Toon Tuesday: Disney’s “The Aristocats” … The Animated Series ?!

Jim Hill

17 years ago

Today, the “Special Edition” version of “The Aristocats” DVD goes on sale.

And while it’s hard to find fault with this 1970 Walt Disney Productions release itself (Which remains just as charming as ever. With Duchess the filthy rich feline falling for Thomas O’Malley the alley cat …

… not to mention the amusing antics of Duchess’ pampered offspring, Toulouse, Berlioz & Marie), …

… as you watch this single disc edition of “The Aristocats” … It’s hard to get all that excited about the meager assortment of “Bonus Material” that Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has placed on this DVD. I mean, yet another interview with Richard M. & Robert B. Sherman? Zzzzz …

Don’t me wrong, folks. I grew up listening to the Sherman Brothers. So I love these guys and greatly admire their work. But that said, when you watch as many WDSHE releases as I do, it seems like Dick & Bob are interviewed for every single DVD that Disney puts out. And — to be honest — I’m getting kind of tired of looking at these guys.

Surely there must be someone else left on the planet who actually worked on “The Aristocats.” Another person who could then offer some fresh perspective on how this picture — the very last animated feature that Walt Disney personally put into production — came together?

But if that’s really not possible … Okay. Then how’s about we expand the definition of what “Bonus Material” is? Wouldn’t it be fun if WDSHE chased down someone from DisneyToon Studios to talk about that “Aristocats 2” home premiere that they had in the works a few years back? Or — better yet — got someone from the Disney Channel to talk about “Aristocats: The Animated Series” ?

What’s that? You never heard about this project? This was way back in 2003 or thereabouts. Right after then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner had just gone on one of his “We-have-to-start-getting-more-value-out-of-our-pre-existing-library-of-characters” jags. And given that the theme parks & the Disney Stores were moving a startlingly large amount of Marie-themed merchandise, it was then decided that “The Aristocats” might be a franchise that was worth revisiting.

Or should I say “reinventing” ? Given that the very first thing that the folks at the Disney Channel did was kick Duchess and O’Malley to the curb (You see, adults are boring). Next they turned Marie …

… and her brothers, Toulouse and Berlioz …

… into teenagers. And then give Marie (Who was supposed to be the main character of this new “Aristocats” show) someone new to bounce off of, they then basically invented this teenaged version of O’Malley the alley cat and called him Delancey.

Who (To give you some idea of how cool Delancey was supposed to be, circa 2003) could dance like a combination of Justin Timberlake and Usher.

And then — to round out the cast (as well as give Marie et al characters that they could then be in conflict with) — the Street Cats were created.

The basic idea here was to reinvent “The Aristocats” so that this franchise would then appeal to your typical Disney Channel / Toon Disney watcher. And while Glen Hanson really did do a great job of updating the look of these classic characters (More importantly, then making it possible to do Disney’s “Aristocats: The Animated Series” in Flash) … In the end, Mouse House management thought that … Well, maybe this Marie,-Berlioz-and-Toulouse-as-teenagers idea was too big a departure from the original 1970 film.

Which is why it was then decided to introduce the Marie-as-a-teenaged-character concept in an “Aristocats” home premiere. And then — if that film was successful — then the Disney Channel would use “Aristocats II” as the jumping-off point for Disney’s “Aristocats: The Animated Series.”

But then in January of 2006, the Walt Disney Company acquired Pixar Animation Studios. And John Lasseter — with the hope that this one move might then make the movie-going public appreciate Disney’s animated films once again — got the Mouse out of the unnecessary sequel business. And “Aristocats II” — right along with “Chicken Little 2” and “Meet the Robinsons 2” — wound up getting cancelled.

But that said … All of the development art that was done for “Aristocats: The Animated Series” and “Aristocats 2” is still sitting in drawers in the Frank Wells building. And wouldn’t it have been more fun to see all of that stuff on “The Aristocats: Special Edition” DVD? Rather than having to listen to Dick Sherman tell his “We-didn’t-write-that-title-song-thinking-that-Maurice-Chevalier-would-actually-come-out-of-retirement-in-order-to-perform-it” story again.

Again, no disrespect intended toward Dick & Bob. I’m just looking for WDSHE to freshen up the sort of “Bonus Material” that it features on its DVDs … Your thoughts?