Early reports indicate that the forthcoming feature will have a similar look to Disney’s 2019 revamp of ‘Lady and the Tramp.’
Looks like The Aristocats is getting the Lady and the Tramp (2019) treatment. Disney is now in early development on a live-action adaptation of its 1970 animated classic, Deadline reports.
Will Gluck, who helmed the live-action/CG hybrid feature Peter Rabbit, will co-write this new version of The Aristocats with Keith Bunin, who co-wrote Pixar’s 2020 animated fantasy Onward. Gluck will further serve as producer through his company Olive Bridge Entertainment.
In director Wolfgang Reitherman’s original film, a family of aristocratic cats -- Duchess and her three kittens Berlioz, Marie, and Toulouse -- live out a pampered and cultured lifestyle in Paris. When their owner’s butler discovers that the cats will be willed a huge fortune, he kidnaps and ditches them far out in the countryside. Duchess meets and befriends an alley cat, Thomas O’Malley, who helps them find their way home to claim their inheritance.
According to Deadline, “Sources add[ed] that even though its main characters are animals, it would have a similar look to the Lady in the Tramp pic that bowed on Disney+ in 2019.”
Outside of his work in animation, Gluck is known for the Emma Stone-starring coming-of-age comedy Easy A, which he directed and produced in 2010. He also directed Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway for Sony last year, following the success of the first film in 2018. Bunin’s dramatic screenwriting includes seven episodes of the HBO drama In Treatment, which were centered around the character of Oliver during its second season.
Max Weinstein is a writer and editor based in Los Angeles. He is the Editor-at-Large of 'Dread Central' and former Editorial Director of 'MovieMaker.' His work has been featured in 'Cineaste,' 'Fangoria,' 'Playboy,' 'Vice,' and 'The Week.'
