Aristocats (4 Stars)

Watching this film today has reminded me that I want to go back and watch the classic Walt Disney animated films, made in the good old days before computers were used for animation. I don't think it was the lack of computers itself that made the films so good. I think it was something about the time when the films were made. There was an air of innocence about the Walt Disney films. What I mean is, animated films today are made to be relevant for adults. There are hints at things that only adults would understand. The old Walt Disney films, like "Aristocats", were simply children's films, with no deeper meanings.

"Aristocats" is about a family of cats who live with a wealthy old lady in Paris. The mother cat is called Duchess, and her three kittens are Marie, Berlioz and Toulouse. The old lady writes a Will that her fortune is to be left to her cats, and after their deaths it will go to her butler Edgar. The butler learns about the Will and decides to get rid of the cats. He puts sleeping pills in their milk, then takes them to the countryside, far from Paris. There they meet a common alley cat, Thomas O'Malley, who offers to guide them back to Paris. And the adventure begins.

This film, which I vaguely remember seeing 40 years ago, has a magical quality to it. It makes me feel like a child. It's essential that I add the other early Walt Disney films to my to-watch list. However, I need to delay it. The problem is that my list is much too long already. On 14th February I complained that there were 164 films in my to-watch list, and I needed to work my way through the list to watch everything as soon as possible. I just checked my list again, and now it's 188 films long. I added some films starring Bruno Ganz, plus a few other films. This is getting ridiculous. I really need to stop adding films to my list. That's the only way I have a chance of getting the list down to zero by the end of the year.

Success Rate:  + 45.8

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