| GENUS PEDIGREE: |
Kittens |
| KNOWN ALIASES: |
Berloiz, Marie & Toulouse |
| KNOWN RELATIVES: |
Madame Bonfamille (owner); Duchess (mother); Thomas O'Malley (step-father). |
| KNOWN PETS: |
unknown
|
| CITIZENSHIP: |
Paris, France
|
| KNOWN CONFIDANTS: |
Madame Bonfamille; Duchess; Thomas O'Malley; Scat Cat & the Alley Cats: Chinese, Italian, English and Russian; Roquefort.
|
| KNOWN RIVALS: |
Edgar the Butler.
|
| PARAPHERNALIA: |
unknown |
|
|
| 1st PRINT APPEARANCE: |
"Movie Comics: The Aristocats" #1 (Mar. 1971); "The Aristokittens" #1 (nine issues from Oct. 1971 - Gold Key). |
| 1st FILM APPEARANCE: |
"The Aristocats" (Dec. 24, 1970).
|
| VOICE ACTOR: |
Liz English (Marie); Gary Duin (Toulouse); Dean Clark (Berloiz); Eva Gabor (Duchess); Phil Harris (O'Malley).
|
| SIGNATURE: |
"Because I'm a lady, that's why." (Marie's justification for why she gets her way) and "Ladies do not start fights, but they can finish them." (Marie's justification for her tomboy actions).
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| BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS: |
The Aristokittens, are a trio of curious and playful siblings, the children of Duchess and their adoptive father, Thomas O'Malley, and heirs to Madame Adelaide Bonfamille's fortune. In the original movie, "The Aristocats," they, along with their mother, are catnapped by Madame Bonfamille's butler, Edgar, who, upon learning of his place in the line of prospective heirs was decidedly upset at being below the "pets." To remedy this he plotted the cats' deaths, effectively moving himself up the chain in the Madame's Will. With the aid of Roquefort the mouse, Thomas O'Malley the Alley Cat, and a merry band of Jazz playing cats lead by Scat Cat, the Bonfamille cats are rescued and returned to the care of their wealthy and loving mistress. Edgar's plot is uncovered and he is carted off the prison. Duchess and O'Malley fall in love and he is adopted by Madame Bonfamille as well. In 1971 Gold Key comics began a 9 issue run of tales based on the adorable kittens, Marie, Berloiz and Toulouse. Marie tries to be a sophisticated and proper young lady, but her attempts to immitate her mother don't always work out quite right. In fact she is not nearly as prim and proper as she pretends to be. Toulouse is the more pugnacious member of the three, fancies himself as a little bully, which immediately endeared him to O'Malley. The third, Berloiz is really just your typical "cute little kitten." Despite their residency in Paris, France, in comics, even those aside from "The Aristokittens," the siblings have had adventures with other Disney characters such as Scamp. |
| HISTORICAL FACTS: |
"The Aristocats" was originally planned as a two-part live action "special" for the television program Walt Disney's "Wonderful World of Color." This version was shelved because Walt preferred the film as an animated feature, but at the time he was devoted to "The Jungle Book." As Walt died shortly thereafter his wishes were honored and "The Aristocats" became the first animated feature released without Walt Disney's direct oversight, and began a new chapter in Disney Animation. Of late, possibly due to a lack of female animated characters that appeal to young girls, a strong marketing emphasis has been paid to the Aristokitten Marie in merchandising to children. |
| LITTLE KNOWN SECRETS: |
The name "Aristocats" is actually a printer's error when the "r" was accidentally left off of the title for a chapter in David Duff's serious biographical study "Albert and Victoria" called "Albert and the Aristocats." The only person to notice the mistake was the author's wife who had merely thought it was a topical quip by Duff. Apparently later editions corrected this error. |
| WORKING THEORIES: |
unknown |
The Aristokittens 