Disney's thirst for live-action still knows no limits, it seems. The entertainment juggernaut appears to be either unwilling or unable to stop until every animated film since the inception of time itself becomes a real boy. Now, an Aristocats remake is waiting in the wings, ready to pounce on any laser pointers or unfortunate passersby it sees.
The next film to receive Disney's live-action treatment, whether it wants to or not, is The Aristocats. As one of Disney's slightly less popular films, as well as the bane of spell checkers across the land, this film is an interesting choice to enjoy such an update. That's not to mention the fact that its main characters are all cats. A live-action version of such a tale would have to either utilize a lot of CGI or resign itself to a filming crew that's totally cool with constant abuse via tiny claws.
Since the project was only just announced, very little is known about how it will actually go down. But according to Deadline, the visual style will more closely resemble the 2019 Lady and the Tramp remake on Disney Plus. That film utilized a combination of live-action and CGI, which sounds exactly like the kind of production The Aristocats would require. But perhaps the more surprising reveal there is that there's a live-action Lady and the Tramp movie, because Disney sure as heck didn't seem all that keen on marketing it.
The original 1970 Aristocats focused on a family of pampered house cats living in Paris. They discover that their extremely well-off owner is planning on leaving them her entire fortune in her will, with the money set to transfer to her butler, Edgar, once the cats pass away. Edgar, who realizes he will probably not outlive the cats, kidnaps them and attempts to hide them away out in the countryside in order to speed things along, leaving the cats to find their own way back with the help of various other animals they meet along their way.
The film will be directed by Will Gluck, who also recently directed the 2 Peter Rabbit movies. Writer Keith Bunin, who wrote for the Pixar modern fantasy film Onward, will take on the script for The Aristocats. Given how both are well-versed in the realm of family-friendly movies, it seems like Disney knew what they were doing during the hiring process.
It will be interesting to see how this turns out. It's still fascinating to think of why Disney chose The Aristocats of all things to adapt. But hey, maybe it's a chance to finally rectify that extremely poorly-aged "fortune cookie always wrong" scene. Or perhaps they realized how much millennials love Frasier and figured audiences that love rich, snobby humans would also love rich, snobby cats.
The AristoCats (1970) is now available on Disney Plus.
Source: Deadline