|
|
The Aristocats
DVD Review by Yanman |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
"Ev'rybody Wants To Be a Cat" Disney's 20th full-length animated feature is a musically charged fun-filled romp for the whole family. It is amazing however to note the evolution of animation over the past 40 years or so. Pay attention to the details, like shadows and special effects (Like lightning, water, wind, etc.), and you will undoubtedly notice that today's animated features are much more realistic. Still no amount of fancy gimmicks can make up for good story, plotline, and voice acting. The Aristocats DVD doesn't disappoint in these areas, but is lacking in our other three picture, sound, and extras. In world of Paris millionaires, even the cats are pampered and proper. When one unconventional high-society millionairess wills all of her money to her cats however, her butler Edgar, fifth in line behind the four feline heirs, decides to up the anti. After catnapping Duchess (Voiced by Eva Gabor) and her kittens and dumping them many miles form home, he assumes his problems are over. The journey has just begun for the prissy cats however, who would be lost if not for the help of a streetwise and charming ally cat named Thomas O' Malley. There adventures lead them all over the French countryside and to Thomas swinging bachelor pad, where Scat Cat (Scatman Cruthers) and his band of swingin' jazz cats perform. The cats may find there way home, but will they be able to get past the evil butler and live happily ever after? Animation can look very good on DVD, Tarzan, The Prince of Egypt, and a Bugs Life SE prove that. The Aristocats is old however, and does not live up to other features in this genre, with graininess and dirt throughout. If you are buying for your children's viewing pleasure (or your own) then you won't be disappointed, if you are looking for super high quality video on DVD then you will be. Presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The sound here is not much better that the picture, and is only offered in 2.0 Dolby Surround. Now I know that this is an old movie (1964) but older Disney classics have been re-mastered into 5.1 soundtracks (Cinderella for one) so why not this one? There are two real extras here an Interactive Read-Along and an Interactive Trivia game. There is one "Unwanted extra" here and that is the forced viewing of preview trailers at the beginning of the DVD (they can be skipped one at time by using the chapter advance. Come on Disney, please let us choose what advertisements we want to watch and when. Disney has not done justice to this classic feature, nor to the DVD format itself with this release. Still, if your family are fans of Disney Classic Animation more for the story than the medium that it is recorded on, then this one is worth having. As for someone leaving millions of dollars to a bunch of cats, I just have five words to say, "here kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty".
This DVD was reviewed on Yanman.com's Reference Theater #1, using a Toshiba SD-5109 DVD player, Toshiba TW56X81, and M&K 750 THX Speakers. Panamax protects all systems at Yanman.com. |
The Aristocats No amount of fancy gimmicks can make up for good story, plotline, and voice acting. Staring: Eva Gabor Directed By: Wolfgang Reitherman Running time: 79 Min Bonus Materials
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
