The Aristocats

The Aristocats is a 1970 American animated musical comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution. Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, and based on a story by Tom McGowan and Tom Rowe, it was the final Disney animated film released during studio co-founder Roy O. Disney's tenure before his death on December 20, 1971. Set in Paris, the plot follows a family of aristocratic cats who are set to gain their mistress's fortune, much to the dismay of her butler. Thrown into the countryside, the family is helped by a feral cat as they attempt to return to their mistress's home. The film stars the voices of Phil Harris, Eva Gabor, Hermione Baddeley, Dean Clark, Sterling Holloway, Scatman Crothers, and Roddy Maude-Roxby.

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 McGowan, Rowe, and producer Harry Tytle starting in 1962. Following two years of rewrites, Tytle suggested the project would be more suitable for an animated film, which Disney temporarily shelved while The Jungle Book (1967) advanced into production. When The Jungle Book was nearly complete, Walt Disney appointed Ken Anderson to develop preliminary work on The Aristocats, making it the last film project to be personally approved by Walt before his death. Longtime Disney collaborators Robert and Richard Sherman composed multiple songs for the film, though only two made it in the finished product.