howard thompson of "the new york times" praised the film as "grand fun all the way, nicely flavored with tunes, and topped with one of the funniest jam sessions ever by a bunch of scraggly bohemians headed by one scat cat." roger ebert, writing for the "chicago sun-times", awarded the film three stars out of four summarizing "the aristocats" as "light and pleasant and funny, the characterization is strong, and the voices of phil harris (o'malley the alley cat) and eva gabor (duchess, the mother cat) are charming in their absolute rightness." charles champlin of the "los angeles times" wrote that the film "has a gentle good-natured charm which will delight the small-fry and their elders alike." he praised the animation, but remarked that the film "lacks a certain kind of vigor, boldness and dash, a kind of a hard-focused emphasis which you would say was a disney trademark."