The Aristocats

The Aristocats

But with the nice ones is “The Aristocats.” It is fun and light, too, with strong characterization and the rightness of Phil Harris (O’Malley the Alley Cat) and Eva Gabor (Duchess, the mother cat) in their voices. It’s kind of a musical, too; when O’Malley strolls along the riverbank singing about his sterling qualities you can’t help but be entertained.

A lot of “family” movies are dizzyingly dull for anyone else in the family over 12 years old. I think it’s safe to say that “The Aristocats” does not fall into that dreadful category of simple-mindedness; if you have to take kids to it, you won’t suffer.

Indeed, much of the laughter on Saturday afternoon seemed to come from adults. That’s a compliment for Wolfgang Reitherman and Winston Hibler who have managed to tell their story simply enough for children yet with a high degree of visual sophistication. The movements of the animated characters are “real” yet stylized enough to give them distinct personalities. O’Malley struts. Duchess slinks. The three little kittens are dainty one minute, stalwart and pugnacious the next. It seems silly to write about how kittens walk, but it occurred to me during “The Aristocats” that such things make all the difference.

At several neighborhood theaters, “The Aristocats” is on a double bill with “In Search of the Castaways,” a distinctly second-rate effort. It was one of Disney’s early-1960s efforts at establishing Hayley Mills as the new Shirley Temple and if memory serves John Mills plays her grizzled old sea dog father who sails around looking for treasure.

I’m not sure memory serves though; I mentioned “Castaways” to Mills when he was in town recently and dang if he hadn’t completely forgotten it. After I reconstructed a hazy plot outline, he did seem to remember it slightly: “It was a bloody awful bore, is all I remember,” he said accurately.

Watch The Aristocats For Free On Gomovies.