention turned more toward his theme parks. Already in ”The Jungle Book,” released in 1967 shortly after his death, the crucial process of characterization that Disney`s animators traditionally had accomplished through line and movement had been taken over largely by the use of celebrity voices that carried with them their faces and personalities.
”The Aristocats” relies too much on the immediate recognizability of actress Eva Gabor and bandleader Phil Harris to establish its two leading characters: Duchess, an elegant Parisian house cat, and O`Malley, a fiesty, jive-talking alley cat who rescues Duchess and her three kittens from the clutches of an evil butler.
Also on hand are Sterling Holloway as a sympathetic mouse, Pat Buttram as a grouchy bloodhound, and Nancy Culp, of ”The Beverly Hillbillies,”
ungenerously cast as an upper-crust carriage horse. At times, the film seems less like a cartoon than a rerun of ”Hollywood Squares.”
Still, there are nice moments, particularly among the three kittens, no doubt because, without celebrity voices, the animators had to work harder to establish them. A piano-playing sequence displays the impeccable timing, the perfect sense of weight and volume, and the gracefully broadened yet still natural movement of the great Disney films.
Children will not quibble over the fine points, and ”The Aristocats”
remains a first-rate entertainment for little ones. Compared to Saturday-morning television, the animation seems truly magical, although even in very young minds it probably will not linger with the same weight as ”Snow White” or ”Pinocchio.”
”THE ARISTOCATS”
(STAR)(STAR)(STAR)
Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman; story by Larry Clemmons, Vance Gerry, Frank Thomas, Julius Svendsen, Ken Anderson, Eric Cleworth and Ralph Wright;
animation directed by Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnson and John Lounsbery; production designed by Ken Anderson; music by George Bruns;
produced by Wolfgang Reitherman and Winston Hibler. A Walt Disney Pictures release; opened Friday, April 10, at the Chestnut Station and outlying theaters. Running time: 1:18 minutes. MPAA rating: G.
VOICE CAST
O`Malley ……………. Phil Harris
Duchess …………….. Eva Gabor
Roquefort ……………. Sterling Holloway
Scat Cat ……………. Scatman Crothers
Chinese Cat …………. Paul Winchell
