(Walt Disney Home Entertainment, 2 discs)

(Walt Disney Home Entertainment)

(Warner Home Video)

 

With the just-announced passing of Ollie Johnston, we have lost the last surviving member of Walt Disney's original core group of supremely gifted animators known as his "Nine Old Men" -- and must truly say goodbye to an era.  Johnston and his fellow animators were so much more than "cartoonists" -- they were extraordinary artists, geniuses and dreamers whose contributions will -- and must -- remain with us.

 

How fitting, then, that two of the Disney Studio's landmark animated features have been recently reissued on DVD, each beautifully restored and remastered and with a delightful dose of extras.

 

101 Dalmatians (1961), one of the most beloved of all the Disney classics, was a landmark if for no other reason than it represented a technical step forward in animation -- it introduced a new Xerox process whereby the animators' drawings could be directly copied onto animation cels rather than being hand-traced by a third party.  This made for a slightly rougher look rather than the smooth, "cleaned-up" versions on display in previous animated features from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) through Sleeping Beauty (1959), but most animators actually preferred this new look, because for the first time they could see their actual drawings on the screen in the finished film.

 

The Aristocats (1970) was also a landmark, albeit for a far sadder reason: it was the first Disney animated feature to be produced entirely after Walt's untimely passing.  Created at a time when the Studio's future was somewhat uncertain and most members of Walt's creative team were preoccupied with asking themselves "What would Walt have done?" with every move they made, the film does not quite rise to the level of its predecessors which had the benefit of Walt's magic touch -- but nevertheless it is definitely a success.

 

Both films contain similar plotlines -- a litter of puppies/kittens is kidnapped from their owners for nefarious purposes and must find their way back home.  As with most Disney movies (both animated and live-action), the particulars of the plot itself are not nearly as important to us as the manner in which the story is told, and the memorable characters we meet along the way.  In the case of Dalmatians, we are treated to one of the most unforgettable of all characters in the history of animation, and arguably the greatest Disney villain of them all -- the sublime Cruella DeVil.  The first of Disney's villains to have a song named after her, Cruella tops the all-time popularity lists of both animated characters and movie villains, and with good reason.  She is one of the Disney Studio's most brilliant creations, a baddie who is genuinely scary and genuinely funny at the same time.  Spreading her sickly-green cigarette smoke everywhere she goes and voiced by the wonderful Betty Lou Gerson in a husky tone reminiscent of legendary actress Tallulah Bankhead (on whom she was reportedly modelled), she -- even more than the adorable puppies -- is the most compelling character in the film.  And despite her thoroughly evil nature and despite our desire for her downfall, we can't help but be enthralled with her.

 

As for Aristocats, its most memorable character is Abraham deLacey Giuseppe Casey Thomas O'Malley, a tomcat voiced by the great Phil Harris, already beloved by Disney fans for his unforgettable performance as the voice of Baloo the bear three years earlier in The Jungle Book (1967).  His two songs here, "Thomas O'Malley Cat" and "Ev'rybody Wants to Be A Cat", the latter a terrific jazz number performed with the great Scatman Crothers, endear his character to us even more than his efforts to lead the lost kittens back to safety.  Their eccentric owner, Madame Bonfamille, is voiced by one of two divine Hermiones, the great British character actress Hermione Baddeley, who had previously appeared as a housekeeper in not one but two '60s Disney musicals, Mary Poppins (1964) and The Happiest Millionaire (1967).  The film's most distinguished voice, however, does not portray one of the characters but rather performs the title song under the opening credits -- legendary French entertainer Maurice Chevalier, who came out of retirement at the request of the Disney Studio to record this one song.  A longtime Disney friend and fan who had co-starred in the Disney features In Search of the Castaways (1962) and Monkeys, Go Home! (1967) and had recorded a children's album for the Disney record label, Chevalier stated at the time, "I was deeply saddened by the death of my dear friend a few years ago.  I would never have done this for anyone else, or for any reason, other than to show my enormous admiration and respect for the one and only Walt."

 

Although Aristocats is letterboxed, Dalmatians is presented full-screen as this was the format in which it was originally animated.  The proper aspect ratios of Disney features from the 1960s through the early 1980s has been a topic of debate among the fans for years, and the fact that Disney has been very erratic on this when releasing its back-catalogue of films on DVD doesn't help to clarify the issue.  However, both the Platinum Edition titles and the more recent "special edition" releases have received added care and attention, so I for one have no problem assuming that the decision not to letterbox Dalmatians was an artistic one, especially since there does not seem to be any unused space at the top or bottom of the image.

 

Dalmatians comes with enjoyable and informative bonus features, starting with two different (optional) trivia tracks on the film itself -- one designed for families and consisting of more general information about the film and its source material, and the other aimed at the serious fan.  This track contains much more specific information such as the identities of the various voices, who animated which characters and which scenes, and so forth.  This information appears as text across the bottom of the screen throughout the film.  A handful of other Disney titles on DVD have employed this feature (Mary Poppins, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, National Treasure) and it's interesting and well done.  I've always appreciated audio commentaries, but this is an acceptable alternative.

 

On the second disc is a fine new 34-minute documentary, "Redefining the Line: The Making of 101 Dalmatians" which discusses the aforementioned xerography process introduced in this film, as well as other aspects of its production and legacy.  "Cruella DeVil: Drawn to Be Bad" is a brief but enjoyable tribute to one of Disney's most popular characters, and "Sincerely Yours, Walt Disney" is a charming re-creation of Walt's correspondences with Dodie Smith, author of the original novel on which the film is based.  (It would appear that Disney had a much easier time with Ms. Smith than with her fellow Brit Pamela Travers, author of the Mary Poppins books, who for nearly twenty years stubbornly refused to relinquish the movie rights to her beloved character before finally acquiescing to Uncle Walt.)  A very welcome inclusion is a collection of vintage trailers and promo spots for the film, from its original release as well as several subsequent reissues through the decades.  A very generous audio bonus consisting of deleted, extended and alternate songs takes us behind the scenes even more effectively than the documentaries and is always a great extra, as is the gallery of original sketches, background paintings and other concept art.  The kiddies are not neglected on the disc, as there are a couple of puppy-related games -- one in which you can adopt a virtual puppy, feed it and teach it tricks (I admit I played this one and enjoyed it) and another in which you answer a few questions about yourself to find out which breed of dog best suits your personality.

 

A similar "virtual kitten" feature is found on The Aristocats, which boasts far fewer bonus features than Dalmatians.  What's here is enjoyable though, including one deleted song, a too-brief interview with the Sherman Brothers (Disney's staff songwriters) and the requisite art gallery.  The Great Cat Family is an excerpt from an episode of Walt's weekly TV show, and presents an animated history (with narration) of the domestic cat through the ages.  Another nice bonus is a vintage animated short, Bath Day, starring Minnie Mouse and Figaro, who had started life as Geppetto's kitten in Pinocchio but apparently emigrated to America and changed owners.  I don't blame him.

 

Though it was not a Disney film and though the DVD is not a new release, Warners' Gay Purr-ee (1962) deserves mention here.  Like Dalmatians and Aristocats, its plot revolves around several small and cuddly animals who leave the safety of home, this time by choice, and venture into the big city.

 

Released the year after Dalmatians, the film's pedigree of talent is a most impressive one.  The leading characters are voiced by the one and only Judy Garland, Robert Goulet, Red Buttons, the other divine Hermione (Ms. Gingold of Gigi fame...ah yes, I remember her well), and perhaps the most gifted and versatile voice artist of all time, Paul Frees, most famously the voices of the original Pillsbury Doughboy, Boris Badenov in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Disney's Professor Ludwig von Drake on the Wonderful World of Color TV show, and numerous voices throughout Disneyland including several of those Pirates of the Caribbean and the "Ghost Host" in The Haunted Mansion.  He also did a fair amount of on-camera acting, appearing with Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun (1951), with Bette Davis in The Star (1952), with Frank Sinatra in Suddenly (1954), and in both of 1959's most successful comedies, Some Like It Hot and Disney's The Shaggy Dog.

 

The beautiful songs were written for Judy and company by legendary songwriters Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg, who a few decades before had written another score for a Garland musical -- a little something called The Wizard of Oz.  This film's message is the same as that of both Oz and Judy's other most-famous MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis -- there's no place like home.  The film's animation is far closer in feeling and tone to the Disney features than to the far more frenetic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts which came from the Warners cartoon studio.  And although the song's lyrics are perhaps better appreciated by adults, with their more grown-up themes and emotions as well as their references to the great French artists ("The chestnut, the willow, the colors of Utrillo..."), the story itself is as accessible to children as that of any Disney feature.  In fact, I actually prefer Gay Purr-ee to The Aristocats, and I would say that it is one of the very few non-Disney animated features ever made that comes close to being worthy of comparison to Disney.

 

Unfortunately the only extras on the disc are the film's original theatrical trailer, cast filmographies, and several pages of production notes -- however, the film is presented in a beautiful letterboxed transfer, the audio is perfect -- and the sound of Judy's voice, heard here at its peak, is certainly one of the enduring monuments of the 20th century.

 

For these three films -- and for all the Disney animated classic features and shorts -- I will be eternally grateful.  And I thank the heavens for their creators, Walter Elias Disney chief among them, for they not only dreamed their remarkable dreams, they were kind enough to share those dreams with us, allowing us to dream too -- with them, and on our own.

 

101 Dalmatians -- Very highly recommended.

The Aristocats -- Recommended.

Gay Purr-ee -- Highly recommended.