Everybody might want to be a cat, but for Disney it looks like a live action remake of “The Artistocats” definitely isn’t where it’s at anymore. According to the remake’s slated director, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, the film has been firmly shelved.
“A new administration came in, and then I was like, ‘Okay, well, this is what I plan to do … here’s some of the music examples, and there’s some team I’m working with,'” Thompson told Score: The Podcast. “And then they had another administration shuffle, and it was like, ‘Okay, well. All right.’ And by the third time I was just like, ‘Maybe this isn’t meant for me, because there’s also, at least, like right now, there’s so much options I have.” In short: executive meddling and regime changes have killed the movie off.
The original 1970 film focuses on Duchess and her three kittens – Berlioz, Marie, and Toulouse — whose owner, opera diva Madame Adelaide Bonfamille, plans to leave them her money and mansion, which will revert to her loyal butler Edgar upon the cats’ passing. Edgar, presuming he’ll never inherit the cash, panics and decides to dispose of the cats. An accident results in the foursome being dumped in the country, where they are guided back to safety by a tomcat named J. Thomas O’Malley. While “The Aristocats” is beloved in the Disney canon in spite of the fact that some elements of it have aged poorly (resulting in Disney putting an advisory warning on the film), the studio’s had a hard time turning its animal-centered animated films into live-action hits.
Animated animals don’t always translate well into live-action films
Disney’s stable of live-action remakes has been a scattershot, hit-or-miss prospect; for every “Lilo and Stitch” that makes over a billion, there’s a “Snow White” that bombs at the box office and is quickly forgotten. And turning their animal-centered movies into live-action films has been an especially fraught process.
Remakes of “The Jungle Book” and “The Lion King” along with the latter’s prequel, “Mufasa: The Lion King,” were huge hits for the studio. But the latter two engendered many complaints for what critics called their lifeless, overly photorealistic animation style, which didn’t show off any of the wit or personality of the original “Lion King” or their voice acting cast’s talents to their best advantage.
Lately it’s been mostly bad news for these types of flicks. “Dumbo” flopped with critics and audiences, while “Lady and the Tramp” went directly to streaming in 2019 but earned mixed reviews at best. It’s probably a blessing for animation fans and families alike that there won’t be an “Aristocats” remake to gather dust alongside it.
