Each week, THN looks back at a Walt Disney Animated Classic, from SNOW WHITE to WRECK-IT RALPH, through the obscurity of FUN AND FANCY FREE to the second Golden Age of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. These are the films the Walt Disney company are most proud of, the ones that hold a special place in our hearts, the ones that still cost a fortune to buy on DVD.
This week, as part two of our Disney Double Feature, we bring you LADY AND THE TRAMP.
Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske
1953/ 75 minutes
Budget: $4 million
Box office: $93.6 million
In 1937, Disney story man Joe Grant came up with an idea inspired by the antics of his own English Springer Spaniel named Lady, and how she got “shoved aside” by Joe’s new baby. He approached Walt Disney with sketches of Lady, who was suitably impressed and commissioned Grant to start story development on a new animated feature, LADY. Several years were spent on the project without much success, until Walt came across a short story written by Ward Greene, ‘Happy Dan, The Whistling Dog’, in Cosmopolitan Magazine, and decided to pair the dogs up, buying the rights to the story. By June 1943, a treatment had been completed, but the artists were not allowed to go any further, as the studio was producing mostly instructional and propaganda films for the war effort.
In 1949 Grant left the studio, but Disney story men continued to go back to his original work. A solid story began taking shape in 1953, based on Grant’s storyboards and Greene’s short story. Greene later wrote a novelization of the film that was released two years before the film itself, at Walt Disney’s insistence, so that audiences would be familiar with the story. Unfortunately, Grant didn’t receive film credit for his story work, an issue that animation director Eric Goldberg hoped to rectify in later years. Much like BAMBI, several breeds of dog were studied to capture the movement and personality of their canine cast.
Aside from the usual problems with production of an animated feature, the advent of widescreen provided a few new problems. Due to the growing interest of widescreen film amongst movie-goers, Disney decided to animate the film in CinemaScope, making LADY AND THE TRAMP the first animated feature made in the process. This new innovation presented additional problems for the animators, but were eventually overcome. However, whilst Disney’s animators had learned to love Cinemasope, not all movie theatres were geared for it. Upon learning this, Walt issued two versions of the film: one in widescreen, and another in what’s known as the Academy ratio.
SYNOPSIS: It’s the basic uptown-girl, downtown-boy set up: Lady is a cocker spaniel, given as a puppy to Darling by her loving husband, Jim Dear. She lives in a quiet, wholesome suburb and enjoys a happy, contented life with her friends, fiery Scottish Terrier Jock and old bloodhound Trusty, a former police dog who has (whispers) lost his sense of smell.
Tramp is an unlicensed mongrel living wild on the streets. He’s one of those lovable rogue types who makes friends everywhere he goes, especially if they have food to spare. When Tramp frees fellow strays Peg and Bull from a local dog catcher, he legs it into Lady’s suburb. As he pokes around, lamenting the lot of the “leash and collar set”, he stumbles across Lady, who is worried her people don’t love her any more. Between them they work out that Darling is expecting their first child, and while Jock and Trusty try to assure Lady she has nothing to worry about, Tramp gets in on the act and tells her a horror story where she’s given the baby’s leftovers and thrown out into the dog house. An incensed Jock throws Tramp out, but as he leaves, he reminds her “When the baby moves in, the dog moves out.”
After months of confusion and adjustment for Lady, the baby boy arrives. Despite her fears, her people introduce her to the baby, whom she immediately grows fond of and embraces as part of the family. Not long after however, Jim Dear and Darling decided to take a trip away, leaving Aunt Sarah in charge of the baby and the house. Unfortunately for Lady, Aunt Sarah is one of those people who hates dogs and forever dotes on her beloved, innocent, sadistic and malicious Siamese cats, who immediately cause chaos and pin the blame on Lady. A mortified Aunt Sarah immediately takes Lady to the local pet store for a muzzle, fearing for the safety of her cats and the baby, unable to fathom the inherent loyalty of the family dog.
Lady runs from the pet store and is pursued by some street dogs, only for Tramp to come to her rescue. Seeing that his worst fears have apparently been realised, Tramp escorts Lady to the local zoo, tricking a beaver into removing the muzzle. Tramp then shows her a taste of life on the other side of the tracks, living “footloose and collar-free” and treating her to a candlelit Italian dinner. Lady swiftly begins to fall for the Tramp as they spend the night on a moonlit hillside.
Next morning, as Tramp walks her home, he can’t help but cause some trouble in a chicken coop. As they run from the fun, Lady is caught by the dog-catcher. Though her time in the pound is short, Lady learns a good deal more about Tramp and his long list of former girlfriends.
Brought back home and chained in the back yard, Lady confronts Tramp about his past and for leaving her behind to be caught. Tramp leaves, just as the heavens open. As Lady cries her dear heart out, she sees a Rat sneak into the house. Her attempts to warn Aunt Sarah go ignored, but bring Tramp running back. Between them they manage to get back into the house and prevent the rat from harming the baby, tearing the room apart and knocking over the crib in the process. With the now-dead rat behind the armchair, Aunt Sarah sees nothing but two vicious, evil dogs. Tramp is corralled into the closet, and Lady locked in the basement.
Just as the dog catcher arrives to take Tramp to the pound, Jim Dear and Darling return from their trip. While they fear for the baby, they realise that Lady and the Tramp were only trying to save the child from the rat. Overhearing the ruckus and realising their error in judgement, Trusty and Jock give chase. They save Tramp and reunite him with Lady, but at a price; Trusty is injured in the wagon crash, and Jock howls in sorrow.
That Christmas, Tramp, now a part of Lady’s family, has his own collar and license. Aunt Sarah has also reconciled with Lady by sending her a box of dog biscuits. Lady and Tramp are now the proud parents of four puppies; three resemble Lady (Annette, Danielle, and Collette) and one resembles Tramp (Scamp), which isn’t quite how genetics work, but it’s fairly standard in cartoons.
The growing family are thrilled to see Jock and Trusty, who is carefully walking on his still-mending leg. Thanks to the puppies, Trusty at long last has a fresh audience for his old stories – only to realise he’s forgotten them.
Lessons Learned:
1. You can’t always judge a person, or a dog, by their appearance or their reputation.
2. Cats are evil.
3. Raise a dog properly and they will do anything to protect their family.
THE HEROINE
Lady, voiced by Barbara Luddy. An English Cocker Spaniel with a loving – if naive – heart. She loves and cherishes her humans, and would do anything to protect them. Her eyes are opened to the troubles of the world early on as circumstances drive her from her comfortable home and out into the wider world. She’s a sweet kid but maybe a bit too trusting.
THE HERO
Larry Roberts voices the Tramp, his only film role. A lovable rogue of undetermined breed, Tramp is laid back and charming, working his way into hearts across the city, be they families and restaurants or local bitches. When it comes down to it, though, he’s a strong ally to have, using his wit and strength to save both Lady and her humans’ baby from harm.
THE VILLAIN
The only real “villain” here is the rat, who has only one real scene. It is a vicious and evil little bastard, however, with clear and dark intentions for the baby.
Aside from that we have the dog catchers, who are just doing their job, and the street-dogs that chase Lady, but their actual intentions are a little vague.
SIDEKICKS/HENCHMEN
The cats, Si and Am, on the other hand, are evil incarnate, playing on the affections of their owner/pet (depending on you perspective) Aunt Sarah, and pinning the chaos caused by them on Lady, who is only defending her territory from a pair of untrusted and untrustworthy newcomers.
While Jock has his moments, it’s Trusty that really shines here. He saves Tramp, putting his out-of-practise hunting skills to bear and coming through when it really matters. It could be argued that he’s the real hero here.
PLOT
LADY AND THE TRAMP has everything; romance, action, comedy and tragedy, seen through the eyes of our canine friends. It tries to give us an idea of what the world is like for a dog, and how our actions can change their views and opinions of us forever. Dogs are very much shown in a good light, bar a few exceptions, and while the tale may be rather simple, it’s well told.
LAUGHS
The movie is played quite straight, with little actual comedy, but there are several characters intended to make us laugh; a stereotypical bumbling policeman, the workmanlike and officious Beaver – an obvious template for WINNIE THE POOH’s Gopher – and to a lesser extent Jock and Trusty, a lovable double-act that provide a good chunk of the soul of the film.
SCARES
Only two sequences stand out as scary here; the street dogs slowly and menacingly encroaching on a cornered Lady, and the twilit “Rat attack” sequence, both of which involve Tramp leaping to the rescue. We don’t actually see that much; most of it’s in shadow or behind furniture, but that’s to its benefit. Your own imagination is much scarier than anyone else’s.
MORAL/ EDUCATIONAL VALUE
We learn that people change as time progresses, and that you can’t always judge on first appearances. In Tramp we have a hero who goes his own way but still watches out for his friends and growing family. We also get a glimpse into what dogs might think of the world they live in, and that we should love and respect them as they do us.
MUSIC/SONGS
Very nice arrangement of songs here, though not all of them are what I’d term classics. He’s A Tramp, sung in the dog pound, is nice, but nothing special. I feel the same about We Are Siamese, but that’s because I can’t stand the characters. I know that’s the point but still. No, my favourite song here is Lady’s little ballad, What is a Baby?. It’s a very quiet, very sweet song that highlights Lady’s wonder and apprehension at the new life coming into hers.
LEGACY
Despite remarkable success at the box office, the film was initially panned by many critics, but has since come to be regarded as a classic. The sequence where Lady and Tramp share a plate of spaghetti and meatballs – you know the one – is considered iconic in American film and has been subject to affectionate lampooning ever since.
Like many other Disney classics of the era, LADY AND THE TRAMP had a sequel, SCAMP’S ADVENTURE, released in 2001, which focuses on Scamp (Lady and Tramp’s son) running away from home and joining a gang of junkyard dogs, only to learn the true value of family.
FINAL SCORE: 38/53
Sources: Wikipedia, Disney Wiki, IMDb, youtube
