Directed by: Wolfgang Reitherman
Written by: Ken Anderson & Larry Clemmons
Music by: Richard & Robert Sherman, George Bruns
Released on: December 24, 1970
Running Time: 78 minutes
Box-Office: $26 million in the U.S.
Thomas
O'Malley... Phil Harris
Duchess... Eva Gabor
Berlioz... Dean Clark
Marie... Liz English
Toulouse... Gary Dubin
Roquefort... Sterling
Holloway
Abigail Gabble... Monica Evans
Amelia Gabble... Carole Shelley
Frou-Frou... Nancy Kulp
Napoleon... Pat Buttram
Lafayette... George Lindsey
Scat Cat... Scatman
Crothers
Chinese Cat... Paul Winchell
English Cat... Lord Tim Hudson
Italian Cat... Vito Scotti
Russian Cat... Thurl Ravenscroft
Of
the fabled trio of Gabor sisters, Eva (1919-1995) was the "good Gabor".
She arrived in the US in the 1930s and appeared in films and on Broadway.
However, she is best remembered as the socialite turned farm wife on TV's
"Green Acres". In the Disney universe, she is better known for giving
her voice to the adorable Miss Bianca in The
Rescuers (1977) and its sequel The
Rescuers Down Under (1990).
'Jed Martinez' pointed out that according to a Fall 1970 issue of TV Guide, even though Nancy Kulp provided the speaking voice of Frou-Frou the horse throughout the film, she was not available for the finale, in which a reprise of the song "Ev'rybody Wants To Be A Cat" was sung. And so, in a last-minute casting arrangement, Ruth Buzzi (who had already made a name for herself on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In) provided the singing voice for 'Frou-Frou'.
'Jed' also explains that British-born actresses
Monica Evans and Amelia Sheley (the geese Abigail Gabble and Amelia Gabble)
first gained notoriety in the States, by playing another pair of 'birds'
(UK slang for 'girls')... namely, 'the Pigeon Sisters' in Neil Simon's
The
Odd Couple--first on the Broadway stage, and then later on the big
screen [with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau]. This duo would reunite several
more times - most notably on TV, reprising their roles as 'the Pigeon Sisters'
on the first season of The Odd Couple with Tony Randall and Jack
Klugman--and one more time for vocal work in the 1973 Disney animated feature,
Robin
Hood [with Monica as the vixen Maid Marian and Carole as the hen
'Lady Kluck'... thus, Carole remained ypecast in an avian role, of sorts.)
The name "Aristocats"
is actually a printer's error when the "r" was accidentally left off of
the title for a chapter in David Duff's serious biographical study "Albert
and Victoria" called "Albert and the Aristocats." The only person to notice
the mistake was the author's wife who had merely thought it was a topical
quip by Duff. Apparently later editions corrected this error.
According to Jim
Hill, the Disney team had deliberately designed the character of Scat
Cat based on the looks and style of Louis Armstrong: the way he played
his trumpet, his roly-poly physique, right down to the prominent gap between
his teeth. The singer had previously informed the Aristocats production
team that he was thrilled with the idea of permanently becoming a part
of the Disney family by providing a voice for one of the company's animated
films. Encouraged by Armstrong's enthusiasm, the animators reworked the
middle of the movie so it would feature Scat Cat leading all the other
cats in a huge jazz production number. Then in 1969 the deal suddenly fell
apart. Before Disney had gotten Armstrong into the studio to record a single
line of dialogue, Louis abruptly bailed out of the project. Whatever his
reasons, Louis's departure left a huge hole in Disney's then-in-production
animated feature. The Aristocats whole second act was built on Scat Cat's
impromptu jazz concert. Without a jazzman at the heart of that sequence
to drive the action, that part of the film would just fall apart. In desperation,
Disney hired Scatman Crothers to provide vocals for Scat Cat. Their direction
to Crothers: pretend you're Satchmo.
Maurice Chevalier
came out of retirement to sing the title song. He died two years later
at the age of 83.
In one scene,
Marie falls out of the milk truck and O-Malley rescues her and jumps on
the end of the truck to set Marie back inside. His front feet are barely
holding on as he passes Marie to her mother. In 101
Dalmatians, this is the exact same scene when Pongo, "dressed"
as a black lab, brings the last pup to the truck as the real lab fends
off Horace and Jasper. Pongo jumps on, with his front feet barely holding
on, and passes the pup to Perdy.
Of late, possibly
due to a lack of female animated characters that appeal to young girls,
a strong marketing emphasis has been paid to the Aristokitten Marie in
merchandising to children.
The
Aristocats was originally planned as a two-part live action special
for the television program Walt Disney's "Wonderful World of Color." This
version was shelved because Walt Disney preferred the film as an animated
feature, but at the time he was devoted to The
Jungle Book. As he died shortly thereafter, his wishes were honored
and The Aristocats became the first animated feature released without
Walt Disney's direct oversight, and began a new chapter in Disney Animation.
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