Berlioz is a major character in Disney's 1970 animated feature film The Aristocats. He is a gray-furred kitten, the youngest son of Duchess, and brother of Toulouse and Marie.
Background[]
Personality[]
Berlioz is usually very quiet but mischievous. He enjoys playing the piano, as seen when Duchess asks him to practice his Scales and Arpeggios with his sister Marie. He isn't easy to impress and can be annoyed rather quickly, usually he's the first to make a snide look or comment toward things he doesn't like. Still, he's shown to be just as naive and sweet-natured as his siblings.
Physical appearance[]
Berlioz has blue eyes, dark gray fur (practically dark green fur) with a lighter stomach. He also wears a small red ribbon around his neck that is tied but sometimes falls apart. Being a kitten, he's fairly small.
Role in the film[]
Berlioz first appears in The Aristocats during the opening credits, which display some of the scenes that he will appear in later.
Berlioz is next seen during the carriage ride during the beginning of the movie, where he rides on Frou-Frou's head. At the end of the carriage ride, his mother, Duchess, reminds him to thank Frou-Frou for letting him ride on her head. After asking how his thank you was, Duchess comments, "That was very nice."
Shortly later, Berlioz and his family are present as Adalaide is trying a piece of fluffy fabrick and, during Georges Hautecourt's visit, the young kitten is seen toning the volume of a record player, and then jumping over the tonearm of the player three times; though he loses sight of his task, tripping over the tonearm and getting caught underneath, which catches Adalade and Duchess by surprise before he gets up.
Later, Berlioz is in a race with his siblings to see who goes through the front door first. When Marie states that she has the right of way because she is a lady, Berlioz sides with Toulouse's argument that Marie isn't a lady, even going as far to say that she is "nothing but a sister." Soon, Berlioz ends up in a fight with his sister (with Toulouse encouraging his brother from the sidelines). Berlioz tickle tortures Marie but ends up receiving punishment when his sister refuses to fight fair by tugging at his bow tie. Eventually, the fight ends when Toulouse accidentally knocks down a candle, which lands on Marie's head. Duchess comes in to break up the fighting, insisting that fighting would not make them sophisticated (stating later that "Aristocrats do not practice biting and clawing and things like that"). Berlioz insists that Marie started it, while Marie retaliates, "Ladies do not start fights, but they can finish them!"
Soon enough, it is time for the family to concern themselves with self-improvement. While Toulouse goes to practice painting, Berlioz and Marie go to the piano to practice their music. Though there is a brief tiff between Berlioz and Marie when (thanks to Berlioz's piano-playing) Marie gets her tail squished, the fight ends and "Scales and Arpeggios" begins. Berlioz gets a little show-offish, and, after Toulouse decides to join in on the playing, the two brothers get into a piano battle that ends in a draw.
Later that evening, he and his family are enjoying their dinner when they fall asleep. After a bump ride, he lands in a pond while the chase is still continuing. He and his family later encounter Thomas for the first time. They go on a few adventures with him on a milk van and on a train bridge. Later, the cats encounter Scat Cat and his friends and party.
A while later, they return to the mansion but their door is locked. They try to meow their way in but get captured by Edgar. The sack is sent into an old oven where Toulouse rightfully brags to his siblings that he was right about Edgar trying to get rid of them, only for Berlioz to tell him to shut up. He and his family get rescued by the musician cats and watch as a defeated Edgar is mailed to Timbuktu instead of them. He is seen getting a picture taken then running downstairs to join the party.
Once Upon a Studio[]
In the short, Berlioz appears during "When You Wish Upon a Star", with Marie, Toulouse, Duchess, Thomas O'Malley, Tod, Copper, Gurgi, Basil of Baker Street, Olivia Flaversham, David Q. Dawson, Dumbo, Timothy Q. Mouse, Flit, Mama Odie, and Boun as they surround Pocahontas as she sings. Berlioz and The Aristocats characters join in singing the last line with the other Disney characters as the group photo is successfully take for Disney's 100th anniversary.
Disney Parks[]
Berlioz posing for a photo.
Disneyland Paris[]
Berlioz, along with his brother, Toulouse, oddly never appeared in "live" form at any of the Disney theme parks until February 2013, in Disneyland Paris for a Valentine's Day Event. He, alongside Toulouse, makes occasionally meet and greet appearances at the resort during special events.
Tokyo Disneyland[]
Berlioz alongside, Toulouse, made their debut at Tokyo Disneyland in 2013 for the former daytime parade Happiness is Here Parade as part of the park's 30th Anniversary. Berlioz appears on The Aristocats float that's a giant piano along with Marie and Toulouse.
Berlioz alongside Marie and Toulouse currently appear daily in Disney Harmony in Color Parade which honored the resort's 40th Anniversary which kicked off April 2023.
Berlioz also makes meet and greet appearances at both Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea accompanied by his older brother and sister.
Shanghai Disney Resort[]
Berlioz shows up at Shanghai Disneyland for the park's daytime parade Mickey's Storybook Express alongside Marie and Toulouse. Berlioz along with the other kittens also appear at a daytime show near Fantasyland.
Disneyland Resort[]
Berlioz, alongside Toulouse, also made their U.S. debut at Disneyland in mid-November 2019 as part of a Christmas Dance Party in Tomorrowland alongside Marie.
Walt Disney World Resort[]
While Toulouse alongside Berlioz have yet to make live appearances at Walt Disney World, the "Aristocrepes" stand at Disney Springs, which sells crepes, features silhouettes of Marie, Toulouse, and Berlioz on the stand's logo. At Disney's Riviera Resort, Marie, alongside Toulouse and Berlioz, are presented on some murals inside the resort.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Berlioz was named after the French romantic composer Hector Berlioz.
- His Italian name is "Bizet", a reference to the musician/composer Georges Bizet.
- Berlioz resembles a younger version of Scat Cat. However, Scat Cat is grey with white patches around his eyes and nose, and Berlioz is completely grey, but they both wear the same red ribbons.
- In some books, Berlioz is misidentified for his brother Toulouse, and vice versa.
- In a few of the books, Berlioz is referred to as "Berly" for short.
- Berlioz is the only kitten whose name is never mentioned by Madame. She mentions Marie and Toulouse’s name once each during the film’s opening, but otherwise just refers to all three of them as kittens. O'Malley also never refers to him by his name either like Tolouse and Marie.
- Berlioz alongside Toulouse and his little sister Marie star in a 2022 picture book and graphic novel series called The Aristokittens by Jennifer Castle. The series involves Marie, Toulouse, and Berlioz reopening an abandoned cafe made for animals called Parisian critter café. The series begun April 19, 2022 with the first two books ("Welcome to the Creature Cafe" and "The Great Biscuit Bake-Off") getting released and a third book ("The Fantastic Rabbit Race") releasing October 10, 2022.
- While Berlioz's love of jazz music was briefly mentioned during the "Everybody Wants To Be A Cat" musical number. The Aristokittens graphic novel series expanded more on his fondness of jazz (such as dreaming of making the "Parisian critter cafe" into a Jazz Club) alongside the third novel "The Fantastic Rabbit Race" featuring him as the main protagonist.
- Berlioz made a second appearance in the 2023 Disney short Once Upon a Studio.
- He seems to have a sibling rivalry with Marie.
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- ↑ "Uncle Antoine's Visit", The Aristocats books