G | 1h 18min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy | 24 December 1970 | Color, ws
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Stars: Phil Harris, Eva Gabor, Sterling Holloway, Scatman Crothers.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065421/
Watched online (option 1), good print.
6 songs in the Soundtracks.
I liked it. I don't want to own a copy, but it was entertaining, both in terms of story and musically.
PH has a fun singing voice, especially good for a tom cat.
EG is good at sounding upper crust. SH was good as a mouse. SC was a good substitute for Louis Armstrong (I kept wondering if it was LA).
I thought EG was not a great mother: when her kittens are in danger, she lets the tom cat rescue them. Perhaps she's just too pampered, or maybe this is 60's propaganda to encourage women to be more passive. She expresses concern, and is otherwise a good mother.
The cats get along with the mouse in the house, but he knows other kinds of cats exist. Yet he's so loyal, when they're in danger a second time, he's willing to fetch the alley-cat friends of PH to help out. They're pretty reasonable, and listen to his stammered plea.
So we get conflict, and lots of warmth, with a happy ending for all but the baddie.
Disney, dir. Reitherman; 6+
