Movie #15 of The Disney Discussion
Lady and the Tramp (1955)
Featuring the voice talents of Barbara Luddy, Larry Roberts, Peggy Lee, Verna Felton, Bill Thompson, Bill Baucom, and George Givot
Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske
Summary (in 150 words or less):
A cocker spaniel named Lady is gifted to Darling by her husband Jim Dear on Christmas in 1909. We follow Lady over the span of a few years during which time Jim Dear and Darling have a baby which initially has Lady feeling left behind and forgotten. When Jim Dear and Darling go away for a weekend and Aunt Clara arrives to watch over the newborn, Lady finds herself failing to get on Clara's good side. After a chaotic encounter with Aunt Clara's two Siamese cats, Lady meets up with Tramp, a schnauzer, whose stray dog status doesn't match up with Lady's more polished upbringing. Still, the two hit it off and romance blossoms.
Let the Discussion Begin...
Lady and the Tramp is the Walt Disney Company's fifteenth full-length animated feature film and was released on June 22, 1955.
At the time of its release, Lady and the Tramp was Walt Disney's most successful animated film since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, raking in $7.5 million in 1955 alone. To date, the film has grossed over $93 million (unadjusted for inflation).
Initially slated to be made in a full frame aspect ratio, Walt Disney decided to make the film in the wider Cinemascope format making Lady and the Tramp to be the first animated film to utilize this aspect ratio. This wasn't necessarily an easy undertaking for the animators as the wider scope permitted more detail for backgrounds, but less opportunity for close-up shots.
Lady and the Tramp ranked #95 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Passions list -- one of only two animated films to do so. The film was also named one of Time Magazine's Top 25 Best Animated Films of All Time.
The Characters
(The Best...The Worst...The Villains...)
While humans are the first characters we see and hear in Lady and the Tramp, the film is certainly not in any shape or form about them. For the most part, they are seen via the perspective of our title canine characters with even their names -- Jim Dear and Darling -- being the pet names the husband and wife call each other rather than their real names.
Instead, we focus on the animals -- the first full-length Disney feature to really do so since 1945's Bambi. Lady is a cocker spaniel who is living the good life. She's adored by her owners (the aforementioned Jim Dear and Darling), treated well, and has everything going for her. Yet, rather nicely, the filmmakers don't make Lady too uppity. Yes, she knows she has it good, but she's never a character to whom the audience doesn't want to relate. Had that been the case, the film simply wouldn't have worked. We wouldn't have cared about a prissy dog's woes. Fortunately, the writers knew better.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Tramp certainly doesn't have that nice upbringing. Instead, he finds himself roaming the streets looking for scraps to eat from restaurants and narrowly avoiding capture by the city dogcatcher. Despite his "status," it's easily understandable why Lady falls for Tramp. He's not a bad guy at all...he just hasn't been given the opportunities to succeed.
There's no villain in the piece, although Aunt Clara's Siamese cats, Si and Am, certainly cause chaos for Lady which, in turn, pushes her into the paws of Tramp. Still, the lack of any tension is the film's huge downfall and it's one of the reasons that, despite the fact that the film is nicely animated and briskly told, I found it a tad on the boring side.
The Music
The film is best known for its romantic scene in which Lady and Tramp sit in the alley behind an Italian restaurant and are serenaded with the love song "Bella Notte." It's a classic moment and certainly the best song in the film. While there are a few other decent numbers -- the incredibly un-PC "Siamese Cat Song" is quite humorous and enjoyable, but would've never made the cut in today's society -- Lady and the Tramp is not known for its music. (Of course, I say that and four days after watching it, I still find myself humming "La La Lu," a lullaby Darling sings to her newborn baby shortly after his birth. That's got to mean something.)
My Favorite Scene
It would be easy to pinpoint the classic spaghetti moment discussed in the music section above, but I think the film's best scene is at the beginning when a puppy-sized Lady is gifted to Darling on Christmas. Despite Darling's pleas to allow Lady to sleep in their bed "just for one night," Jim Dear feeling one night will lead to an eternity of nights, so he tries to barricade Lady in the kitchen. The precocious puppy will have none of that. She manages to pry the door open and sneak into their room and curl up in the bed. Cut to a fade-out and fade-in on the bed with Lady, now fully grown, snuggling next to her owners. I found it a humorous way to open the film.
Random Thoughts
- Lady is given to Darling on Christmas and she's presented in a box with a bow...I didn't see any air holes in that box. Poor girl...
- Did they really just feed Lady coffee? That can't be good.
- I seriously love the way the Scottish terrier Jock walks. With his quick pattering of feet, it reminds me a little bit of the Peanuts characters' dance moves.
Final Analysis
(Does It Belong in the Revered Disney Pantheon and How Does It Stack Up to Past Films?)
There's nothing bad about Lady and the Tramp. Admittedly, I'd be hard-pressed to tell you anything I heartily disliked about it. However, the film never really "works" for me overall. Maybe it's the fact that there's no villain to provide tension. Maybe it's the fact that the story was too simplistic for its own good (seriously, the film's "exciting" conclusion is Tramp chasing a rat out of Lady's house). Or maybe it's the fact that I'm just not an animal person. I'm not sure what it is about the film, but I failed to get invested fully in the characters. The animation here -- presented for the first time in widescreen Cinemascope -- is good and the voice acting is decent. The characters, however, just didn't jump off the screen the way they did in Peter Pan or even in Alice in Wonderland (the latter of which, I admit, is a more flawed film). So, despite the fact that I can't necessarily negatively criticize the picture, I'm not sure I'd place it in the Disney Pantheon.
(You can sort of tell my apathy towards this film by the brevity of each of the sections above. I'll try and step up my game next time.)
The RyMickey Rating: B-
I'm taking a holiday break from the Disney Discussion since the next two Wednesdays are Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Join me on January 8 for Sleeping Beauty, the sixteenth film in the Disney Discussion
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