It’s twenty to three in the morning. I’m sat cross-legged on my bed with a mint hot chocolate in an Aristocats mug. It has the diva kitten Marie on it and was purchased in February. Did I need another mug? No. But I can never deny my inner child a visit into the lair of the Disney Store, what is more, I always want to leave clutching something, and who can turn down Marie?

“The Aristocats”, or “Les Aristochats” as my mum calls it, is one of my all time favourite films. When I was younger, we used to watch it together, and our favourite part to this day remains the instrumental accompanying alcoholic goose Uncle Waldo… and his nieces Amelia and Abigail. I think the film has wonderful songs and vocals throughout -who can fail to be roused by “Everybody wants to be a cat”, or charmed by the silky smooth voice of Duchess, voiced by Eva Gabor (who also provided the voice for another sophisticated lady, Miss Bianca from “The Rescuers”, another childhood favourite of mine)

I think out of all the characters, I probably identify the most with… *drumroll* precocious Marie and artistic Toulouse…
The sequences with the kittens around the piano always makes me laugh – Toulouse, in creating his masterpieces, gets paint everywhere. I’m no Picasso but I am also guilty of this crime, as my family would be able to ascertain to you!  I get paint absolutely everywhere!  Including on the walls, my face, my clothes and this one time the inside of a freezer, but that is a story I won’t elaborate upon today…

Do you have a favourite film from your childhood that you still like to watch today? I am definitely guilty of overindulging in classic Disney films – there is an entrancing beauty in the animation of their hand drawn art.

I’ll leave you with a picture of another (much earlier) Disney Store cat purchase – Clarence the cheshire cat, posing with some macarons from Guernsey!
(With regards to identifying with this character…well I guess we share bizarre sleep patterns and big eyebrows!)
Ciao!

(a gratuitous inclusion of my face, including aforementioned cheshire cat eyebrows and an outfit I enjoy)