 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
The Aristocats
- Review Date: January 12, 2004
- G
- Genre: Family and Kids
- 1970
Common Sense Media says
Jazz and hijinks make this Disney cat tale meow.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that younger and sensitive kids may be upset by the drugging and abandonment of a mom cat and her three kittens. For a brief moment the kittens can't find their mom. In some slapstick chase scenes it looks like animals or people could be injured, especially when Edgar the butler wields a pitch fork. Plus played for laughs are shots of Edgar the butler's underwear and a drunk goose weaving down the street.
What's the story?
Disney's animated story takes an elegant cat named Dutchess (voiced by Eva Gabor) and her three kittens out of their high-brow element when a cantankerous butler dumps them in the country after he hears the cats are to inherit his employer's fortune before him. On their way home the cats encounter O'Malley the Alley Cat who gets them out of a number of scrapes and introduces the brood to his jazz-playing "hep cat" friends. And just like Lady and the Tramp, Dutchess can't resist the charms of the scrappy O'Malley.
Is it any good?
The 2008 DVD re-release calls this a "Jazzy Classic," and sure enough the highlight is the toe-tapping song "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat." There's little plot (cats journey home) and the characters are less memorable than other animated animal capers like Lady and the Tramp and 101 Dalmations. Phil Harris, who plays Baloo from the original Disney Jungle Book, is fun as O'Malley, but lacks some of the rapscallion antics that would make him stand out.
Kids will love the silly chase scenes with Edgar the butler and the country hounds, Napoleon and Lafayette, especially the one around the windmill. They're choreographed for lots of giggles -- complete with failing-suspenders gags. But once the big jazzy number and madcap running about are over the movie falls flat. In a DVD extra one of the composers reveals a lullaby-like song that was left on the cutting room floor about the owner's love for her cats. That's the kind of sweetness that could have made this movie the cat's pajamas.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about Edgar the butler. He doesn't seem really mean like Cruella De Vil, but he's still not nice to Madame's cats. How come?
Why does he go back to the country for his hat and umbrella?
Where's Timbuktu?
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AGE
As far as Disney movies go, this one is pretty mild. The negative elements of the movie are too complicated for a toddler - which involve the drugging of kittens so they will go "night night" and can be relocated to the country-side because the man who does this wants to become first inline to inherit his employer's fortune since the kittens precede him in the employer's will. Once this story line is established at the outset of the movie, the majority of the movie is about the cats' funny and quirky adventures in trying to get back home. When they eventually do return home, a physical fight ensues between the animals and the butler and a pitch fork gets thrown at a cat, but besides that there isn't much violence. The evil character is a goofy butler, who is not that scary compared to other Disney antagonists. For small children, this is a cute, relatively harmless movie.
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AGE
A mostly middling effort for Disney. Redeemed by terrific work from its voice cast and some jazzy tunes.
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AGE
Nothing to scare sensitive toddlers
My daughter is pretty easily frightened by concepts of loss and malice, like Bambi's mother getting shot or the wicked stepmother trying to poison Snow White. She loves this movie and nothing about it upsets her.
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AGE
Cute, fun, mostly mild
My 3 year old loves this movie. I like it too. It's Disney back before the bad guys were really scary.
Only 3 things make it not perfect entertainment for young ones:
1. The butler puts something in the cats milk, saying nitey- night. (over my 3's head-she can't read "sleeping pills" on bottle). Butler takes cats away from home so he can inherit their mistresses fortune. (Way over my 3's head).2. Brief appearance by Uncle Waldo, a top-hatted goose missing his tail feathers (you only know he's destined for dinner if you can read)and he's weaving & hiccuping (stereotypical drunk, but not explained.) 3. Physical comedy/violence: Butler (trying to get rid of cats) is kicked in the air by horse, throws pitchfork at cat (pins, but doesn't hurt him) and tries to mail cats to timbuktu in a trunk.
Oh, no, it has no educational value. Just lots of endearing appeal. Plot summary: Butler hears he's to inherit after cats (mom & 3 kits), so whisks them away to country so he'll get the fortune. Cats meet a charming alley cat who shows them back to Paris, with adventures along the way. Happy reunion in end. (But butler mailed to Timbuktu.)Animated.
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AGE
Everybody wants to be a cat
cute movie.i have this movie. i loved the song "Everybody wants to be a cat". i get it stuck in my head a lot. very interesting. kinda funny.
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My review
This movie was very cute, and colorful but parents should know that there is a bit of cartoonish violance that may be upsetting for sensitive, and younger kids. The butler tried to stab cats with a pitchfork, he drugs the mother cat Duchess and her kittens by putting sleeping pills in there milk. Then he kidnaps them and throws them into a swamp.
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AGE
i miss this soooooo much
i liked this when i was little, now im a bit too old for it
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| Topics: | adventures, music and sing-along |
| Studio: | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Director: | Wolfgang Reitherman |
| Cast: | Eva Gabor, Liz English, Phil Harris |
| Genre: | Family and Kids |
| Run time: | 79 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | December 24, 1970 |
| DVD release date: | February 5, 2008 |
| MPAA rating: | G |
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