Watch The Aristo-Cat For Free

To me, this movie is perfection.

Crappy film

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

. . . for the 2005 live-action feature film, THE ARISTOCRATS. Someone close to me has called THE ARISTOCRATS "the most vulgar flick ever" (though that was BEFORE she saw HUMAN CENTIPEDE). But with THE ARISTO-CAT, Warner Bros. predicts Marlon Brando's fun-things-to-do-with-fingernail-clippers coming down the pike with LAST TANGO IN PAR!S. ARISTO-CAT begins with One Per Center sadism, as even the Rich Lady's pet lords it over working class stiff "Meadows." Claude Cat intentionally squirts grapefruit juice into Meadows' eyes, illustrating Warner's post-Depression tenet that The Rich--symbolized here by Fat Cat Claude--have replaced the John Dillingers and grapefruit-wielding Jimmy Cagneys as America's PUBLIC ENEMY. Next, the little guys--in this case, mice Hubie and Bertie--expose One Per Centers such as Claude for the cowardly, cannibalistic fakes that they are. (Just as a Sociopath Rich Person doesn't know the first thing about being Human, Claude must resort to a book to glean his initial smattering of feline facts.) Warner's final ARISTO-CAT warning is to beware of the bulldog Rover, drawn as a dead ringer for Donald Trump.

Chuck Jones's 'The Aristo-Cat' is a visual masterpiece which is slightly hampered by a very thin plot. The first of Jones's short lived Hubie and Bertie series about two frequently cruel and sadistic mice and their tendency to prey on the emotionally frail, 'The Aristo-Cat' reduces the star character's roles to virtual cameos. The Hubie and Bertie films have always been amongst my favourite cartoons but the two rodents add very little to this short and their roles could just as well have been filled by any generic mouse characters. However, 'The Aristo-Cat' pays less attention to the normal conventions of plot and instead throws the spotlight on the tremendous nervous breakdown of Pussy the cat. A spoiled feline who pushes his butler, Meadows, too far and then finds himself with no-one to look after him, Pussy makes the most of his short time in the spotlight (he was usurped by the similarly jittery Claude Cat) by having one of the all time great mental collapses in cartoon history. As he runs around the huge, empty mansion screaming "MEADOWS" in vain, the startling abstract backgrounds, filled with angular shapes of vivid colours, move around behind him reflecting his encroaching madness to incredible effect. It's so luscious to behold that the arrival of Hubie and Bertie actually comes as a disappointment and brings the cartoon to a sadly predictable conclusion (including a hugely unsatisfactory deus ex machina ending). Happily, by this stage 'The Aristo-Cat' has already established itself as a must see and, while its eventual disintegration prevents it from entering the annals of the genuinely classic, the cartoon's first half ranks alongside some of the most startling imagery of any Warner cartoon.

"The Aristo-Cat" is the first in an extensive, Oscar-nominated series by Chuck Jones. The series is one of my favorites, but this short is one of the lesser ones. The only reason I say it is a landmark is because it marks the debut of three great characters. The premise is good, but the following action is run-of-the-mill funny stuff.A butler is left to look after a pampered cat (Claude) who continuously humiliates him. After having had enough of it, the butler quits. Claude is petrified, but finds a book that informs him that cats eat mice, the only problem being that he doesn't know what a mouse looks like; therefore, he is perfect prey for a couple of wise-ass mice (Hubie & Bertie), who deceive him into thinking the large bulldog outside (why is it always a bulldog?) is a source of food. You can guess what follows, and if you can't, I don't think you can read either.It's also interesting to note that in post-1948 shorts, Hubie and Bertie swapped coat colors. Worth a watch any time, but the later cartoons were much improved.

A pampered cat is left in the care of the butler by his wealthy owner. After a few final humiliations by the cat, the butler quits and leaves the cat by himself. Unable to feed himself the cat looks up a book which tells him cats eat mice. He isn't sure what he is looking for and is unaware when two mice convince him that the local bulldog is a mouse and that he should easily catch and eat it.The set up to this short is quite interesting and should have led to a better cartoon, but, once the mice point out the dog then the cartoon seems to just die on it's feet. The action is standard and shows no imagination and not a great deal to laugh about. The film has a total lack of substance which, in something 4 minutes long, is a problem.The cat and dog characters are pretty weak but the mice are wise-asses and pretty amusing. Again it was just a shame that nothing of great value was done with them.