I’m a Sucker for A Good Talking Animal Film

Does anyone remember a film from Disney called The Aristocats?

It’s probably one of my favourite childhood movies of all time, for a simple four-syllabled reason: Eva Gabor.

Her sister Zsa Zsa may have been better known, but Eva was the one I heard first, in a darkened theatre one stolen afternoon with my mom. She voiced the character of Duchess in the movie, and I fell immediately. If you’ve seen the film, could you imagine Duchess being voiced by anyone else? I didn’t think so.

The other reason I love this movie? Within the first few minutes Toulouse stole my heart. Not Marie, Not Berlioz, Toulouse. See, he was a troublemaker. I could identify with that. He practiced his spitting & clawing in case he ever met an alley cat. I knew I’d have to deal with my own alley cat problems eventually, so I identified with him. And really, Marie was a bit of a priss, although she did have her moments – one of my favourite lines come from her: “Ladies don’t start fights, but they can finish them.”

The movie was chockful of supporting character goodness, of which my favourites was Roquefort, the rat who lived in the family mansion along with the cats and Adelaide Bonnefamille. Roquefort was voiced by Sterling Holloway, who’s best known for voicing Winnie The Pooh and Flower (Bambi).
The reason for this trip down movie memory lane?

There’s a trailer for a new Disney movie on Apple trailers that echoes the charm of the older Disney movies. Set for release summer 2007, the main character is a rat.

A rat with a dream.

The press release is more eloquent, and says it’s a story of “… an ambitious French rat named Remy who dreams of becoming a great chef. Because of his passion for cooking, Remy accidentally uproots his family from the French countryside to the sewers of Paris, and finds himself ideally situated beneath a restaurant made famous by his culinary hero, Auguste Gusteau…”

I won’t post the rest of the storyline – why spoil it?

I’m hoping this movie brings back that wonderful childlike quality that I love about the older Disney movies, and with Brad Bird (The Incredibles) at the helm, I think the odds are VERY good indeed.

Want to see trailer? Visit the Apple trailer site here or the Disney site here.