A movie about a bunch of singing alley cats definitely drives home a lot of comedy. But being a Disney film, it's not all that surprising to see moments like this in this movie.
- After Duchess and the kittens get dropped out of their basket from Edgar's motorcycle, Duchess worries about Madame Adelaide discovering their disappearance. The next scene shows Adelaide waking up and discovering that her cats are missing.
- Just how badly losing her beloved pets affects Adelaide. Aside from her lawyer and her butler, she has no friends, no family, no one at all. Duchess and her kittens were all that Adelaide had left in the world and now they're gone.
- It can get worse when you remember the silly dancing, flirting scene at the begining, which suggests she used to be a talented and celebrated opera singer. Surely she was invited to many social gatherings, probably praised around by interesting and/or important people. And she still ended up all alone in the end, not even a friend from the old days.
- What makes the aforementioned scene worse is she discovered them missing right after having a nightmare about them. While it's not entirely clear what happened to them in her nightmare, we do know that it was obviously something very bad. Finding her cats missing immediately after that nightmare must have struck her especially hard.
- Just how badly losing her beloved pets affects Adelaide. Aside from her lawyer and her butler, she has no friends, no family, no one at all. Duchess and her kittens were all that Adelaide had left in the world and now they're gone.
- After the Alley Cats leave O'Malley's pad for the night Marie, Toulouse and Berlioz go to bed. Suddenly Marie gets up to follow Duchess and secretly hears her mother's conversation with Thomas. They romance each other but O'Malley offers to be a father to the kittens and let Duchess be with him, she sadly turns his offer down, out of loyalty for Madame Adelaide. Marie's reaction is heartbreaking
◊ as she's secretly listening to their conversation. Eventually her brothers (Berlioz and Toulouse) join their sister to listen to their conversation and are all saddened that they almost had a father (which was pointed out by Berlioz). It's also one of the only notable sad scenes in the film, especially Marie who's taking it the hardest.Berlioz: Well, we almost had a father.
Toulouse: Yeah (yawns) let's go back to bed
Marie: (still silently watching on before sadly going back to bed)
Thomas: (sadly) Goodnight Duchess.
Duchess: Goodnight Thomas. - Near the end of the film, Thomas O'Malley and Duchess have a short regretful farewell before parting ways. The kittens are staring at the two on the verge of tears (especially Marie). Especially since the three were secretly listening to their conversation the previous night.
- After Edgar discovers the cats have returned home near the end of the film, he immediately grabs a bag and traps all of them inside. They start meowing in fear as Edgar traps the cats into an oven. Adelaide excitedly comes downstairs and tells Edgar she heard meowing from the cats. Edgar tells her that he didn't hear any cat noises and after both calling out for the cats, Adelaide walks away in a sad mood telling herself that she's hearing things again.
- Prior to that scene, Roquefort (who is inside the house near a glass window) tries to warn the kittens that Edgar is going to trap them. Marie thinks he's happy to see them back.
- When Roquefort tries to rescue the cats, Duchess then tells him to get Thomas and the Alley Cats to rescue them. Roquefort searches for Thomas O'Malley, who sends him to fetch the Alley Cats. They attempt to eat him, but Roquefort is too scared for himself to get his word out. Luckily, he manages to burst out with Thomas's name just in time.
- Edgar was actually a decent guy who worked hard and really seemed to care for the Madame and her cats, but then his greed and possible jealousy made him turn on the ones who trusted him and thought of him as family.
- Not to mention his idiotic reason for doing so: he thought that the whole "nine lives" myth was real, and would somehow multiply because there were several cats! It's possible that the cats being the main benefactors instead of him put him over the edge, but would caring for four harmless pets for a few years really have been that much of a burden?
- Doubles as a Heartwarming Moment: When Roquefort returns from trying to find the cats, he goes to talk to Frou-Frou in her stable, and their sorrowful exchange demonstrates the bond they have with each other and the rest of the household.Frou-Frou: Oh Roquefort, I've been so worried about you. Did you have any luck at all?Roquefort: Not a sign of them, Frou-Frou. And I've searched all night.Frou-Frou: I know. And poor Madam didn't sleep a wink either.Roquefort: Oh, it's a sad day for all of us.
Other Adaptations
- The 2012 book "The Aristocats: The Runaway Kittens" involves Marie accidentally becoming a stray kitten◊ and wild cat for the day. In the book, she loses her bow and ribbon and gets very dirty. She befriends a stray kitten named "Leo" (who resembled Toulouse) who teaches her the life of a stray cat. Eventually she starts crying knowing she no longer looks ladylike◊, much to the confusion of Leo due to never living a wealthy and rich lifestyle as Marie.
- The Miriya & Marie manga has some notably sad moments between Miriya and Marie.
- After Marie sends Miriya back to Paris, France in the year 1910. Miriya starts missing her timeline since she's from modern-day Japan. Marie quickly cheers her up after she sees her crying.
- After Marie introduces Miriya to her mother Duchess. They start showing affection between each other, Miriya gets very sad seeing their interaction since her parents are hardly present. Marie decides to cheer up by giving her a magic crystal ball so she can see her parents more.
- Once Marie finishes training Miriya on becoming a witch. Miriya then asks Marie "Does this mean we won't see each other again?". Marie reacts to Miriya's question by sadly remaining silent. This later becomes heartwarming when Marie suddenly returns to Miriya in modern-day Japan.
