Other then The Song of the South, which has been seldom shown or distributed over the last thirty years, The Aristocats was the oldest, feature length, theatrically released, Disney animated film that I had not yet seen, and its also one of the weakest. That is not to say the movie is bad, its just not that memorable. At its core its basically a remake of 101 Dalmatians, only with about a half a dozen cats as the protagonists instead of five score dogs. The funniest scene in the film is when the butler is trying to get his stuff back from those two dogs, that made me laugh out loud.
I really wanted to see this film as a kid, and I was exposed to some merchandise and children's books about the story, but somehow I just never got around to seeing it until now. What struck me most about the movie is how it reinforces the way that Disney animation operated a sort of stock company when it came to voices in the post Walt years from the late 60's to maybe the early 80's. Eva Gabor, Phil Harris, Sterling Holloway, and Pat Buttram were are all go to voice talents for Disney at the time, even if you've never seen this film you will recognize their voices. Also present are the talents of the great Thrul Ravenscroft, who had been doing voice work, principally singing, for Disney since the early 1940's, but who is best known as Tony the Tiger and for singing You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch in the classic 1966 animated TV special about the Suessian grump. Anyway The Aristocats is likable enough, but nothing special, though highly recommended for Disney completest. **1/2
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