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Many people don't really care about genetics in animated movies, and I can understand that. However, I did learn a bit about cat coat colour thanks to the Aristocats. Why? I've always wondered "who can Duchess have a red kitten, a black/grey kitten and a white kitten?"


Cats like Duchess are completely white because they have a gene called white masking gene (W or w). W = white. w = non white. a non-white cat is w/w. A white cat can be either W/w or W/W. The gene is dominant so it prevents the "real" colours of the cat to show. Since Duchess has non-white kittens, we know that she is W/w.

But what is her "real" coat colour?
There is another gene that code basic coat colours : red and black. This gene is located on the X chromosome. O is red, o is black (or the absence of red). Normally, males can only be either black or red unless they have a chromosomal anomaly or are a chimera because they only have one X chromosome. Females can be tortoiseshell ("calico" minus the white) because they have two X chromosomes.

Duchess has one red kitten and one black kitten. It doesn't matter whether the father is black or red because she's the one who gives them their X chromosome. We know she is toirtoseshell because she has to have both the O gene and the o gene to have her kittens.

Tl,Dr
Duchess is : W/w, O/o -> tortoiseshell masked by dominant white

Marie is : W/w but can be O/O, O/o or o/o -> black, red or tortoiseshell masked by dominant white

Toulouse is : w/w and O -> he only has one X chromosome and is red.

Berlioz is w/w and o -> he only has one X chromosome and is black.


There are many other genes coding for coat colours such as colour dillution, albinism ("colourpoint"), tabby marking, piebald gene, etc. I only covered the basic colours because Duchess' family doesn't have any "unusual" colour.

Interesting. Your idea makes perfect sense of one of my biggest questions about the Aristocats.

But then, what genes does the father have?

My guess is: either a black or a red cat. Could be blue/cream since Berlioz is not pure black but I'm not sure he was intended to be truly grey.