February 28, 2008

Movies have always been an inspirational part of every child’s life. Movies inspire imagination, story telling, and adventure. Disney has always been a part of my. After the first time I saw The Lion King I couldn’t stop running around on all fours and imagining what it was like to be a lion. Disney inspires imagination and fun in children’s spirits. In a world where children have been forced to grow up to fast Disney has been there to let them be a kid. Disney inspires hope into many girls’ hearts. Disney lets every girl know that she too can be a princess.

The first time I saw Aristocat’s I was sitting down for nap time at my mother’s daycare. However this movie is no nap time special. As soon as me and the other kids heard the first line to Scales and Arpeggios we were up and singing along in no time. I have always loved movies where you can get a song stuck in your head and never tire of it. This Jazzy Classic offers several fun kid friendly songs that the whole family can enjoy.

The Aristocats was first released in 1970. It comes to us now its second edition DVD. The original DVD was released in 2000 it was called the Gold Classic Collection. This edition of the Aristocats offers several family friendly Games and Activities. You will also be able to learn things from the Fun With Language Game; your children will have the opportunity to learn the sounds and different names of the instruments that they will see the cats playing through out the movie. There is a new Virtual Kitten game, you will be able to adopt and care for your favorite kitten. This version of the game also includes a Virtual Kitten DVD-ROM. It includes two new family friendly mini-games. Your children will also be able to print out there very own Adoption License.

Disney has also graciously included and excerpt from “The Great Cat Family”. You will also be able to enjoy learning about the Sherman Brothers in Disney’s The Aristocats Of Disney Songs. They have also included a Disney Scrapbook that you and you family can enjoy. You will also be able to view the deleted scene titled She Never Felt Alone. I always enjoy all the added features that Disney offers. I always try to completely view the entire disk so I don’t miss any special sights and sounds offered by Disney.

This movie starts out with Duchess and her three kittens taking a stroll through town with their beloved mistress. They are also accompanied by the seeming faithful butler Edgar. However with a visit by Miss Bonfamille’s lawyer and the Aristocats lives are turned upside down. The butler Edgar is corrupted by his greed. Once Edgar learns of his mistress’s intentions of giving him all of her inheritance after her and the cats has passed. He cannot help himself, but find a way of ending the cat’s lives before their time.

When Duchess and her three kittens realize that they have been kidnapped they can think of nothing else but getting back with their beloved Mistress. With the help of their friend the sly Thomas O’Malley and the goose sisters, the family is off in search of Paris, France their home. Along the way the family will meet several exciting characters, including a drunken goose. The family will jam with a gang of alley cats to some hip jazz music. But in the end the Aristocats will reveal Edgar for his true self and punish him for his greed.

Filmmaking: 8
Aristocats was director by none other than the famous Wolfgang Reitherman. This director has worked on several of Disney’s classic animation. So it comes to no surprise that this is another one of his masterpieces. From beginning to end, you will be able to tell that this film was crafted from the mind of an artist.

Graphics: 7
Now I just want to say this movie was created in the old fashioned style animation. While watching this movie you will actually be able to see the scratch marks that the artists left on the pages. You can tell right away this movie was not created with the skill of the majority of the Disney classics. When you rate this to some of the earlier animation produced by Disney, you will wonder why they didn’t put as much effort into this film as the others. You can really tell that you are watching a hand drawn picture.

Sound: 8
With all the sing along songs and fun tunes this movie offers you will not be able to stop humming along with its tunes. Disney has always provided us with fun and family friendly songs. I don’t know of anyone who has not watched a Disney Sing-Along-Song video. Music is just another brilliant form of entertainment brought to you by Disney. I haven’t been able to get the word arpeggios out of my head since I watched this movie. By the way I didn’t know what arpeggios were either. So I looked it up, an arpeggio is a group of notes which are played one after another, either going up or going down.

Value: 8
I am a Disney movie collector, so I will let you know right off the back that I am biased about the value of any movie ever made by Disney. The idea of letting even one movie slip by me is too much for me. This is not my favorite Disney movie ever created, but I think $20.00 is a fair price to pay for any Disney classic. I wouldn’t let this one slip back into the vault. It could be another ten years before it is re-released.

Overall: 8
Overall this movie is not my favorite. The characters are just not as interesting as other Disney characters you will encounter. Also the imagery within this film is shady at best. To allow this film to be produced with out covering up the broken lines and the mistakes is a travesty. I can tell that Disney did not expect this movie to be an A-list movie. But as far as I am concerned this movie had and interesting plot and fun songs. With a little bit more imagination this movie could have been a lot better.