It was the year 1970 when the film was released during the Christmas holidays The Aristocats, Disney’s twentieth animated feature film, the last film project approved by Walt Disney himself, and the first product after his death in 1966. It arrived in Italy in November of the following year, arousing the same enthusiasm. This Romeo and Juliet story, complete with children and a very happy ending, was and still is a godsend for those who love cats. And it is no coincidence that 54 years later it is chosen for the evening programming on the last day of the year on Rai 2. On the other hand, those who stay at home often do so to keep cats frightened by bangs company. And so everyone, adults and children, on the sofa with a cat curled up on their laps cheering for this little mixed-race family in 1910 Paris threatened by the evil Edgar.
Millionaire cats: reality as fiction
It is said that the authors of the original story by Tom McGowan and Tom Rowe on which the Disney film is based took inspiration from the real story of a family of cats from Paris, who at the beginning of the 1900s had inherited a great fortune from their rich human. What is certain, however, is that in recent times someone has actually made a will in favor of a cat: upon his death, which occurred on 19 February 2019 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, the famous couturier Karl Lagerfeld left his legacy to Choupette, his seven-year-old cat with thick white fur (like Duchess!). The value of his estate, disputed by at least 7 potential heirs and his beloved feline, would amount to 170 million dollars.
About the soundtrack
The opening title song The Aristocats was written by the Sherman Brothers at the end of their eight-year tenure with Walt Disney Productions and played in unlikely English by the famous French actor and singer Maurice Chevalier, in his last work before his death on New Year’s Eve 1972. The leader of the alley cat gang, the trumpeter Scat cat, was initially supposed to be called Satchmo Cat, in homage to Louis Armstrong who was supposed to dub him. But the famous jazz musician fell ill with a heart disease (he later died on 6 July 1971) and his colleague was hired Scatman Crothers (singer and actor who we all remember for the role of the cook Dick Hallorann in The Shining by Kubrick) and the character’s name also changed
The original names were partly different
In the original American version Romeo, also known as “er mejo der Colosseo”, is of Irish origin and his name is Thomas O’Malley. The three cats Minou, Matisse and Bizet are called Maria, Toulouse (in homage to another painter) and Berlioz (in homage to another composer) in the original version. And so the Gruyere mouse who is instead called Roquefort and the two geese Guendalina and Adelina Bla Bla who are originally Abigail and Amelia Gobble, just as their uncle Waldo was changed to Reginaldo.
Everyone wants to be jazz… or cat?
While many famous voices were used to dub the original version (like 9), the Italian one features Renzo Montagnani as Romeo, Melina Martello as Duchess and Oreste Lionello as Gruviera. Another tasty quote is the caricature of John Lennon, or the English cat Hit Cat who is part of the wild band of stray jazz musicians. One of the funniest scenes is when the band of jazz cats breaks out singing Everyone wants to do jazz. Well, in the original version, the song does Everybody wants to be a cat and that is «Everyone wants to be a cat». A play on words, since in the musical world the word “cat” actually means “jazz enthusiast”.
The Créme de la créme a la Edgar
Edgar, the greedy butler who once overheard that in the will the noblewoman who has faithfully served for years intends to leave everything to the cats, decides to get rid of them, and to do so he will prepare them the Créme de la Créme and Edgar, which in reality hides a powerful sleeping pill. There is no recipe with this name but later some chefs indulged in creating it with milk, eggs and sugar and some secret ingredients. Instead, there is the biscuit that the Gruyere mouse dips into the Créme, ending up falling asleep too. That is, sablé Breton, better known as Breton biscuits, which were usually eaten dipped in some liquid.
Record takings… and then?
The film cost a good 4 million, grossing almost 56, so about 14 times as much. And in France it was the most watched film of the year. Countless re-editions have been made, first on VHS, even with special contents, and on DVD, and alas, in January 2022 it was revealed that Disney is developing a live-action remake.
