Fun Chuck Jones short that introduced minor Looney Tunes characters Hubie and Bertie. If you aren't familiar with them, they're two mice (one brown, one gray) who act as the antagonist for some other character, in this case a pampered cat who lives in a wealthy household where he never has to catch mice or anything. So he's lazy and spoiled. He also plays pranks which ticks off the butler so much he quits, leaving the cat alone to fend for himself. Enter Hubie and Bertie to screw with him. The music is quite nice and matches the action well. The animation is lovely. There's one brilliant scene in particular where the cat is freaking out because he's alone. Really good stuff. It's a fun cartoon with some nice Jones touches. As other reviewers have noted, the second half isn't as strong as the first. But it's never bad.

. . . 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.

On the most part, The Aristo-Cat is very good and entertaining. Sadly it is rather let down by the second half, the pace starts to lag here, while the outcome is predictable and gives the sense that the cartoon had run out of ideas. The bulldog is a decent enough character but the least memorable and funny character of The Aristo-Cat, kind of too much of a plot device for some sort of conflict for Pussy. Pussy however is a very strong character, for one whose screen time is relatively short, he is highly amusing but you feel sorry for him at the same time. The mice Hubie and Bertie are very funny and interesting too, though they are in the part of the cartoon that doesn't quite do their talents justice. The animation is wonderful though, bright, colourful, fluid and detailed. The highlight is Pussy's breakdown, a startling and brilliantly strange sequence, it's been said that it is one of the best breakdowns/mental collapses in cartoon history and personally there is no dispute there. The music has nearly always been a large part of any animated short(Looney Tunes and Disney are especially true to this), that's true with The Aristo-Cat as well. It sounds beautiful and full of energy and character, the use of pre-existing classical pieces are enough to delight any fans of classical music(raising a very proud hand here). The dialogue and gags in the first half are hugely entertaining, and while the story is very thin structurally the first half is paced well, second half not so much, and has its charm. The voice work is terrific, you can never go wrong with Mel Blanc, one of the gods of voice acting. On the whole, definitely recommended though the second half doesn't quite live up to what was so good about the first. 7/10 Bethany Cox

THE ARISTOCATS is a brilliant film by Chuck Jones which utilizes ingenious backgrounds and dynamic cutting, via John McGrew's extraordinary layout, to create a new kind of animation. The Jones and McGrew partnership in design extablished a new rhythm of stylization that certainly led to the modern UPA work.