When people are asked the question “What is the greatest film ever created?”, the usual responses are “The Godfather”, “The Shawshank Redemption”, or “The Silence of the Lambs”. However, there is one movie that has been discarded by the common film-goer that does not receive the respect it deserves. There is one film that encapsulates the traits of a perfect movie. There is one movie that is left off the lists of the all-time greats. That movie is the 1970 masterpiece created by Walt Disney productions, “The Aristocats”.

For those unfortunate souls that do not know of the masterpiece “The Aristocats”, I will give you a very brief synopsis. ¨The Aristocats¨ is an animated film that takes place in Paris during the year 1910 with a rich woman named Madame. She has four cats; Duchess, Berlioz, Marie, and Toulouse. One day her butler Edgar kidnaps the cats so that he can get Madame’s fortune when she dies. The cat family gets abandoned along a bridge and eventually meet up with Thomas O’Malley the Alley Cat. Now a group of five, the cats find their way back to Paris and to Madame’s house. A typical “happy ending” occurs with them all living in the house and Edgar is sent to Timbuktu. While this amazing plot is an excellent example of a perfect film, it is not the only example.
One of the tell-tale signs of a fantastic film is the score. Most Spielberg works employ John Williams who is well known for his musical talents in films. Well, the Music for “The Aristocats” was created by George Burns who also scored “The Jungle Book” and “One Hundred and One Dalmatians”. The Musical numbers throughout the film like “Scales and Arpeggios” and “Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat” provoke whimsical thoughts and feelings which any great movie should do. Compare that to the score from “Jaws” by John Williams where all you recognize is the “dun dunnn” and most people don’t even know the name of that piece.

Another sign of a masterpiece of cinematography is the artistic style. The animation style used by DIsney for “The Aristocats” is out of this world. Nowadays, studios are using Computer Generated Images to make their movies, but back in the golden age of animation films, they drew every scene themselves without any help. That’s the way “The Aristocats” was created and while it may not look as crisp and clear as the CGI, it invokes a sense of class that is missing from many modern films. Films like “Transformers” and “TMNT” made recently by Michael Bay both looks fake and the animation doesn’t fit in with their real world surroundings. However, with “The Aristocats”, it all fits together like a jigsaw puzzle that creates a beautiful picture.

A perfect plot, a soothing score, and amazing art style all fit together to make “The Aristocats” a masterpiece. Other films may come close to the high standards “The Aristocats” have set upon them, but many lack either one or two of the three factors that I mentioned earlier (plot, score, and art). It has been 45 years since the release of “The Aristocats” and I can guarantee that even in the next 45 years, there will not be a better film than it.