Everybody might still want to be a cat, but it sounds like Disney isn’t that compelled to make it happen. Back in 2022, it was announced that the studio was working on giving its classic animated feline film, The Aristocats, a modern-day polish under the supervision of Questlove, the Roots frontman and drummer, who would be handling directing duties. Now, after three years in development, the Oscar-winning filmmaker and musician has revealed that due to repeated changing of hands, it looks like that isn’t going to happen, not while he’s at the helm anyway.
During an appearance on Score: The Podcast, Questlove revealed, “Once Disney had their third president, usually when a new administration comes in, no matter what, they’re going to reshuffle.” It was after this changing of the guard that Questlove presented Disney with what he’d developed so far, providing examples of music for the project and even a list of collaborators he had in mind for the new film.
“Then they had another administration shuffle,” he recalled. “And then it was like, ‘OK, well, alright.” At this point, the would-be director began reviewing a few things. “By the third time, I was just like, ‘Maybe this isn’t meant for me.’”
Regrettably, the cat was indeed let out of the bag and left to run off without his supervision, which the musician does seem pretty disheartened about. “I would have loved to have done that project, but there’s like 20 others that I can get to,” he explained. “What I don’t do is I don’t make announcements until it’s ready but there’s literally four other films. I’ll be working til 2029-2030. So, just wasn’t meant to happen. Maybe it will happen in the future.”
The film is yet another classic being put back on the shelf after spending some time in Disney’s remake pile. Another entry that the House of Mouse has put on pause was Tangled, following the disappointing reception of Snow White. And yet, after the billion-dollar success of Lilo and Stitch, which led to the signing off on a sequel, and the live-action Moana movie set to arrive in July 2026, it’s clear that Disney is still interested in revisiting some classics and giving them new life. It’s just a shame that The Aristocats wasn’t one of them. For now, check out our rankings of the Disney remakes so far here.
