Set in Paris in 1910, a bunch of cats are going to inherit the family fortune from their rich owner. However, a greedy butler wants the fortune and decides to lose the cats. The cats are now lost and with the help of an alley cat, they all journey home. A bit of a weird plot point that a rich lady would give her entire fortune to cats, however, Disney does indeed know how to make the audience go with a weird set up.
Our main characters are cute. We have the Mother Duchess who's a very charming and classy character and Eva Gabor is phenomenal at bringing that side to the character. Her kittens Marie, Berlioz and Toulouse are really cute and lovable characters. The one who steals the spotlight from these characters is O'Malley the alley cat voiced by Phil Harris(Who you may know him best as Baloo in Disney's "The Jungle Book"). What makes him stand out from these cute characters is his personality. He's cool, he's fun, he's smart and Phil Harris seems to be enjoying it. The love between O'Mailey and Duchess is more cute then romantic but they do have good chemistry together.
Now for the villain. Well Edgar is not really a dark or twisted villain that Disney usually gives us, he's mostly just in the film for laughs. While having a fun personality, it's not his humor that makes him funny, much like Captain Hook, it's the events happening to him that makes him funny. Unlike Captain Hook, Captain Hook did have a dark and villainous side, Edgar is just the typical greedy Butler cliche with nothing really villainous about him, in fact he's the first Disney villain I actually feel bad for. He doesn't start off as the film's villain, he's actually very loyal and kind but once he finds out that he won't be able to inherit the fortune because of the cats he feels gypped and to be honest I'd feel gypped too after all the years of service and devoted loyalty. This villain is not a villain but more of a tragic character who goes through extremes to get what he deserves. Yeah he's still doing bad things and the film does intend him to be the films villain but at the same time I think we can at least feel pity for him.
The supporting characters are actually really fun. First we have Roquefort the Mouse voiced by Sterling Holloway and much like all his characters he's cute and funny (And is also apparently the only animal that the villain can understand. Uhh, what the hell? Well, to be fair, I always thought the Animals were purposely acting like Animals whenever humans were around them. ) Then we have Frou-Frou the horse voiced by Nancy Kulp who is likable but probably the most forgettable character in the film. Next we have the two country dogs (In Paris?) voiced by Pat Buttram and George Lindsey and these two are just really a hilarious duo. The two geese sisters are not only just funny characters with the most funniest waddle ever but they're actually voiced by the same two woman who played the Pigeon sisters in "The Odd Couple". They also have an Uncle named Waldo voiced by Bill Thompson who's an outrageously funny drunk goose. The cat's owner (Who's design reminds me a lot of the Step-Mother from "Cinderella") voiced by Oscar nominee Hermione Baddeley, is very likable, very kind, very classy and you can actually feel her love and emotion for her cats and if she's not a real cat person than I guess I don't know what one is. The old Lawyer George is so funny, so over the top that the comedy never ever stops with him. For me, the best supporting characters in the whole entire movie is Scat Cat and his different culture gang of Alley Cats. These characters are the coolest, the funniest and the toughest characters in the whole movie and personally if the movie was just about them, I think I would have liked it a lot better then what we were given. They also got some really great actors to play them such as Lord Tim Hudson(Who voiced one of the Vultures in Disney's "The Jungle Book"), Vito Scotti, Paul Winchell (Who you know him best as Tigger), Thrul Ravenscroft and Scatman Crothers as the head of the gang. Some may consider them as an ethnic stereotype but to be honest I really don't them that insulting, ok I will admit the Chinese Paul Winchell Cat is stereotypical and offensive but I still think he's still as cool as the whole entire cat gang not to mention watching this characters different talents.
The animation is nothing great, nothing outstanding, nothing groundbreaking, it's just nice and simple. For me what makes the movie really fun besides it's cool song and fun characters is the comedy. What makes it funny is the actions and scenes that involve the fun characters I just mentioned. The funniest sequences in the whole movie is whenever Edgar is being chased by the two country dogs, it's defiantly up there with Captain Hook being chased by the Crocodile. Another moment that always gets me laughing is when a French man is about to drink wine but after seeing a gang of cats running and a mouse running after them, he just dumps the wine on the street. There's more funny scenes in the film but I'll let you see it for yourself.
While not being one of Disney's greatest or groundbreaking films, it's still a really cute and fun film for children. The characters, songs and the films highlights still hold up, but the film is not what I call a true Disney masterpiece. It's just simple cute and fun entertainment from Disney, nothing more.
RATING 2/5
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