The Aristocats was the first Disney Studios animated feature to be produced after
Walt Disney's death. A wealthy woman leaves her vast fortune to her four cats: the well-bred Duchess and her kittens, Berlioz, Toulouse, and Marie. Jealous butler Edgar, eager to get his mitts on the cats' legacy, abandons the felines in the French countryside. The four lost kitties are aided in their efforts to return home by the raffish country pussycats Thomas O'Malley and Scat Cat. In keeping with a tradition launched by
The Jungle Book (1967), The Aristocats is top-heavy with celebrity voices, including
Phil Harris,
Eva Gabor,
Scatman Crothers,
Hermione Baddeley, and the ineluctable
Sterling Holloway. Assembled by the "nine old men" then in charge of animation, The Aristocats was a commercial success, essentially proving that Disney animated features could succeed without the involvement of the company's founder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide