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The Aristocats, 1970
Apr. 8th, 2019 01:41 amFinally got to see this as a Blu-ray release recently, which kicks the stuffing out of anything between the 70's theatrical run and now. VHS and DVD made a mockery out of it. The Blu-ray version shows the fine details in the line work and fully saturates the color, and it’s like watching an entirely different film.
Yes, the plot is insubstantial, but you don’t watch it for the plot. You watch it to see a bunch of charming and impeccably animated characters spend time together. And it’s also conspicuously light on some other things that litter the animated film landscape, like child-traumatizing violence, tone-deaf sexual innuendo, manic pop-culture references, cheap moralizing, Mary Sue/Stu characters, bad role-models, product tie-ins, or superhero wish fulfillment. And it passes the Bechdel test.
But most distinctly, it is a gentle, easygoing piece of entertainment, like most of the features from that era of Disney, and that allows you to relax a bit and concentrate on the finer details.
For example the two geese that show up from nowhere in the middle of the picture. They meet O’Malley the cat floating down a river and for the next couple minutes they straight-up mess with him, then when he nearly drowns they take pity and haul him ashore. As he’s drying off, Duchess and the kittens arrive.
While O’Malley explains to the geese that he’s “not exactly” Duchess’ husband, all the short exchanges between O’Malley, Duchess, the geese, and the kittens, are beautifully drawn bits of character development. Like the way O’Malley looks shocked when the geese begin whispering about his facial features - literally from on high with their heads way up in the corner of the frame - then he looks down and sees the kitten Tolouse trying to examine his face, and breaks into a goofy grin -- but not a “ha ha I’m funny” grin, more like a “aw look, Tolouse is actually taking them seriously, that’s hilarious, what a cute kid” kind of grin.
Then we see Duchess watching him react, and she’s amused by the way he’s taking it, but suppressing a laugh to make sure she doesn’t hurt his feelings and appear to be on their side. Then the kitten Marie sighs “how romantic”, an off-kilter response that shows her naïveté, which highly amuses O’Malley, and he looks at the geese with a “how about that?” expression.
Then Duchess steps in to explain that O’Malley is a “dear friend”, but O’Malley interrupts her because he’d rather be rid of the geese entirely. He even makes a formal goodbye to them, complete with swelling music, and starts walking away... But Duchess not only doesn’t follow him, she turns away from him to keep listening to the geese. Not with a dismissive expression, but with a total lack of response to him. It’s a bit of romantic power play and she’s clearly confident enough to just let it play out. O’Malley doesn’t like this but he goes along with it, and the geese further demonstrate their dominance by physically picking up the kittens and arranging them in parade formation, and mess with O’Malley some more by shoving him around to be “the rear end” of the parade. Then when they take off, everyone walks in step ... except for O’Malley.
Every character gets a little bit more developed, by very slightly defying our expectations. The movie is not trying to explain some tangled plot by stuffing exposition into its characters mouths, and it’s not trying to keep a manic pace, so we get to see stuff like this instead. Highly enjoyable.
Yes, the plot is insubstantial, but you don’t watch it for the plot. You watch it to see a bunch of charming and impeccably animated characters spend time together. And it’s also conspicuously light on some other things that litter the animated film landscape, like child-traumatizing violence, tone-deaf sexual innuendo, manic pop-culture references, cheap moralizing, Mary Sue/Stu characters, bad role-models, product tie-ins, or superhero wish fulfillment. And it passes the Bechdel test.
But most distinctly, it is a gentle, easygoing piece of entertainment, like most of the features from that era of Disney, and that allows you to relax a bit and concentrate on the finer details.For example the two geese that show up from nowhere in the middle of the picture. They meet O’Malley the cat floating down a river and for the next couple minutes they straight-up mess with him, then when he nearly drowns they take pity and haul him ashore. As he’s drying off, Duchess and the kittens arrive.
While O’Malley explains to the geese that he’s “not exactly” Duchess’ husband, all the short exchanges between O’Malley, Duchess, the geese, and the kittens, are beautifully drawn bits of character development. Like the way O’Malley looks shocked when the geese begin whispering about his facial features - literally from on high with their heads way up in the corner of the frame - then he looks down and sees the kitten Tolouse trying to examine his face, and breaks into a goofy grin -- but not a “ha ha I’m funny” grin, more like a “aw look, Tolouse is actually taking them seriously, that’s hilarious, what a cute kid” kind of grin.
Then we see Duchess watching him react, and she’s amused by the way he’s taking it, but suppressing a laugh to make sure she doesn’t hurt his feelings and appear to be on their side. Then the kitten Marie sighs “how romantic”, an off-kilter response that shows her naïveté, which highly amuses O’Malley, and he looks at the geese with a “how about that?” expression.
Then Duchess steps in to explain that O’Malley is a “dear friend”, but O’Malley interrupts her because he’d rather be rid of the geese entirely. He even makes a formal goodbye to them, complete with swelling music, and starts walking away... But Duchess not only doesn’t follow him, she turns away from him to keep listening to the geese. Not with a dismissive expression, but with a total lack of response to him. It’s a bit of romantic power play and she’s clearly confident enough to just let it play out. O’Malley doesn’t like this but he goes along with it, and the geese further demonstrate their dominance by physically picking up the kittens and arranging them in parade formation, and mess with O’Malley some more by shoving him around to be “the rear end” of the parade. Then when they take off, everyone walks in step ... except for O’Malley.
Every character gets a little bit more developed, by very slightly defying our expectations. The movie is not trying to explain some tangled plot by stuffing exposition into its characters mouths, and it’s not trying to keep a manic pace, so we get to see stuff like this instead. Highly enjoyable.
