Alley Cats

Alley Cats

TheAlley Cats are supporting characters inDisney's1970 animated feature filmThe Aristocats. They are friends ofThomas O'Malley.

Background

The alley cats are a jazz band: Shun Gon (Chinese Cat) plays the piano and drums made out of pots, Hit Cat (English Cat) plays the acoustic guitar, Peppo (Italian Cat) plays the concertina, Billy Boss (Russian Cat) plays the double bass, and their leaderScat Cat plays the trumpet. Together, they play jazz music while their boss usually sings.

Members

• Scat Cat
• Shun Gon
• Billy Boss
• Peppo
• Hit Cat

Main article:Scat Cat

Shun Gon (Paul Winchell) is aChinese Siamese cat (inspired bySi and Am fromLady and the Tramp) who plays the piano and drums. He is often seen playing his instruments with chopsticks. In the comics, his name is Chino.

Billy Boss (Thurl Ravenscroft) is aRussian cat who is often seen playing the double bass (which he usually plucks). In the comics, his name is Boris.

Peppo (Vito Scotti) is anItalian cat who wears a red bandanna with white polka dots and a green hat which he frequently tips to others (likeDuchess). He is often seen playing the concertina. In the comics, his name is Luigi.

Hit Cat (Lord Tim Hudson) is anEnglish cat who wears purple glasses and a blue beaded necklace as a reference to the hippies prominent in the1960s. He is often seen playing the acoustic guitar. In the comics, his name is Cyril.

Appearances

The Aristocats

The alley cats are first seen afterThomas O'Malley leadsDuchess and her weary kittens to his penthouse, where jazz music can be heard from inside. Duchess still insists on spending the night here, so O'Malley allows them to stay and introduces his friends Scat Cat and his gang of alley cats making live music together. While playing their instruments, the alley cats and their boss all sing "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat". O'Malley and Duchess join in the fun, as doBerlioz,Marie, andToulouse. During the song, O'Malley and Duchess perform a dance number, and Duchess sings a wonderful solo while playing the harp; which the alley cats find so beautiful, soft, lovely, and romantic until they get back to playing their instruments (with the help of Scat Cat's trumpeting) and make their way out of the penthouse along with other alley cats.

The alley cats are seen again whenRoquefort meets with them and tries to get them to help save Duchess and her kittens fromEdgar, but is unable to remember O'Malley's name. The alley cats prepare to eat him, but Roquefort yells out the proper name in frustration when asked for his last words. The alley cats head off to help O'Malley, leaving Roquefort to chase them down in an attempt to lead them to the correct house. Coincidentally, this also led to a Frenchman to consider giving up drinking wine after he witnessed a mouse (Roquefort) seemingly chasing the cats. Believing he was hallucinating, the Frenchman poured his wine onto the ground.

The alley cats reappear when Edgar attempts to ship Duchess and her kittens to Timbuktu. They pile on top of the butler, screeching and clawing, while Roquefort manages to release Duchess' family by cracking the trunk's combination lock, abruptly yelling for silence in order to hear better. The alley cats defeat Edgar by locking him in the trunk and pushing it outside. The alley cats then watch as Edgar is shipped off to Timbuktu instead.

The alley cats are last seen inMadame Bonfamille's mansion, which she opens up to all the alley cats of Paris. Scat Cat and his alley cats celebrate by playing their instruments around the grand piano in Madame's piano room downstairs, singing a reprise of "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat".

House of Mouse

In the show, Scat Cat, O'Malley, and the other alley cats were all a part of the popular band "O'Malley and the Alley Cats". However, as a running gag in the show, something or someone would prevent the band from playing (such as Pluto chasing them out of the club).

Disney Parks

In the 1970s and 80s, three of the Alley Cats recreated in the psychedelic colors of "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat" often appeared at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom. Scat Cat was given bright orange fur, Peppo was made pink and Hit Cat was turned yellow. Eventually, these costumes were retired and the walkaround representation of the film would focus on the three kittens.

Trivia

• Despite having a Chinese accent, and being called the "Chinese cat", Shun Gon is a Siamese cat, which is a Thai breed.
• In some promotional art and posters, Hit Cat is falsely seen playing the double bass, while Billy Boss is playing a drum.
• Peppo is the only member of the Alley Cats whose name doesn't have two words in it.
• Shun Gon has caused some controversy in recent years, due to being deemed as "a racial stereotype of East Asian people".
  • Disney+ even has a warning about Chinese stereotypes before The Aristocats begins.
  • The Aristocats was one of the many Disney films rated 7+ on Disney+ for this reason.
• In the Finnish dubs:
  • Scat Cat is renamed to "Hotti-Kati".
  • Shun Gon is renamed to "Wang".
  • Billy Boss is renamed to "Igor".
  • Peppo is renamed to "Luigi", just like he was in the comics.
  • Hit Cat is renamed to "Syril".

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Media (//) • • Cancelled projects: • Disney Parks • Entertainment: • • • Restaurants: Parades: • • • • • Fireworks: • • Spring: • Summer: Halloween: Christmas: Characters • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (deleted) • (deleted) Locations • Songs • • • Deleted: • • • • Other: •