Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) - A Disney Movie Gambling on Something New - And Very Old

Atlantis: The Lost Empire - Milo Under the Waves

Disney movies usually tackle fairy tales, or contemporary novels with cute animal characters, or something else that is extremely kid-friendly. With "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" (2001), directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise for Walt Disney Features Animation, a Disney movie did something else entirely. Science fiction stories usually appeal more to adults than children unless there is a cuddly robot or a high-profile princess or something added to bridge the gap (see Disney's own "The Black Hole" for an example of that). There wasn't anything like that in this Atlantis Disney movie based on Plato and Edgar Cayce, though, so the task of wooing the younger viewers fell to the spunky Michael J. Fox and company to create a warm and inviting atmosphere for boys and girls. Upon their success at doing that hinged the success of the entire film upon first release.

Milo meets the Captain of the Ulysses, Rourke

A tidal wave, triggered by an explosion, forces the evacuation of ancient Atlantis. The Queen of Atlantis is absorbed into a powerful crystal which powers the city and protects its heart. Her daughter, Princess Kida (Cree Summer), is left behind with the city. Atlantis quickly vanishes beneath the seas.

The sexy Helga

It is 1914, and Atlantis-specialist Milo Thatch (Fox) gets a lead on the location of a manuscript ("The Shepherd's Journal") which supposedly reveals the secret location of of the lost Atlantis continent. He is turned down by his employer, the Smithsonian, for funds by Fenton Q. Harcourt (David Ogden Stiers - his character's name being a subtle play on "Harcourt Fenton Mudd" of "Star Trek") to find it. However, a woman named Helga Katrina Sinclair (Claudia Christian - her character's name a nod to "Babylon Five") shows up and introduces Milo to the wealthy Preston B. Whitmore (John Mahoney). It turns out that Whitmore already has the journal and, purportedly as repayment of a debt to Milo's grandfather, offers Milo the chance to visit Atlantis once he translates it for him.

Commander Rourke

The expedition to Atlantis quickly sets off, commanded by Commander Rourke (James Garner), with a crew including: demolitions expert Vinny (Don Novello); geologist Mole (Corey Burton); medical officer Dr. Sweet (Phil Morris); mechanic Audrey (Jacqueline Obradora); radio operator Mrs. Packard (Florence Stanley); Cookie the cook (Jim Varney); and Helga. Their vessel is "Ulysses," a big submarine. They find Atlantis quickly enough, but the entrance to Atlantis is an underground cavern patrolled Leviathan (see "Farscape"), a giant lobster-robot. Leviathan quickly destroys the submarine. Most of the crew make it through the entrance to Atlantis.

Milo and the other main characters

The survivors hikes through the underground caves and finally finds Atlantis. Kida, the Queen's young daughter from before Atlantis, greets them. She is still young and cute despite being thousands of years old. The language of Atlantis is similar to modern languages, which derived from it, so there is no communication problem. Milo immediately comes in handy, because the Atlantis natives need someone to translate their writings, which no Atlantis resident can understand. This involves swimming down to Atlantis' submerged heart, the one that survived because of the crystal. Milo and Kida find that the crystal still functions down there to protect Atlantis, but it is getting worn out. A missing page from The Shepherd's Journal described the Atlantis crystal, and Milo wonders why it was removed.

Seriously, if I didn't know better, I would say this was something by Roy Lichtenstein

Milo leaves Atlantis and returns to the surface with Kida and confronts Rourke about the missing journal page. Turns out that Rourke indeed has the page and that the entire mission, known to everyone but Milo, was intended to recover the crystal and sell it. Rourke goes down to Atlantis to take the crystal, and in the process mortally injures Kida's father, King Nedakh (Leonard Nimoy). The crystal is beneath the King's Atlantis throne room, but when Rourke tries to steal it, the crystal suddenly merges with Kida because, as the dying King explains, the crystal has become sentient and seeks out Atlantis royals hosts with which to join when under threat. Rourke, though, does not care about the fate of Atlantis, so he decides to kidnap Kida, since she and the crystal now are one.

Kida, showing Atlantis to the crew

The crystal, of course, is required to keep Atlantis intact, so removing it would destroy the city. Milo argues with the mercenaries and gets them to change sides against Rourke. The Atlantis King also has a crystal, and before he dies he gives it to Milo in hopes Milo can use it to save Atlantis. A battle results, with Milo and Rourke facing off against each other inside a volcano with the fate of Atlantis at stake. However, the volcano erupts, and it looks like it may not matter who wins or loses, because Atlantis could soon be consumed by lava.

Can we sense "love affair"?

The entire process behind the creation of "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" was muddled. Disney once was a disciplined studio that had a clear mission and stuck to it. With the threatening rise of Pixar, however, and that studio's succession of blockbuster animated hits, the Disney brass became unnerved and went for more Pixar-like projects. At least, that is how it appears from the outside, because there is no other plausible explanation for the genesis of "Atlantis: The Lost Empire."

So, with the film industry ground shifting beneath its feet, Disney went with this half-baked idea conceived over a dinner table by the people behind "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," who were motivated to keep their jobs by moving on to another project. Rather than try to create another "The Little Mermaid" or "Beauty and the Beast," the studio green-lit a project with no clear intended audience in a genre it never before had attempted. One of the beauties of Disney movies, looking at their progression over the years, is their gradual, almost glacial evolution over time. That enabled the Disney movies to change remarkably little all at once, yet just enough to accomodate a changing audience that didn't even recognize anything had changed. "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" tried to accomplish about three decades worth of change in one gulp.

The Ulysses

With "Atlantis: The Lost Empire," Disney just about ditched everything the studio was known for except the process of animation itself. The problem was that with a reputation for making kid- and family-friendly fare, suddenly Disney with "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" was seeking out a whole new audience, one which wasn't particularly receptive to its charms. As one tiny example, Disney had an exclusive licensing agreement with McDonalds, which loved to promote Disney's films aimed largely at children. McDonalds did what it usually did and promoted "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" with Happy Meal toys and the like. However, there was nothing about this film to excite children, so focusing promotional activities on children was pointless.

Kida has an exotic look, but she's all girl

While Pixar or DreamWorks could crank out a "Toy Story" without too much trouble, Disney had a lot of baggage to overcome if it was to reach out to a skeptical new audience with something like "Atlantis: The Lost Empire." Good as it is in many respects, "Atlantis" failed to do that (competing against the new DreamWorks hit "Shrek" did not help, just as competing against "Home Alone" had not helped "The Rescuers Down Under"). "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" also continued an unfortunate Disney movie trend that began with "The Fox and the Hound" of making this a "message" film, the message this time being against greedy-pig capitalists with no respect for others.

Seriously, does anyone not love this guy?

"Atlantis: The Lost Empire" did not find its audience during its theatrical run, almost certainly lost the studio money on its initial release, and soon became forgotten by the general public. The skeptical part of the audience, just to be clear, is primarily boys who with very good reason think that every Disney movie must have a princess obsessed with all that yucky love stuff that gets in the way of the adventure. Another criticism is that Disney movies these days are brimming with political correctness which distracts from a good story. Girls, on the other hand, saw in "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" lots of gadgets and not too much of a high-profile princess, so....

Finding the crystal

All that aside, "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" is not a bad film at all for girl or boys. Animators at three different Disney animation studios - Burbank, Orlando, and Paris - contributed, and it was shot in a wide-screen format which resembled old Cinemascope features of the 1950s and 1960s by auteurs such as Stanley Kubrick. The studio hired "Hellboy" creator Mike Mignola to give "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" a distinct visual style, and the pull-out scene at the end - showing Atlantis restored - is technically marvelous and quite breath-taking.

Kida, transformed

"Atlantis: the Lost Empire" is a Disney movie loaded with CGI, another departure for the studio. Problems arose because both 2D and 3D artwork was used, but everything was resolved through technical advancements. James Newton Howard composed the score, which is distinctive overall but has no individual songs on which the viewer can focus and start humming on the drive home.

Looks like more fun that my Jeep

The "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" actors are all very winning and amiable television veterans, mainly veterans of  (and I'm sure not coincidentally) science fiction products such as "Star Trek," "Babylon 5," and "Back to the Future." Claudia Christian of 'Babylon 5" voices Helga in a sensuous manner that gives her appearances some mystery, while Leonard Nimoy of "Star Trek" gives the role of the "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" King unexpected gravitas. Michael J. Fox of "Back to the Future" is a curious choice as the scholarly lead, given his "gee, whiz" delivery, but everybody loves Fox, so you can't blame him for the film's initial failure - but, much as we love him, the fact is that he is wildly mis-cast as the clearly nerdy character Milo.

The crew gets a view of Atlantis

Phil Morris as Dr. Sweet stands out for his rapid-fire line delivery, and John Mahoney gives the character of Whitmore enough energy to make it believable that he is not just a money man, but someone who actually would do some of the "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" dirty work himself. James Garner does a wonderful job in the first half of this Disney movie making Rourke amiable and paternalistic - all of which he then completely shatters in the film's final half hour. The Disney movie people obviously did a very thorough job of researching all that is known about Atlantis and incorporating bits and pieces of it in the script.

Atlantis restored

"Atlantis: The Lost Empire," as is so often the case with Disney movies, the studio recouped its fortunes after its release on home video, where it did gangbusters VHS and DVD business and almost certainly tipped the project form a net loss to a nice financial gain. There also are several enjoyable "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" video games, though most are out-dated by now. "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" is scheduled to be released on Blu-ray on March 12, 2013, along with its sequel, "Atlantis: Milo's Return," and that should be a fun package to get for those who previously enjoyed the film or just the idea of Atlantis.

Below is the High Definition trailer.



2013

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The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (2008) - Nice Prequel for the Little Mermaid Ariel

The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginnings: You Just Can't Get Enough of Cute Little Mermaid Ariel

Although "The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning" (2008) is the third film made in the "The Little Mermaid" trilogy, its setting comes first, with "The Little Mermaid" itself second and "The Little Mermaid II: Back to the Sea" the third in line. Given  Hollywood's peculiar obsession with prequels, the numbering systems can become a little confusing, but just remember that the last comes first and you'll be fine. "The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning" by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment often is sold as part of a set with the other two films, so if you buy it that way, the order of the three Disney movies becomes more comprehensible.

Ariel the little mermaid looking happy

King Triton (Jim Cummings) and Queen Athena (Lorelei Hill Butters and Andrea Robertson) have seven young daughters in their underseas kingdom of Atlantica. Ariel (Jodi Benson) is the youngest and most precocious daughter. Everybody loves music, and Triton gives his dear wife Athena a music box. While enjoying it, she is crushed to death by a pirate ship. After that, Triton cannot bear the thought of music and banishes it from the kingdom.

Athena enjoying her music box

A new governess, Marina Del Rey (Sally Field), is selected to raise the girls. She and her assistant, Benjamin (Jeff Bennett), look after them diligently, though Marina secretly longs to be Triton's Chief of Staff instead. Ariel in particular resents not being able to enjoy music and seeks it out whenever she can.

All the main characters together

Ariel meets Flounder (Parker Goris), who also enjoys music. He leads her to an underwater music club, the "Catfish Club." To her surprise, she sees the king's chief adviser, Sebastian the crab (Samuel F. Wright), performing. Ariel the little mermaid is delighted to find a place to enjoy her passion. Despite the others' fear that she will reveal their secret, they allow her to join the club.

Triton and his daughter Ariel

Excited, Ariel later tells her sisters about the club. The next night, they all go to visit. Marina finds out about it and sees her opportunity. She informs Triton, who throws Sebastian, Flounder and the band in jail and grounds the girls. He promotes Marina to be his chief advisor, the position she always wanted.

Marina Del Rey and Triton

Ariel confronts her father about the ban on music, but his mind is so made up that he won't even talk about it. That night, Ariel decides to run away. She frees Sebastian and the others from jail and they all leave Atlantica. Sebastian leads them to Athena's old music box, and this inspires her to return the music box to Triton in hopes it will soften his heart about music.

Some of Ariel's spunky sisters

Marina, though, appears and blocks their return path. She worries that if Triton lifts the ban on music, he will release Sebastian, restore him to his position, and she will be demoted. She and her minions (electric eels) fight Ariel, Sebastian and the others in a final showdown. Ariel gets knocked out, but Triton happens by and sees what is going on. The entire incident makes him think long and hard about the whole music issue.

Ships usually mean trouble in this series

Only a few of the voice actors from the first two films were able to return for this concluding chapter, most noticeably the voices of Ariel and Sebastian. Sally Field signs on and does a fine job voicing the tale's villainess, singing "Just One Mistake" a couple of times. The songs by Jeanine Tesori, Raymond Bell, Steven Samuel, Rafael de Leon and Gariel Oller are a step up from the previous film in the series, and "Part of Your World" by the original film's composers Howard Ashman and Alan Menken also is used. While some people are not impressed by the songs' quality (and almost anything would suffer by being compared to the showstoppers in "The Little Mermaid"), they are performed competently and bring an added dimension to the production.

Ariel relaxing with Flounder

Another big draw for "The Little Mermaid 3" (as it is invariably known) is the high-quality (for direct to video) animation. While the second film in the series had relatively simple animation that seemed cartoonish at times, this film keeps the use of computer graphics to a minimum. It appears that new character models were made that closely resemble the originals but in some ways enhance them. Some might even think that Ariel is at her prettiest in this film. There is a lush look to this film that some may consider equal to the classic original episode, and is certainly a step up from "Back to the Sea." There is a touch of modern 3D animation techniques that give the undersea world a welcome sense of depth.

Ariel and her six sisters

Under new director Peggy Holmes, a dancer by training, there is very little conflict in the film, which suffers as a result. Marina is not much of a villainess, even compared to the rather pale Morgana of "Little Mermaids II." However, Sally Field voices her with gusto, making her seem crazy and cruel without being particularly evil. It is kind of odd in a continuity sense that we don't see anything of Marina in the concluding chapter of the trilogy, but that is one of the drawbacks of filming (and writing) stories out of sequence. Her ultimate fate is left unclear, though we are left with the impression that she will reform and return to the straight and narrow. In any event, her character never really makes sense, since becoming thuggish simply to keep Ariel and the others from talking to Triton seems a bit of a stretch. There are a lot of things that are forgivable in a Disney movie, but a weak villain isn't one of them. Holmes does do a nice job with the dancing sequences, though.

Triton's Atlantica underseas kingdom

This is the only time we get to see Ariel's mother, who it turns out looks exactly like Ariel the little mermaid herself, so it is worth watching by fans for that reason alone. If you like the "Little Mermaid" idea, you may as well get the complete set and start out by watching this film. This isn't really of the same quality as "The Little Mermaid" itself, but it is enjoyable for those who just can't get enough of the little mermaid Ariel. Even if you aren't a die-hard fan, there is a lot to like about this charming prequel that will warm you up for the main event that follows it.

Below is the 2008 trailer.

2012

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The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) - Childhood Favorite

The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh: I Think I'll Go See Christopher Robin Today... Again

Films like Walt Disney Productions' "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" (1977) almost never turn up on "Best film" lists unless it is some sort of government historical project. However, you will be hard pressed to find a film as revered and secretly cherished by as many people as this one. You may out-grow it, you may deride it, but at one time in your life, this or a film like it was the center of your world.

Pooh and friends

It's difficult to believe now, but back when the world was young - you know, pre-Pixar - A.A. Milne's classic was not a household name. Walt Disney himself started production on an adaptation, but he felt the public didn't know enough about the story for it to slot in as a feature after "The Jungle Book." Instead, to introduce the characters, he turned the project into a series of shorts, which weren't bad works by themselves: the second of the three, "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day," won the 1968 Academy Award for animated short film.

The three shorts - the other two being "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" (1966) and "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too" (1974) - were strung together by directors Wolfgang Reitherman and Winston Hibler. Animated wrap-arounds were inserted featuring Pooh and Piglet between each section and a conclusion. There also are two brief live-action segments, at the beginning and the end.

Pooh and boy

In the first section, Winnie the Pooh is at home in Hundred Acres Wood doing exercises so that he can work up an appetite. He tears the stitching in his bottom, which he repairs, but then goes to get some honey and finds the jar empty. He goes out to a nearby honey tree to get some honey, but he falls off a branch into a gorse bush. He then goes to Christopher Robin's house, where Eeyore, Owl, Kanga and Roo are visiting. Robin gives him a balloon to help him. Pooh goes back and floats up to the honey, but after eating some, one of the bees stings his bottom. He gets stuck in the tree, but then the bees send him off into the air, and he falls into the hands of Christopher Robin.

"I'm not in the book!"

Pooh then goes to Rabbit's house, and when Rabbit invites him to stay for lunch, Pooh eats all his honey. He can't get out of the house because of all the honey he ate, so Rabbit gets Christopher Robin to help. Eventually, they just have to wait for Pooh to lose the weight so that he can get unstuck. It takes many days, but finally Christopher Robin, Kanga, Eeyore, Owl, Roo Rabbit and Gopher are able to dislodge Pooh, only to wind up stuck in the honey tree again.

Tigger on Pooh

In the second segment, Gopher tells Pooh that it is "Winds-day" because the east and west winds have traded places. Pooh goes to see Piglet, who is blown into the wind, and Pooh grabs him, but they are blown over Kanga, Roo, Eeyore, Rabbit and Owl. Owl's house is knocked down, so Eeyore decides to find him a new home. Tigger then comes to visit Pooh and tells him that there are Heffalumps and Woozles in the forest that steal honey, which frightens Pooh.

Tigger looking in mirror

A storm floods the forest, carrying Piglet away, and Pooh, guarding his honey, gets trapped in a honey pot and floats away. Everybody else goes to Christopher Robin's house, which is above the water, and Christopher Robin arranges a rescue of Piglet from the chair he is riding. Pooh is assumed to have rescued Piglet and becomes a hero. Eeyore then says that he found a new home for Owl, but it turns out to be Piglet's house. Piglet gives his house to Owl and moves in with Pooh.

Tigger with rabbit

In the third section, Tigger has been annoying everyone by bouncing on them, so Pooh, Rabbit and Piglet take him for a walk and leave him alone and lost in the forest. The three then leave, but themselves get lost and keep running into the same sandpit. Rabbit goes off alone, but Pooh and Piglet run into Tigger. Pooh tells Tigger that Rabbit is lost in the forest, and Tigger goes to look for him and finds him, bringing him home.

Roo

Winter comes, and Tigger looks after Roo and they run into Rabbit skating on the ice. Tigger goes skating and collides with Rabbit, sending him into a snowbank and Rabbit flying into his house. Tigger gives up ice skating. Later, Tigger jumps to the top of a tall tree and is scared to come down. Roo makes things worse by using Tigger's tail as a swing. Pooh and Piglet happen along and come to the rescue, followed by Christopher Robin, Rabbit and Kanga. Tigger is still too scared to come down, but when the others tell hm they will have to leave him there, Tigger promises never to jump on anyone ever again if they will just let him down. Tigger then asks the narrator to narrate him down to the ground, and the narrator tilts the book to shake him down, which is quite funny if you are not a purist.

Tigger and Pooh

Tigger starts bouncing in joy, but then stops because of the vow he made. He gets depressed and walks away, and everyone else but Rabbit feels sorry for him. The others remind Rabbit of the good things that came from Tigger bouncing, and Rabbit also starts to feel sorry for him. He goes to Tigger and tells him he can bounce again. Tigger is so happy he starts bouncing and gets the others to bounce, too.

This will pick me up

The final story, "A Day for Eeyore," was added for the 20th Anniversary edition. It has Pooh inventing a new game, "Pooh Sticks." While playing the game, they see Eeyore floating in the river. Eeyore says that Tigger bounced him in, but Tigger denies it. It's Eeyore's birthday, so they give him presents. Pooh, though, eats the honey he was going to give him beforehand. They all then play Pooh Sticks, but Tigger decides he doesn't like it.

Can't have enough carrots!

The characters are all voiced by the same people for each segment, despite the fact they were filmed at widely separated times. Sterling Holloway is Pooh, Paul Winchell is Tigger, Junius Matthews is Rabbit, Dori Whitaker is Roo, John Fiedler is Piglet, Timothy Turner voices Christopher Robin, Barbara Luddy is Kanga, and Sebastian Cabot narrates. A new character, Gopher, is voiced by Howard Morris.

Winnie looking in the mirror

While released at a low point in the studio's fortunes, this film is a classic. It is the perfect family film, since there is absolutely nothing in it that could make anyone uncomfortable, and you can all talk about it afterwards - "What would you have done?" Did Piglet do the right thing?" - in an enjoyable way. There is practically no violence and no mean characters, and the story is told through a "book" that you see as the stories proceed. The illustrations in the book come to life, which is a neat effect and makes the whole thing very accessible for children (and quite trying for many adults). The pacing is very slow, suitable for children.

Pooh with fans

Pooh, let's be honest, is not too bright. However, he more than makes up for that by being cute, adorable and, best of all, funny. If you had to describe him, the words "teddy bear" spring to mind. The animation is decent, if not up to previous feature film standards, and every song is enjoyable. Again, if you were looking for one word, it would be "calming" or perhaps "pleasant." We learn a few things about the characters that we didn't from the books, but more importantly, we get to spend time with our good friends. Everything is related in the way that children would understand and find perfectly logically, even if we just scratch our heads and wonder if the author was smoking dope.

Fan with Tigger

Purists - and there are always those looking for something to cry about - will decry the narrator's intervention now and then, along with the addition of a new hilarious character (who runs around amusingly and pointedly saying "I'm not in the book, you know!") who seems vaguely modeled on an earlier Disney character, the beaver, in "Lady and the Tramp." The changes are minimal, however, and unless you have studied the books intently, you will never know the difference.

Pooh loves his honey

Winnie the Pooh, of course, became big business largely because of the impact of this film. It is almost as big as the Princesses and the "Cars" merchandising, and that, my friend, is quite an achievement.

Off to bed we go

This is a gentle story for toddlers. By the age of ten, they will have long outgrown the magic that is "Winnie the Pooh" (but perhaps reacquire it when they get much older).  However, catch them at the right age, and this film will be on 24/7 as they watch the adventures of Pooh, Christopher Robin and Tigger, too.

Below is a five-minute film about the film that you may find amusing and introduces the characters:



2012

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The Aristocats (1970) - Everybody Wants to be a Cat!

The Aristocats: Yeah, I'm a Cool Cat, Baby, Wanna See Me Meow?

Walt Disney Productions labored over its films, sometimes taking decades to get them done. "The Aristocats" (1970), based on a story by Tom McGowan and Tom Rowe, already was in production at the time of Walt Disney's untimely passing from lung cancer in 1966. The essential Disney team was still intact for this production, some for the last time - The Sherman Brothers and George Bruns did the songs and soundtrack, Wolfgang Reitherman directed, Phil Harris, Sterling Holloway and Thurl Ravenscroft were on hand for key voices - and, while there are the first, tiny signs of a decline in quality, this is still a worthy entry into the Disney animated feature film canon.

Aren't they cute?

It is Paris, 1910, and cat Duchess (Eva Gabor) and her three kittens Marie (Liz English), Berlioz (Dean Clark) and Toulouse (Gary Dubin) live with retired opera singer Madame Adelaide Donfamille (Hermione Baddeley) and her butler Edgar (Rodd Maude-Roxy). Madame loves her cats, and tells her lawyer she wants her fortune left to Duchess and her kittens until their deaths, then to Edgar.

Edgar just getting himself into trouble

Edgar is impatient and has no intention of waiting for a bunch of kittens to die naturally. He drugs the cats and plans to take them far out into the wild and release them. Two hound dogs, Napoleon (Pat Buttram) and Lafayette (George Lindsey), intervene, and Edgar leaves not only the cats, but the sidecar of his motorcycle with several of his personal items. Edgar later comes back and has a struggle retrieving the items from Napoleon and Lafayette. An alley cat named Thomas O'Malley (Harris) sees Dutchess' plight and volunteers to guide her family back home to Paris.

Edgar had a lot of trouble with Napoleon and Lafayette

The group heads sets out, hitchhiking part of the way and meeting some English geese tourists, Abigail (Monica Evans) and Amelia (Carole Shelley) Gabble, who eventually have to leave to take their drunk uncle Waldo (Bill Thompson) home. They then meet Scat Cat (Scatman Crothers) and his mates at O'Malley's "penthouse pad." They sing the tuneful "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat." O'Malley later asks Dutchess to stay with him and forget about the mansion, but she says she must take her family back because Madame expects it.

Dutchess always seems to be like this around O'Malley

Once they make it back to Madame's mansion, O'Malley sadly leaves. Edgar catches the cats and puts them in the oven, but the cats tell Roquefort (Sterling Holloway), their mouse friend, to run and get O'Malley. O'Malley tells Roquefort to go and get Scat Cat and his band. Egar locks the cats in a trunk that he is going to send to Africa, but O'Malley, Scat Cat and Frou Frou the horse (Nancy Kulp) intervene. A battle ensues between Edgar and the animals.

There's those crazy cats again!

There are unavoidable similarities between "The Aristocats" and previous Disney films, particularly the style and plot of "101 Dalmations." At least they hadn't started copying exact scenes at this point. The animation is controversial, as it has a sketchy look that may or may not have been deliberately used to create the desired carefree effect. The colors are good, there is a lot of humor, and the jazz songs are energetic and fun though not particularly memorable. Maurice Chevalier liked the idea of this film so much that his very last performance was the title song (the fact that the Sherman Brothers' father had written his big hit "Living in the Sunlight, Loving in the Moonlight" probably didn't hurt).

Scat Cat wailing

The voices are perhaps the best thing of all, as Phil Harris has the perfect amiable "with it" tone for the savior O'Malley, while Eva Gabor gives Dutchess just the right upper crust "isn't that interesting" tone. Several voices were done by then-current television stars, such as Gabor, Kulp and Lindsey, which foreshadowed the excesses to which this practice would reach in the 1990s and 2000s. It works well here because the voices really do fit the characters and were distinctive. Throw in slapstick humor in several places and you have a fine film that, if you examine Disney films closely, feels like another winner - and, indeed, it was, scoring well at the box office.

The songs are the film's high points

At heart, the film has a lot of charm. Everybody loves kittens, and the film moves at a relaxed pace that gives you time to enjoy them. Berlioz and Toulouse playing the piano together is lots of fun, and the two squabbling hounds Napoleon and Lafayette are a high point in Disney animation. The story itself is clever, it is all about relying on your friends to survive and the bonds you create while doing so.

Dutchess playing the harp, O'Malley listening

There are a few things that keep the film from being a true classic. The animation was beginning its slide towards being cartoony (see "Robin Hood"), and does not have the pristine look of "Sleeping Beauty" or "Peter Pan." It is not poor, as the animation crew of the '50s was still largely intact and knew what it was doing, but the animation undeniably is not up to earlier standards. Some of the alleycat characters, such as Shun Gon (Paul Winchell) the Chinese cat, are drawn a little too broadly in order to distinguish them and may offend modern sensibilities - but you could also make the case that they are poking fun at stereotypes, though it is easier to criticize. Besides, they are just cats! There also are some anachronistic elements from '60s culture, such as psychedelic lighting, that are fun but do date the film. Some scenes are scary, such as a speeding train, but almost every Disney film has scary aspects.

The Gabble sisters are a great addition

Disney quietly de-emphasized this film for a while, and the reasons are unknown, but Disney never really promoted this much since its release. A sequel was planned for 2007, then cancelled without explanation. The Gold Classic Collection disc was withdrawn around the same time, and a planned 2-disc release for 2008 was cut to one "Special Edition" disc. The current Disney regime is not too into bringing out sequels for the older films, so it may be some time before a sequel ever appears. A 2-disc Blu-ray edition and new single-disc DVD were released in August 2012.

Edgar is in a HEAP of trouble

"The Aristocats" was a worthy send-off for Walt, but the decline had begun. The film is lots of fun and very affecting in places, but not among the true Disney classics. It is probably, though, Disney's best film until the Disney Renaissance began in 1989 with "The Little Mermaid."

Below is the Special Edition trailer:

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