Movie Thoughts: The Aristocats (1970)

• Released: December 24 1970
• Directed by: Wolfgang Reitherman
• Running time: 1 h 18 min
• Rating 2/5

Synopsis

After getting separated from their richly home, a family of cats must make their way back, guided by a street cat. 

My Thoughts

This was one of these movies I was obsessed with as a kid, like, autistic levels of obsessed. Maybe because it's one of the only Disney animal movies that focuses on cats, seeing how dogs are somehow more popular (see: Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, The Fox and the Hound, etc.). 

But now that I've re-watched it after about 15+ years of not seeing it (seriously, the last time I did was on VHS), I can safely say that I just...don't like this movie.

Starting with the characters, I just don't care for them, much like in The Jungle Book. They usually have one trait only and I just don't find myself being invested in them whatsoever. This movie also has a very weak villain. The Jungle Book at least had a pretty strong one in Shere Khan, but Edgar is just such a lame wimp of a villain. He's not intimidating, but he's not funny either. He's just pathetic. There's also these annoying side characters such as Scat Cat's gang (I don't find them charming) and the geese sisters. Every time they were on screen I just wanted to skip ahead.

The animation is still good, but it does have that sketchy style going on that I mentioned before I simply don't care for. The sketchiness was also somehow worse in this movie than in the previous few. I don't know why they decided to go for this style, but it just really doesn't appeal to me. I get that it could have its charm to some people, but for me it looks unfinished and like they didn't bother polishing the animation up like they did in former (and later) movies. Maybe there's a technical reason behind it, I don't know. Either way, I don't care for it.

The songs in this one I also don't care for. Some of them are memorable, but none of them I find enjoyable. 

There's also of course the racist moment with one of the band cats in this movie. It's luckily not a recurring theme in the movie, but it's definitely something that should be brought up. 

So, yeah, I do not care for The Aristocats, anymore at least. It hasn't aged well and just is too bland for my taste.