Napoleon and Lafayette



Napoleon and Lafayette are two dogs in Disney's The Aristocats. Napoleon is a bloodhound and Lafayette is a Bassett hound. The two are stray dogs that live on an abandoned windmill site in the French countryside. Their one hobby is chasing any humans who come near their territory, whether or not they're in a car. Napoleon is voiced by Pat Buttram and Lafayette is voiced by George Lindsay

The Aristocats
They're first appearance is when Edgar the Butler rides his motorcycle through their patch where he hopes to dump Duchess and the kittens. Napoleon and Lafayette are woken by him and chase him down a riverbank, where Edgar drops the basket with the cats. After a spectacular chase scene, with Edgar being bitten on the butt several times and his leg chomped by the dogs, Edgar escapes leaving Napoleon and Lafayette in the mud.

Despite being beaten and humiliated, Napoleon and Lafayette scavenge Edgar's belongings that he's left behind. Napoleon uses his side carriage as bed, his umbrella as a souvenir and his bowler hat as a token of authority. Lafayette uses the cats' basket as a bed.

Edgar returns to the farm to steal his possesions back so they're not found by the police. He manages to outwit Napoleon and Lafayette. He tickles Napoleon in his sleep, enabling to steal his hat. He then scoops up the basket and drops the sleeping Lafayette into Napoleon's lap, distracting him in time to fish his umbrella using a fishing rod. He then steals his side carriage while Napoleon and Lafayette go searching for the thief. When they see edgar trying to escape, they give chase again but again they fail, this time crashing an old wheelbarrow into a powdermill.

Napoleon and Lafayette make a brief appearance at the end of the film. They hear Scat Cat and his band celebrating and join in by howling. Napoleon is then hit in the head by the words: THE END.

Napoleon and Lafayette are a classic double act. Napoleon is the cleverer of the two and is often aggravated by Lafayette's stupidity. He always reminds Lafayette of his superiority, although he usually takes Lafayette's advice anyway. He has very good hearing and can discover various details about something just by listening to it.

Lafayette is the stupider, dopier of the two. He usually trips over his ears and has to lift them with his paw to hear things properly. He's also annoyed by the way Napoleon always bites an intruder on the butt while all he bites are the intruder's tires on his vehicle. Lafayette sometimes speaks before he thinks. He once asked Napoleon what colour a pair of shoes were, not knowing not even Napoleon can hear colours. He also makes light of the fact that they've been outsmarted twice by Edgar, causing Napoleon to beat him on the head.

House of Mouse
The two dogs make frequent guest appearances in the series.

Trivia

 * Napoleon and Lafayette are voiced by Pat Buttram and George Lindsey, respectively. These two would later reunite in Robin Hood (as the Sheriff of Nottingham and Trigger the vulture) and The Rescuers (as Luke and Deadeye).