December 02, 2009.

O'Malley Almost Ballou It.

Rating: 3
Why do some rich, childless women leave their entire fortunes to pets--cats, in particular? The question can addle one's mind, even driving some to kidnapping and attempted murder. It completely freaked out Edgar, the much maligned butler in "The Aristocats," Disney's tribute not to cats, or the upper class--but to the jazz age.

Edgar learns of his status in his boss's will by listening to a conversation through--what else?--a drain pipe in his tiny quarters. So that night he drugs the woman's four cats (Eva Gabor, really, and three illegitimate kittens) and drops them off in the country. There's no way they can find their way back, unless they meet Ballou the Bear or some other Phil Harris-esque figure--which, fortunately, they do. Harris is just as cool and charming as ever as the free-spirited Thomas O'Malley Cat. But instead of entering with the more charming, "Well it's a doobity doo, it's a doobity doo, I mean a dooby dooby dooby dooby doobity do," Ballou--I mean, O'Malley--sings a long, tiresome tribute to his lack of responsibility.

To his credit, he almost immediately feels responsible for the stranded cat family in spite of their apparent lack of shortcomings, hijacking a milk truck headed for Paris and the aristocratic mansion where the woman is by now completely losing it. (Perhaps she should have made more effort to bond with humans, rather than pets. I'm not saying she deserved this, but people do set themselves up for tragedy, and then act completely shocked when the inevitable happens.) Later, they meet up with two spinster geese and their alcoholic uncle. Edgar, meanwhile, tries to retrieve his hat from two American Civil War throwback dogs that have somehow ended up in the French countryside.

It's all just a prelude to the rocking finale, set in a flophouse full of O'Malley's neér-do-well friends, who live for jazz and just hanging out, Daddio. They're so laid back, so tolerant of different lifestyles--or so one might think, until the puzzling refrain of their catchy song: "A square with a horn makes you wish you weren't born every time he plays/With a square in the act, you can send music back to the caveman days." They go on to decree that only a select few--hepcats, specifically--should be allowed to play music at all. As if to hammer home the point, the "cats" launch into an inspired, raucous rocking jazz tirade that threatens to literally bring down the flophouse.

It's the defining scene of the movie, really the only one worth waiting for, and it comes to a screeching halt when an emaciated, buck toothed, Asian-looking "cat" plays a piano solo with chopsticks and blurts: "Shanghai Hong Kong egg foo yung/Fortune cookie always wrong." What? Should we let our kids watch this movie? Well, it's hard to refuse them when you see them dancing through the house, singing, "Everybody/everybody/everybody wants to be a cat." Unfortunately, this movie is likely to make a parent identify more with the butler than with the hepcats.

December 28, 2008.

LOVE THIS MOVIE, and do not like cats!.

Rating: 5
This animated Disney feature isn't in the same league as the studio's early masterpieces ("Snow White," "Pinocchio"), but it's still worth seeing.

Set in Paris in 1910, the picture recounts the adventures of Duchess the cat and her three kittens, who are about to inherit the fortune of a wealthy opera singer. A jealous butler dumps the feline heirs out in the boondocks, and they try to find their way home with help from some amusing country cats.

The animation of this era of Disney movies isn't as drop-dead gorgeous as that of the films that made the studio's reputation, but it's still hand-drawn work, and does its job as an engaging vehicle for fun characters and lively music. There's outstanding vocal work by Phil Harris, the drawling, folksy actor-singer who was a star in the big band and radio eras and did vocal work on several Disney features (he sang "The Bare Necessities" in "The Jungle Book"). Other voice talents represented are Eva Gabor, Sterling Holloway, Scatman Crothers (who sings the great song "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat"), Pat Buttram and Paul Winchell. The songs are by Disney stalwarts the Sherman Brothers, and Maurice Chevalier sings the title tune. Extras include a deleted song and a "Bath Day" short cartoon from 1946, starring Figaro the cat.

"The Aristocats" was the last animated feature initiated by Walt Disney, who died in 1966.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/10/PKO8UQI6H.DTL&type=movies

December 28, 2008.

Cute Disney movie!.

Rating: 4
After watching 101 Dalmations about a million times with my son, this is a nice change! Yes, it's kind of the same story, but with cats in Paris, but still so much better than most of the junk that is being put out now.

December 24, 2008.

Great movie.

Rating: 5
I really enjoy this movie and always have. It is colorful and the music is great. A wonderful family movie which is becoming slim these days.

December 07, 2008.

Original spanish dubbing finally in this edition! 2008.

Rating: 5
I'm happy to say that the new 2008 Special Edition has the original Spanish audio with German Valdez "Tin Tan" and other of the most exceptional dubbing actors of all time, despite what Amazon's technical details say. It is truly a joy to revisit my childhood by hearing the original voices I heard so long ago, with masterful performances that make you yearn for the golden age of Disney dubbing in Mexico.

Esta nueva edición de 2008 contiene el doblaje original con Tin Tán en el papel de Thomas O'Maley, además de muchas otras voces maravillosas con las que todos crecimos en Latinoamérica viendo las películas ahora clásicas de Walt Disney.