Seen any good movies lately… 40 times?

Posted by Richard Harland Smith on June 27, 2008

Seen any good movies lately… 40 times? I have. My not-quite-3 year old daughter Vayda Jane is going through an ARISTOCATS phase at the moment. We watch it, or parts of it, nearly every day and have been for some weeks. I’m guessing at the number 40 but it can’t be far off, considering we see this thing on weekends, too. Of course, I’d seen the 1970 Walt Disney animated feature in the cinema when I was a little kid and it was one of my wife’s favorites, too. We’re pro-ARISTOCATS in this house but nothing prepared us for the toddler proclivity for movie mega-bingeing.

And let me tell you, when you watch something more than three dozen times, you start to get definite ideas about what works and what doesn’t and what’s just… weird.

Let me set the scene for you: In Paris, 1910, pampered house cat Duchess (voiced by Eva Gabor) and her charming brood of kittens are displaced by human greed from their plush digs to the French countryside, where roving alley cat Thomas O’Mally (voiced by Phil Harris), captivated by Duchess’ exquisite breeding and exotic airs, agrees to shepherd the family back to the City of Lights.

A number of amusing adventures follow but eventually the group makes it to Paris, crossing the grid via its latticework of rooftops. As they get within ear shot of O’Mally’s bohemian crash pad (yes, Phil Harris works the same hipster argot that he used as Baloo in JUNGLE BOOKthree years earlier), the sound of raucous jazz shatters the stillness of the nuit…

… and reveals that O’Mally has some unexpected guests…

… in the feline form of Scat Cat (voiced by Scatman Crothers) and his combo of swinging hepcats, who are presently jamming up in the rafters.

As O’Mally reconnects with his rascally old friend …

… via a rousing production number called “Everybody Wants to be a Cat”…

… Duchess is the recipient of some unsolicited attention from one of the band members.

Italian Cat (as the strangely generic credits identify him) boldly approaches Duchess across the surface of a slovenly bed. This being mid-20th Century Disney, racial stereotypes are dialed up to 11 and Italian Cat (voiced by Vito Scotti) is no exception… he wears a peasant hat and bandanna, with long sideburns like Rudolph Valentino, and his dialogue is full of superfluous vowels (“He was a’close!”). Although Italian Cat is coded initially as “cute, non-threatening ethnic,” he wiggles his eyebrows at Duchess in an unmistakable come-on.

But even stranger is what happens next. As Scat Cat’s band beats out a furious rhythm…

… Italian Cat offers himself to Duchess in a dance of alternating seduction and vulgarity.

This, my friends, is the real Dirty Dancing. I can’t tell you how I look forward to this scene every time Vayda orders up “RISTOCATS!” I can’t take my eyes off that Italian cat’s undulating buttocks… I mean, didn’t they make this thing for kids? Well, at least Duchess never engages Italian Cat. Although she politely bobs her head in time with the song and smiles warmly, her movements are restricted to above the neck. As Italian Cat thrusts his pelvis at her, she keeps her forepaws closed in front of her, being sure not to give this stranger any kind of invitation.

Yes, Duchess (who has fallen in unlikely love with the irascible O’Mally) has done the right thing. She has not compromised her honor for the sake of a quick hook-up, no matter how unbridled the atmosphere and invigorating the jazz, and this of course supports the dyed-in-the-wool family values of Disney entertainment. But what’s strange is that it happened at all! I mean, that Italian Cat was macking something serious… while Duchess’ polite but firm refusal to capitulate allowed him to save face and join in on the big number, which reaches such a crescendo (perhaps fueled by sexual frustration) that the entire jazz band crashes through the unstable attic floor, down through the next level, through the next level, through the next level and down finally to the street, where they stream out of the building, their instruments busted but their spirits high.

Anyway, that’s how it looks to me after 40 viewings. I may feel differently around the 100 mark. I’ll have to get back to you on that.

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9 Responses Seen any good movies lately… 40 times?

Posted By moirafinnie : June 27, 2008 6:48 pm

Hi RHS,
Well, since it is your daughter who seems to have a proclivity for seeing a movie many times, maybe there is something to this genetics stuff after all, eh?

Having seen The Aristocats a few times, (I have a vast array of nieces and nephews myself), I can appreciate revisiting it through your piece. It is curious how after the 15th or 16th viewing you can start to analyze (or is it overanalyze??) the Jungian subtext of a cartoon, the sexuality of an animated cat, (hey, it worked for Fritz the Cat didn’t it?) and plot construction of a flick, any flick.

Maybe it’s just me, but though I like this movie, (up to a point) it doesn’t seem to hold a candle to the original 101 Dalmatians, & it seems to owe much of its story structure to Lady and the Tramp. And, hey, isn’t there a soupçon of the animated tv series Top Cat present in some of the characterizations? Maybe if you try introducing your little girl to these cartoons as well, you’d get a break before the 100th request for the ‘Ristocats! pushes you over the edge. I wouldn’t want you to snap before you have a chance to experience the unalloyed joys of parenthood to come. Enjoy the ride and I really enjoyed your article.
Moira

Posted By rhsmith : June 27, 2008 7:10 pm

101 Dalmations and Lady and the Tramp are certainly of a higher art than The AristoCats… and yet I think I like the latter for rewatching. We’ve seen Lady… several times recently, too, and it’s maybe a little too classic to watch again and again and again… there’s something delightfully disposable about The AristoCats which makes repeat viewings as easy to digest as, oh I don’t know, a fine Mountain Dew.

Posted By Jenni, St. Louis : June 27, 2008 10:33 pm

Dumbo, Fox and the Hound, Winnie the Pooh, and Toy Story are the Disney fare our kids have watched over and over and over again.
Now that some of our kids are teens and preteens, I do enjoy seeing them sit down to rewatch a Disney animated movie with the baby of the family who is 5. They enjoy those videos and dvds as much as he does!

Posted By Z-Ghost : June 27, 2008 11:22 pm

I really enjoyed your latest blog. Do you remember our Sunday night traditions? I do watch certain shows that we watched as children and am shocked to see the violence and maybe sexual inuendos that we watched as kids…However we lived in a different world back then. Doors never had to be locked, kids played outside from morning to night with (God Forbid) no cell phones. I miss those innocent days and am happy thay you will bring your children up as close to the way that we were brought up.

Posted By Patricia : June 29, 2008 9:03 am

40 times? Ha! My 16 year old has a diagnosis of autism/developmental delay. The family and various video store workers refer to him as the “movie savant”. Gavin goes on kicks where certain movies or even scenes are on a continual loop. Since I’ve known him my appreciation for “Dumbo”, “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad”, “One Hundred and One Dalmatians” and many others has increased ten-fold. However, after the charming opening credits “The Aristocats” has never done anything for me. Do you notice they never mention the kitten’s father? M’mm. I think the movie just tries to hard for a certain level of charm that it is missing.

Posted By Suzi Doll : June 30, 2008 4:57 pm

This was a lot of fun to revisit with your observation in mind. Very funny, but looking at the beautiful stills makes me realize how much I miss traditional hand-drawn animation. The colors and rendering make the long shots look like paintings. This is why adults used to enjoy going to see animation with their kids–there was something to admire about the technique. I’ll take a second-tier hand-drawn Disney animated feature anyday over Shrek, Cars, and Toy Story anyday.

Posted By Teri : July 2, 2008 2:43 pm

We love the Aristocats too. Our cat “Boots” looks just like O’Malley. I can relate to your “dilemma”. My niece went through a Mary Poppins phase. Her son is going through a Rudolph phase..So we are enjoying “Christmas in July”. You may end up knowing the movie word for word but the memories they produce are Priceless…Enjoy! Besides….Everybody wants to be a cat……

Posted By BillB : July 3, 2008 7:09 am

40′s Big Band leader and Green Acres alumni, you cant go wrong there as the stars of your show. These are beautiful stills …like to look at cartoon gels, also…that’s a real treat, especially the Warner Bros /Looney Tunes ones.

Posted By Pops : April 14, 2009 3:53 am

I woke up this morning feeling kind’o down, and Amelia and Abigail Gabble came to mind…”Dig a bit deeper”…saving O’Malley from drowning. Finding inspiration and a smile in movies my kids grew up with:-)and I still love watching. “I will grow up next year”

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