1970 Movie THE ARISTOCATS Hebrew FILM POSTER Israel DISNEY Animated MUSIC COMEDY

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Seller: judaica-bookstore ✉️ (2,803) 100%, Location: TEL AVIV, IL, Ships to: WORLDWIDE, Item: 276203521607 1970 Movie THE ARISTOCATS Hebrew FILM POSTER Israel DISNEY Animated MUSIC COMEDY. It was produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution. The film features the voices of Eva Gabor, Hermione Baddeley, Phil Harris, Dean Clark, Sterling Holloway, Scatman Crothers, and Roddy Maude-Roxby.

  DESCRIPTION : Here for sale is an ORIGINAL beautifuly illustrated ISRAELI Theatre POSTER .  The VINTAGE theatre poster which depicts an impressive ILLUSTRATED IMAGES from WALT DISNEY legendary ANIMATED ROMANTIC MUSICAL COMEDY film " THE ARISTOCATS "  was issued for the film  PREMIERE release in 1970 by the Israeli distributers of the film . Kindly note : This is an ISRAELI MADE poster - Designed , Printed and distributed only in Israel . Archaic Hebrew text.  A brand new Hebrew name "CATS at the TOP" . Large s ize around 27" x 39". The poster is in a very good condition . Fresh and clean . Folded . ( Please watch the scan for a reliable AS IS  picture )  . Poster will be sent rolled in a special protective rigid sealed tube.

AUTHENTICITY : This poster is an ORIGINAL vintage 1970 theatre poster , NOT a reproduction or a reprint  , It holds life long GUARANTEE for its AUTHENTICITY and ORIGINALITY.

PAYMENTS : Payment method accepted : Paypal  & All credit cards.

SHIPPMENT : Shipp worldwide via registered airmail is $ 25 . Poster will be sent rolled in a special protective rigid sealed tube. Handling around 5-10 days after payment. 

The Aristocats is a 1970 American animated romantic adventure musical comedy film directed by Wolfgang Reitherman. It was produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution. The 20th Disney animated feature film, the film is based on a story by Tom McGowan and Tom Rowe, and revolves around a family of aristocratic cats, and how an alley cat acquaintance helps them after a butler has kidnapped them to gain his mistress's fortune which was intended to go to them. The film features the voices of Eva Gabor, Hermione Baddeley, Phil Harris, Dean Clark, Sterling Holloway, Scatman Crothers, and Roddy Maude-Roxby. In 1962, The Aristocats project began as an original script for a two-part live-action episode for Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, developed by writers Tom McGowan and Tom Rowe and producer Harry Tytle. Following two years of re-writes, Walt Disney suggested the project would be more suitable for an animated film, and placed the project in turnaround as The Jungle Book advanced into production. When The Jungle Book was nearly complete, Disney appointed Ken Anderson to develop preliminary work on The Aristocats, making it the last film project to be approved by Disney personally before his death in December 1966. The Aristocats was released on December 24, 1970 to positive reception and was a box office success. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 3.1 Story development 3.2 Casting 3.3 Animation 4 Music 5 Release 5.1 Home media 6 Reception 6.1 Box office 6.2 Critical reaction 6.3 Accolades 7 Canceled sequel 8 See also 9 References 10 Bibliography 11 External links Plot In Paris 1910, mother cat Duchess and her three kittens, Berlioz, Marie, and Toulouse, live with retired opera diva Madame Adelaide Bonfamille, and her English butler, Edgar. One day while preparing her will with lawyer Georges Hautecourt, Madame declares her fortune to be left to her cats until their deaths, and thereafter to Edgar. Edgar hears this through a speaking tube and plots to eliminate the cats. Therefore, he sedates the cats by putting sleeping pills in a milk mixture intended for them, and enters the countryside to abandon them. There, he is ambushed by two hounds named Napoleon and Lafayette, and the cats are stranded in the countryside, while Madame Adelaide, Roquefort the mouse and Frou-Frou the horse discover their absence. In the morning, Duchess meets an alley cat named Thomas O'Malley, who offers to guide her and the kittens to Paris. The group briefly hitchhikes in a milk truck before being chased off by the driver. Later, while crossing a railroad trestle, the cats narrowly avoid an oncoming train, but Marie falls into a river and is saved by O'Malley, who in turn has to be rescued himself by two English geese, Amelia and Abigail Gabble, who accompany the cats to Paris. Edgar returns to the country to retrieve his possessions from Napoleon and Lafayette, as the only evidence that could incriminate him. Travelling across the rooftops of the city, the cats meet O'Malley's friend Scat Cat and his musicians, who perform the song "Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat". After the band has departed, O'Malley and Duchess converse on a nearby rooftop while the kittens listen at a windowsill. Here, Duchess' loyalty to Madame prompts her to decline O'Malley's proposal of marriage. Duchess and the kittens return to Madame's mansion, but Edgar places them in a sack and prepares to ship them to Timbuktu; They direct Roquefort to retrieve O'Malley. He does so, and O'Malley returns to the mansion, instructing Roquefort to find Scat Cat and his gang. The alley cats and Frou-Frou fight Edgar, while Roquefort frees Duchess and the kittens. At the end of the fight, Edgar is locked in his own packing-case and sent to Timbuktu himself, never to be seen again. Madame Adelaide's will is rewritten to exclude Edgar, with Madame remaining ignorant of the reason for Edgar's departure. After adopting O’Malley into the family, Madame establishes a charity foundation housing Paris' stray cats (represented by Scat Cat and his band, who reprise their song). Cast Eva Gabor as Duchess – Madame Adelaide's cat and mother of three kittens, forced to choose between loyalty to Madame and her own attachment to Thomas O'Malley at the end of the film. Robie Lester provided the singing voice for Duchess. Phil Harris as Thomas O'Malley (full name: Abraham de Lacy Giuseppe Casey Thomas O'Malley) – A feral cat who befriends Duchess and her kittens, becoming a father figure to the kittens and falling in love with Duchess. For cultural reasons, the Italian dubbing of the film changes him to “Romeo, er mejo der Colosseo” (Roman dialect for "The best [cat] of the Colosseum"), an Italian cat from Rome speaking with a strong Roman accent. O'Malley is a cat from Rome in the Italian dub because In Italy, it was widely known that until recent times there were lots of Alley Cats in the Colosseum. Gary Dubin as Toulouse – the oldest kitten, who idolizes all alley cats and especially Thomas. He is also a talented painter and is loosely based on French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Liz English as Marie – middle kitten; often imperious or snobbish to her brothers, but her mother's special companion. Something of a singer. Dean Clark as Berlioz – the youngest kitten. He is somewhat timid and shy, named after the French composer Hector Berlioz. This Berlioz is a talented pianist. Roddy Maude-Roxby as Edgar Balthazar – Madame Adelaide's dim-witted butler who tries to get rid of the cats in order to inherit her fortune. Scatman Crothers as Scat Cat – Thomas' best friend and leader of a gang of jazz-playing alley cats. Scat Cat plays the trumpet. Paul Winchell as Shun Gon – a Chinese cat in Scat Cat's gang. Plays the piano and drums that are made out of pots. Lord Tim Hudson as Hit Cat – an English cat in Scat Cat's gang. Plays acoustic guitar. Vito Scotti as Peppo – an Italian cat in Scat Cat's gang. Plays the accordion. Thurl Ravenscroft as Billy Boss – a Russian cat in Scat Cat's gang. Plays the double bass. Sterling Holloway as Roquefort – A house mouse and also a friend of the cats, who assists in the expulsion of Edgar. Pat Buttram as Napoleon – a Bloodhound who attacks Edgar when he intrudes in the farm where Napoleon lives. Napoleon insists, whenever cohort Lafayette makes a suggestion, that he is in command, then adopts Lafayette's suggestion as his own. George Lindsey as Lafayette – a Basset Hound and Napoleon's companion. He sometimes proves smarter than Napoleon, but is also more timid. Hermione Baddeley as Madame Adelaide Bonfamille – a former opera singer and owner of Duchess and her kittens. Charles Lane as Georges Hautecourt – Madame Bonfamille's lawyer: an eccentric, lively old man Nancy Kulp as Frou-Frou – Roquefort's horse companion, who subdues Edgar. Ruth Buzzi provided her singing voice. Monica Evans as Abigail Gabble – a goose who befriends the cats. Carole Shelley as Amelia Gabble – Abigail's twin sister. Bill Thompson as Uncle Waldo – the drunken gander uncle of Abigail and Amelia. Peter Renaday as French Milkman/Le Petit Cafe Cook/Truck Movers (uncredited) Production Story development On December 9, 1961, Walt Disney suggested that Harry Tytle and Tom McGowan find some animal stories to adapt as a two-part live-action episode for the Wonderful World of Color television program. By New Year's 1962, McGowan had found several stories including a children's book about a mother cat and her kittens set in New York City. However, Tytle felt that a London location had added a significant element to One Hundred and One Dalmatians and suggested setting the story of the cats in Paris.[3] Following a rough storyline, the story became about two servants—a butler and a maid—who were in line to inherit a fortune of an eccentric mistress after the pet cats died and focused on their feeble and foolish attempts to eliminate the felines. Boris Karloff and Francoise Rosay were in mind to portray the butler and the distressed Madame.[4] A subplot centered around a mother cat hiding her kittens to keep them out of danger in a variety of different homes and locales around Paris, France. During the filming of Escapade in Florence, McGowan brought him the story that had been written by Tom Rowe, an American writer who was living in Paris.[3] Before his death in 1966, Walt Disney contacted Phil Harris (pictured here) to voice Thomas O'Malley.[5] By August 1962, they sent the completed script to Burbank, where it was returned as "rejected" by an unknown executive at the Disney studios. Nevertheless, Tytle brought the script to Disney staying at the Connaught in London. Disney approved for the draft, but recommended additional cuts which were made by February 1963. Before filming was to commence, Rowe wrote a letter to Disney addressing his displeasure of the script revisions, in which Tytle responded to Rowe that the changes Disney approved of would be kept. However, by summer 1963, the project was shelved, where Tytle, in a discussion with Walt, recommended to produce The Aristocats as an animated feature.[3] For that reason, Disney temporarily shelved the project as the animation department was occupied with The Jungle Book.[6] Meanwhile, director Wolfgang Reitherman learned of the project and suggested it as a follow-up project to Jungle Book.[7] Because of the production delays, Tytle was advised to centralize his efforts on live action projects and was replaced by Winston Hibler.[3] In 1966, Disney assigned Ken Anderson to determine whether Aristocats would be suitable for an animated feature. With occasional guidance from Reitherman, Anderson worked from scratch and simplified the two stories into a story that focused more on the cats.[6] Disney saw the preliminary sketches and approved the project shortly before his death.[8] After The Jungle Book was completed, the animation department began work on Aristocats.[6] Hibler was eventually replaced by Reitherman,[3] who would abandon the more emotional story of Duchess's obsession to find adopters befitting of her kittens' talents initially favored by Disney suggesting instead the film be conceived as an adventure comedy in the vein of One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Furthermore, the character Elmira, the maid, who was intended to be voiced by Elsa Lanchester, was removed from the story placing Edgar as the central villain in order to better simplify the storyline.[7] Casting As with The Jungle Book, the characters were patterned on the personalities of the voice actors.[6] In 1966, Walt Disney contacted Phil Harris to improvise the script, and shortly after, he was cast to voice Thomas O'Malley. To differentiate the character from Baloo, Reitherman noted O'Malley was "more based on Clark Gable than Wallace Beery, who was partly the model for Baloo."[6] Reitherman furthermore cast Eva Gabor as Duchess, remarking she had "the freshest femme voice we've ever had", and Sterling Holloway as Roquefort.[6] Louis Armstrong was initially reported to voice Scat Cat,[9] but he backed out of the project due to illness.[10] Out of desperation, Scatman Crothers was hired to voice the character under the direction to imitate Armstrong.[11] Pat Buttram and George Lindsey were cast as the farm dogs, which proved so popular with the filmmakers that another scene was included to have the dogs when Edgar returns to the farm to retrieve his displaced hat and umbrella.[4] Animation Ken Anderson spent eighteen months developing the design of the characters.[12] Five of Disney's legendary "Nine Old Men" worked on it, including the Disney crew that had been working 25 years on average.[13] Music The Aristocats was the last Disney animated feature Robert and Richard Sherman worked on as staff songwriters, growing frustrated by the management of the studio following Walt Disney's death. For the Disney studios, the Sherman Brothers completed their work before the release of Bedknobs and Broomsticks, but would return to the studio to compose songs for The Tigger Movie.[14] Maurice Chevalier (pictured here) was brought out of retirement to sing the title song. The brothers composed multiple songs, but only the title song and "Scales and Arpeggios" were included in the film.[4] Desiring to capture the essence of France, the Sherman Brothers composed the song "The Aristocats". Disney film producer Bill Anderson would ask Maurice Chevalier to participate in the film.[15] Following the suggestion, Richard Sherman imitated Chevalier's voice as he performed a demo for the song. Chevalier received the demo and was brought out of retirement to sing the song. Deleted songs that were intended for the film included "Pourquoi?" sung by Hermione Baddeley as Madame Bonfamille, its reprise, and "She Never Felt Alone" sung by Robie Lester as Marie.[16][17] For the show-stopping number, the Sherman Brothers composed "Le Jazz Hot", but "Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat", composed by Floyd Huddleston and Al Rinker, was used instead.[18] Lastly, a villainous song was envisioned to be sung by Edgar and his assistant Elmira as a romantic duet, but the song was dropped when Elmira was removed from the story.[19] Another deleted song was for Thomas O'Malley titled "My Way's The Highway", but the filmmakers had Terry Gilkyson compose the eponymous song "Thomas O'Malley Cat". Gilkyson explained "It was the same song, but they orchestrated it twice. They used the simpler one, because they may have thought the other too elaborate or too hot. It was a jazz version with a full orchestra."[20] The instrumental music was composed by George Bruns, who drew from his background with jazz bands in the 1940s and decided to feature the accordion-like musette for French flavor.[21] On Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic, this includes "Thomas O'Malley Cat" on the purple disc and "Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat" on the orange disc. On Disney's Greatest Hits, this includes "Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat" on the red disc. On August 21, 2015, in honor of the 45th anniversary of the film, a new soundtrack was released as part of Walt Disney Records: The Legacy Collection. The release includes the songs and score as used in the film, along with The Lost Chords of the Aristocats (featuring songs written for the film but not used), and previously released album versions of the songs as bonus tracks.[22] Release The Aristocats was originally released to theaters on December 24, 1970. It was re-released in theaters in 1980 and 1987. Home media It was released on VHS in Europe on January 1, 1990 and in the UK in 1995. It was first released on VHS in North America on April 24, 1996 as part of the Masterpiece Collection. In January 2000, Walt Disney Home Video launched the Gold Classic Collection, and The Aristocats was released on VHS and DVD on April 4, 2000.[23] The DVD contained the film in its 1.33:1 aspect ratio enhanced with Dolby 2.0 surround sound.[24] The Gold Collection release was quietly discontinued in 2006. A new single-disc Special Edition DVD (previously announced as a 2-Disc set) was released on February 5, 2008. Disney released the film on Blu-ray for the first time on August 21, 2012.[25][26] The 2-disc Special Edition Blu-ray/DVD combo (both in Blu-ray and DVD packaging) featured a new digital transfer and new bonus material.[27] A single disc DVD edition was also released on the same day.[28] Reception Box office The Aristocats was released in December 1970 where it earned $10.1 million in United States and Canadian rentals by the end of 1971.[29] The film was the most popular "general release" movie at the British box office in 1971.[30] The film was the most popular film in France in 1971 and had total admissions of 12.7 million.[31] It is also ranked as the eighteenth highest-grossing of all time in France.[32] The film is the most popular film released in Germany in 1971 with admissions of 11.3 million being the country's eleventh highest-grossing film.[33] By the end of its initial theatrical run, the film had earned domestic rentals of $11 million and $17 million in foreign countries,[34][35] for a worldwide rental of $28 million. The film was re-released to theaters in the United States on December 19, 1980 where it grossed an additional $18 million and again on April 10, 1987 where it grossed $17 million.[36] The film grossed $32 million worldwide from an international re-release in 1994.[37] The Aristocats has had a lifetime gross of $55.7 million in the United States and Canada,[38] and its total lifetime worldwide box office gross is $191 million.[2] Critical reaction Howard Thompson of The New York Times praised the film as "grand fun all the way, nicely flavored with tunes, and topped with one of the funniest jam sessions ever by a bunch of scraggly Bohemians headed by one Scat Cat."[39] Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, awarded the film three stars out of four summarizing The Aristocats as "light and pleasant and funny, the characterization is strong, and the voices of Phil Harris (O'Malley the Alley Cat) and Eva Gabor (Duchess, the mother cat) are charming in their absolute rightness."[40] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film "has a gentle good-natured charm which will delight the small-fry and their elders alike." He praised the animation, but remarked that the film "lacks a certain kind of vigor, boldness and dash, a kind of a hard-focused emphasis which you would say was a Disney trademark."[41] Variety praised the film writing the film is "[h]elped immeasurably by the voices of Phil Harris, Eva Gabor, Sterling Holloway, Scatman Crothers and others, plus some outstanding animation, songs, sentiment, some excellent dialog and even a touch of psychedelia."[42] Stefan Kanfer, reviewing for Time, noted that "The melodies in Disney's earlier efforts have been richer. But for integration of music, comedy and plot, The Aristocats has no rivals."[43] For its 1987 re-release, animation historian Charles Solomon expressed criticism for its episodic plot, anachronisms, and borrowed plot elements from earlier Disney animated features, but nevertheless wrote "[b]ut even at their least original, the Disney artists provide better animation--and more entertainment--than the recent animated features hawking The Care Bears, Rainbow Brite and Transformers."[44] Writing in his book The Disney Films, Disney historian and film critic Leonard Maltin wrote that "[t]he worst that one could say of The AristoCats is that it is unmemorable. It's smoothly executed, of course, and enjoyable, but neither its superficial story nor its characters have any resonance."[45] Additionally, in his book Of Mice and Magic, Maltin criticized the film for re-using Phil Harris to replicate The Jungle Book's Baloo, dismissing the character Thomas O'Malley as "essentially the same character, dictated by the same voice personality."[46] The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that the film received a 66% approval rating with an average rating of 5.9/10 based on 32 reviews. Its consensus states "Though The Aristocats is a mostly middling effort for Disney, it is redeemed by terrific work from its voice cast and some jazzy tunes."[47] Accolades The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10: Nominated Animation Film[48] Canceled sequel In 2005, DisneyToon Studios originally planned to make a follow-up to the film, along with sequels to Chicken Little (2005) and Meet the Robinsons (2007).[49] Originally intended to be a 2D animated feature, Disney executives decided to produce the film in computer animation in order to garner more interest.[50] Additionally, the story was meant to center around Marie, Duchess's daughter, who becomes smitten by another kitten aboard a luxury cruise ship. However, she and her family must soon take on a jewel thief on the open seas.[51] The project was canceled when John Lasseter was named Disney's new chief creative officer, in which he called off all future sequels DisneyToon had planned and instead make original productions or spin-offs.[49]****   The Secret Origin of the Aristocats by Wade Sampson, staff writer  December 23, 2009 Each year, it gets harder and harder to come up with a Disney-themed Christmas column, since in the past, I have written about Walt’s Christmas, Disney Christmas cartoons, Christmas at the theme parks and more. Then, it occurred to me that many Disney animated features were released at Christmas time and I could pick an obscure one to discuss. The Aristocats premiered December 24, 1970, almost 40 years ago and is rarely discussed, since it was really the first animated film made after Walt’s death. Jungle Book was released a year after Walt’s passing, but the perception is that, since it was in production during Walt’s lifetime, it still included his spirit and was a final tribute to his contributions. “The Artistocats reveals how essential Walt Disney was in shaping the studio’s animated features—and how significant a gap he left. Aristocats was the first film made entirely after his death. The plot does little more than link a string of vaguely related episodes," said animation historian Charles Solomon in the Los Angeles Times (April 9, 1987). I don’t always agree with Solomon’s opinions. However, when I read this quote 20 years ago, I thought he was being much too kind to the film. I have never cared for The Aristocats as a Disney animated feature. I guess the storyman in me wonders about the inclusion of two giddy English geese and their drunken uncle (basted in white wine and the last voice work of the talented Bill Thompson known as the Little Ranger, White Rabbit and Mr. Smee) and two dim witted Southern American dogs (voiced by Pat Buttram and George “Goober” Lindsey) in Belle Epoch France—and what the devil do all these diverse characters contribute to the story or the growth of the characters? How did a 1960s cat with love beads and indoor sunglasses end up in an all cat jazz band with distasteful stereotypes (remember the Chinese Cat with slanted eyes and buck teeth voiced by Paul Winchell?) when American jazz didn’t really become popular in France until after World War I? (Remember that this story is supposedly set in 1910 Paris, France.) And I am not even mentioning all the “borrowing” from re-used animation cycles to how “Ev’rybody Wants To Be A Cat” seems to be trying to be “I Wanna Be Like You” from The Jungle Book or how the defeat of one of Disney’s weakest villains ever, Edgar the Butler (and why does he feel the desperate need to kill the cats when the Duchess is still in fine health? Is he planning on killing the Duchess now, as well?) by the animals is strongly reminiscent of Horace and Jasper’s downfall in 101 Dalmatians. The film was released in December 1970 and was a box-office success, although critics were more than a little under-whelmed, especially after the wonder of the previous release, The Jungle Book. Today, the little white kitten named Marie is a huge favorite of the Japanese and there is a ton of merchandise featuring her. In fact, the Disney Channel considered making Marie and her brothers into teenagers and using them in a syndicated television series in 2003. By the way, in 2005, Disney announced it was going to do a direct-to-video sequel of the film, but that project was canceled in 2006 along with several other proposed sequels. For many years, The Aristocats remained probably my least-favorite Disney animated feature until I started dating a young lady named Tracy Barnes. It was her favorite Disney animated film of all time, but I suspect it was because, as a child, she saw it at a very emotional time in her young life and associated that incident with bonding more closely with her dad who took her to the movie theater. Anyway, Tracy taught me many things, but one of those things is that every Disney movie is somebody’s favorite and I need to be respectful of that fact. I truly believed that this film was a clear example that without Walt doing his famous story editing, future films would lack the richness of the earlier Disney animated features. Even the weakest of those earlier Disney films remain entertaining today and have several set pieces that are memorable—thanks to his eye for story. How often do you see a clip from The Aristocats used in compilations of outstanding Disney animation? Well, I have been wrong before and apparently I am wrong again, at least when it comes to how much input Walt had in The Aristocats. Originally, it was to be a two-part live-action story for Wonderful World of Color and Walt was deeply involved and was also the one who decided the story would be better in animation. For Tracy Barnes, wherever she is today, and all those readers who feel kindly toward The Aristocats, here is my Christmas gift to you: The story of how The Aristocats,came to be. It is another story you will never hear on the “extras” of the DVD. It all begins with a gentleman named Harry Tytle. Tytle spent 40 years at the Disney Studio, eventually becoming a producer on live-action films. He was well-liked and was close to Walt. On December 9, 1961, Tytle was in London where Tom McGowan, who had directed some of the animal films for Wonderful World of Disney like The Hound Who Thought He Was a Raccoon (1963), lived with his family. Walt Disney was also in London at the time and suggested that Tytle make a deal with McGowan to find some animal stories for the Disney Studio. McGowan also developed Born Free, which he offered to the Disney Studio and it was rejected. McGowan was the original director on that film, but left before the film was completed. By the New Year, McGowan had found several stories. One was a children’s book about a mother cat and her kittens set in New York City. Tytle felt that a London location had added a significant element to the story of “101 Dalmatians” and suggested setting the story of the cats in Paris. McGowan and Tytle worked out a rough storyline, assuming it would be done in live-action and run as a two-part television show that could later be combined into a theatrical release just as previous two part episodes had been done. Originally, the story revolved around two servants (a butler and a maid) who were in line to inherit a fortune of an eccentric mistress after the pet cats died and focused on their feeble and foolish attempts to eliminate the felines. Then there was an extended section of the mother cat hiding the kittens to keep them out of danger in a variety of different homes and locales around Paris, France. The concept was that the live-action cats talked to each other, much like the popular Mr. Ed television program. Walt was all in favor of the animals talking as long as it was not in the presence of humans. He felt it helped develop the animals’ personalities and moved along the story line. About two months later, when Tytle was in Rome supervising the shooting of Escapade in Florence (1962 starring Annette), McGowan brought him the story that had been written by Tom Rowe, an American writer then living in Paris. McGowan had paid for all of Rowe’s expenses out of his own pocket. Rowe had an interesting career as a writer from starting as a film reviewer for “Variety” and moving on to writing scripts for television shows like “Fantasy Island” to films like “The Green Slime” (1968) to “Tarzan the Ape Man” (1981). He was also a painter with several exhibitions in Paris. Tytle and McGowan spent a few days making revisions to Rowe’s version. By August, they sent the completed script to Burbank, where it was returned as “rejected” by the Disney Studio. However, this rejection did not come from Walt who had not seen the treatment but by underlings. Tytle was hesitant to contact Walt directly but that didn’t stop McGowan who tracked Walt down in London and slipped the treatment into an envelope and delivered it to the front desk of the Conaught, the hotel where Walt was staying. Walt liked the story and called McGowan at his home before McGowan had even returned from dropping off the envelope. Walt told McGowan that he would be seeing Tytle in Lisbon and they would go over the treatment. Tytle did meet with Walt in Lisbon and on the plane trip back to London, Walt told Tytle to buy the story, prepare it as a live-action feature that McGowan would direct and Tytle would produce. Walt felt there was too much material in the script and suggested eliminating the musical kitten, as well as other cuts and revisions. Beginning August 30, 1962, Tytle and McGowan worked for six straight days on working out a contract. The London Disney office actually amended the contract to cut McGowan in on any possible merchandising royalties. (This wasn’t a problem when it was a live-action project. When it became an animation project, those rights were purchased back from McGowan.) In January 1963, Tytle was in a London hospital for some surgery and during his recovery, he worked in his hospital room with McGowan and Rowe on revisions. The script was finally finished February 1, and Tytle returned to Burbank to begin preparations for shooting in Paris. In June, Walt showed Tytle a letter from Rowe. Apparently the writer was unhappy with the revisions to the script and in particular with Tytle who he felt was a “minion” of Walt’s sent to corrupt the work. Walt, however, was happy with Tytle’s work and allowed Tytle to respond to the letter himself. Tytle informed Rowe that it was just a difference of opinion and was sorry about his feelings on the matter but that Walt liked the changes and they would remain. For a variety of reasons, the Disney Studio shelved the story for awhile and McGowan attempted to buy back the rights from Disney but was refused. Since stories for animated films were becoming more difficult to come by, Tytle, in a discussion with Walt, suggested The Aristocats might make a good Disney animated feature. The idea was run past Woolie Reitherman (who was then the supervising director on the animated features) and some of the key animators and they all agreed. In August 1963, Walt asked for a copy of The Aristocats script and, two days later, Card Walker announced it would be the next animated feature. However work on the project didn’t continue until May 1964. In Tytle’s diary for November 25, 1964, is the following entry of a discussion with Walt: “We spent some time discussing the idea. I told him of various gags and bits of business that were not in this script because when we were planning live-action, we had felt they were too ‘cartoony,’ but now could be used. For instance, where the mother cat uses her whiskers as radar, protecting her from the two servants. The other one I told him about was when the servants were in the cellar. They get locked in (the mother cat pushes the door shut) when digging a hole to bury the cats, they hit the water main, flooding the wine cellar. The butler grabs for a floating wine bottle, can’t pour the contents into the already rising water, so drinks it, puts in a note (for help), then floats it out the cellar window. After doing this a couple of times, he gets ‘high’ and doesn’t care about help coming. Walt felt the Aristocats should follow the same tack as Dalmatians. He said it would be good if the cats could talk amongst themselves, but never in front of humans. He seemed to especially like the various artists in the story, and the characters. He says when we get started, he would like the Sherman boys come in and write songs. We discussed Waterloo (one of the kittens) and some of the earlier business that Walt had cut out. We have to stay to (just) three kittens, as there is too much business in the original treatment. Walt seemed to agree that the (family) history of the cats that was written by Tom Rowe was good, but extraneous.” Studio nurse Hazel George asked for a copy of the script (apparently at Walt’s suggestion), read it and returned it a few days later saying that she liked it very much and told Walt so. Walt valued George’s opinion. Grace Bailey, another Disney employee whose opinion Walt respected, also read the script and liked it. This leisurely process of delays on the film while work focused on other projects caused some problems after Walt’s passing. Tytle was told he was to centralize his efforts on live-action and that Winston Hibler would take over The Aristocats project. Hibler ran into production troubles and Woolie Reitherman took over and Hibler was never again involved on animation projects. Changes were made. “The part of the story that most intrigued Walt, that is, adoption into homes befitting the kittens’ talents, was cut," Tytle remembered. In my opinion, the resulting film lost the very element we tried to build, the Parisian atmosphere and characters, all the French charm. I honestly think the original story that Walt bought was much better. We didn’t have a mouse in the original story; I, for one, felt it was a cliché and not vital to a cat story. For once, I wanted to do a cat story without a mouse.” Elsa Lanchester (who had been in Mary Poppins among many other credits) had been cast as the voice and live-action reference for the part of Elvira the maid who wanted to eliminate the kittens. However, after Walt’s passing, the voice cast was recast and Elsa’s role was eliminated. Much of the original business was thrown out and replaced with other things, including the geese. After Walt’s death, Rowe sued the studio claiming that, because he had written his sections, he was entitled, under French law, the rights to those characters, even though he acknowledged the original idea was not his own. Obviously, that claim wasn’t supported by the Disney Studio. “It would have meant much more if the story that McGowan, Walt and I wrote had reached the screen, and had been left for the audience to judge. Thus ended my working on any cartoon product,” Tytle said with a sigh. So Walt did do some work on The Aristocats, but his work was tossed out of the final version. Perhaps some future Blu-Ray edition of the film will feature some excerpts from the original script and some of those voice recordings that were abandoned. Maybe it will turn out that The Aristocats was actually a much, much better story than I ever imagined. Certainly, it would seem to be more interesting that the final version that had everything including the kitchen sink. Maybe this column will encourage some of you to pull out your DVD of this film to enjoy over the holidays. Over time, I have come to view the film as a an inconsequential piece of fluff rather than an abomination to the heritage of Disney animation, but I often wonder what it would have been like if Walt had still been around to raise his one eyebrow every now and then. It might have truly been a great final Christmas gift from Walt. ****  Would Walt's version of "The Aristocats" have been a bigger hit for Disney Studios? RATE THIS Jim Hill 21 Aug 2012 11:22 AM 10 The full-length animated features that Walt Disney Animation Studios has produced over the past 75 years can mostly be sorted into two distinctly different piles: Those films that Walt personally had a hand in and those movies which were produced after Disney passed away. Please note that I said "mostly." Because the jury's still out about which pile "The Aristocats" actually belongs in. Why For? Because prior to his death in December of 1966, Walt spent five years working on & off on the development of this project. As he and his storymen struggled to get "The Aristocats" in good enough shape to shoot. A Walt Disney Productions publicity piece from 1969 showing the work that was still being done at that time on this animated feature. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved And -- yes -- I said "shoot," rather than animate. For much of the early 1960s, "The Aristocats" was headed for television. Walt originally saw Tom McGowan & Tom Rowe's story as perfect fodder for a fun live-action episode of "The Wonderful World of Color." So from December 1961 'til August 1963, that's where the Company's efforts (at least as far as this individual project was concerned) were concentrated. Breaking down "The Aristocats" 's story beats so that this feline-driven tale could then be told as a two-part episode on this hour-long anthology series for NBC. But sometime in the late Summer / early Fall of 1963 (Just as Walt was riding herd on the production of "Mary Poppins" as well as zeroing in on the perfect piece of property to build Project Florida upon), Woolie Reitherman somehow got ahold of the script for "The Aristocats." Which he immediately saw as the possible follow-up project for the animated feature that WDAS then had in production, "The Jungle Book." Now this is where this story gets kind of murky. Given that -- from the Fall of 1964 through December of 1966 -- Walt (when he sat in on "Aristocats" story sessions. Which admittedly wasn't all that often) always pushed for one particular version of this story. Which had Duchess obsessed with finding just the right owner/home for each of her three kittens. The perfect place where Berlioz, Marie and Toulouse's talents would then be allowed to flourish.  More importantly, where her children would be safe, happy and loved for the rest of their lives. Ken Anderson once envisioned Duchess and her kittens meeting O'Malley on the streets of Paris, rather than far out in the French countryside. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved That -- to Walt's way of thinking, anyway -- is what should have driven the story of "The Aristocats." That by placing this particular storyline front & center and then making the whole butler-and-maid-trying-to-dispose-of-this-quartet-of-cats-so-that-they-could-then-collect-Madame-Bonfamille's-fortune idea a relatively minor comic subplot ... Well, that then would have given "The Aristocats" 's plotline a real sense of urgency. More importantly, that this mother-who-makes-sacrifices,-lets-her-children-go-so-that-they-can-then-go-on-to-lead-happy,-fulfilling-lives angle is what would give this motion picture heart and allow the audience to make a real emotional connection to these characters and this story. Because -- as you know -- in all of the very best Walt Disney Studios productions -- " ... for every laugh, there should be a tear." But after Walt died in December of 1966, Woolie began making significant changes to "The Aristocats" characters & storyline. To be blunt, Reitherman wasn't all that interested in making an mushy and emotional animated feature. What he had in mind was more of an action-adventure / comedy romp, something more along the lines of Walt Disney Productions' 1961 release, "101 Dalmatians." More to the point, Woolie's main goal here was to make sure that WDAS would actually be able to complete production of "The Aristocats." With Walt now gone ... Well, there were a lot of people at the Studio who were questioning whether Walt Disney Productions should even keep its feature animation unit up and running. Please note that O'Malley the Alley Cat has a very different color scheme in this concept painting that Ken Anderson did during "The Aristocats" 's early development phase. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved "The Jungle Book" 's huge box office success during the Summer of 1967 effectively tabled that discussion. For a while, anyway. But Reitherman knew that -- were "The Aristocats" to turn out to be a particularly troubled production and/or a box office failure  ... Well, Card Walker & his cronies would then just use this as an excuse to shut feature animation down. So whatever Woolie could do to make "The Aristocats" easier to produce / keep this animated feature's overall production costs down, he did. Take -- for example -- the two villains who used to drive this film's story, Edgar the Butler and Elvira the Maid. In an effort to simplify these proceedings / streamline production, Reitherman gave the maid the boot and made the butler the singular villain of the piece. Likewise remembering all of the extra time, effort & money that went into making sure that Shere Khan's stripes were always in the right place (not to mention all of those spots on the puppies in "101 Dalmatians") ... Well, that's why Woolie decided to rethink the look that the Studio's development team had originally come up with for O'Malley the Alley Cat.  Changing this sweet-talking tabby from an orange-colored calico with all sorts of stripes on him to a far simpler-to-paint-and-draw, brown-and-white alley cat. Here's an image capture from an early animation test for "The Aristocats." Back when O'Malley the Alley Cat still had his stripes. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Mind you, not everyone at the Studio was happy with what Woolie Reitherman was doing. When I spoke with Disney Legend Richard Sherman on the phone last week (he was doing publicity for the Blu-ray version of "The Aristocats." Which -- FYI -- is out in stores today), he talked about how all of these cuts & changes that Woolie was making wound up impacting many of the songs that he and his brother Robert had written for this film. "As you'll discover when you watch the 'The Lost Open' portion of the Special Features on this Blu-ray & DVD, we had this whole different opening sequence for 'The Aristocats' written and storyboarded. One where we used a comic song to introduce the audience to Edgar & Elvira," Sherman explained. "But once Elvira was cut out of the picture, that song had to go. Along with a bunch of other numbers that -- I think, anyway -- cost this story some emotional heft. Made this material seem far more lightweight than it really needed to." Richard was quick to point out that he's still a big fan of the finished version of this film. He also acknowledged that "The Aristocats" did exactly what it was supposed to. Because this animated feature was a box office success when it was initially released to theaters in December of 1970 ... Well, that then prevented Disney's board of directors from having an excuse  to shut down the Studio's feature animation unit. Which is why 1973's "Robin Hood" (and the two full-length animated features which followed that film, 1977's "The Rescuers" and 1981's "The Fox and the Hound") were then allowed to go into production. Among the sequences that got cut from "The Aristocats" during its early-early production phase was a scene where O'Malley tricked Edgar into following him down into the sewers of Paris. Woolie Reitherman spiked this sequence supposedly out of concern that all of the water & lightning effects necessary to properly pull off this scene would significantly increase "The Aristocats" production budget. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved But even so, Sherman still misses some of the more-heartfelt numbers that he and his brother wrote for this motion picture: "Pourquoi" (which was supposed to have been a cute duet between Madame Bonfamille and Duchess) and " She Never Felt Alone" (which would have been the musical number that Duchess used to explain to O'Malley why she & her kittens couldn't stay with him, why they had to hurry back home to Madame Bonfamille'). Not to mention "Le Jazz Hot," the Sherman-written song which was eventually replaced by "Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat." "That song was actually cut out of the picture because the producers were worried that 'The Aristocats' was getting too French," Sherman laughed. "Which is kind of a strange concern to have when your movie is set in and around Paris." It's this somewhat schizophrenic production history that often makes it difficult for Disneyphiles & animation historians to decide how exactly to categorize "The Aristocats." After all, Walt Disney did in fact help shape the story for this film back in the early 1960s. Only to then have Woolie Reitherman toss out many of the Ol' Mousetro's ideas. All because Woolie wasn't looking to necessarily make the greatest full-length animated feature of all time. But -- rather -- just make a movie that the Studio's feature animation team could actually deliver on time and (more importantly) on budget. Another way that Woolie Reitherman kept down "The Aristocats" production costs is by changing Duchess and her kittens from fluffy, long-haired Persian cats to American shorthairs. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved That said, me personally, I still think that there's a lot to like about "The Aristocats." Especially those two slapstick-heavy sequences where Edgar encounters Napoleon & Lafayette, those two hound dogs who are guarding that farm out in the French countryside. But now after having talked with Richard Sherman as well as having seen the Special Features on this new Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment release, I wonder if -- by going the lighthearted romp route, rather than exploring the more emotional potential that Walt originally saw in this material -- Woolie didn't cost the Company a classic. A film more along the lines of "Lady and the Tramp," which -- thanks to its strong storyline and deeper, far more complex characters -- still resonates with audiences today in a way that "The Aristocats" just doesn't. But what do you folks think of this 1970 Walt Disney Productions release? Is "The Aristocats" purr-fection to you or the animation equivalent of a hairball ... er ... airball? Your thoughts?      ebay3492

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