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Lady and the Tramp

Posted : 8 years, 6 months ago on 17 September 2015 03:46

You know, when I was younger I liked this film a lot better than I did revisiting it after all of these years. Sure, I think it has several endearing and charming moments, but the central relationship is a little too bland for me. Lady and the Tramp really survives and endures because of its solid supporting players and handful of segments that have entered the pop culture lexicon.

There’s no real story to Lady and the Tramp, which is alternately refreshing and why is the film is ultimately unsatisfying. Yes, Lady and the Tramp fall in love, but that’s about all there is to the film. Other than that, it’s a heavily sentimental slice of Americana in which we view episodes of dog’s life throughout the year.

The romance between the two dogs feels more organic than the rushed princess fantasies, which is a good thing, but most of the memorable stuff happens outside of it. Whoever decided to bring in Peggy Lee was a genius. Her vocal delivery of pound puppy Peg is streetwise and sultry, her Darling the picture of wholesome, and her delivery on Si and Am is a questionable bit of cultural caricature. Lee’s best moment is as Peg during the musical number “He’s a Tramp.” It introduced Disney to the jazzier, more modern sensibility that would blossom in 101 Dalmatians a few years later. Another charmer is the whistling beaver in the zoo. Stan Freberg’s goofy, sweet vocal performance along with some humorous comedic bits makes for a memorable one-off character.

Although, if anything in this movie deserves infamy it is the first date between the title characters. Yes, it’s the famous scene where the dogs eat a large plate of spaghetti and accidentally kiss while being serenaded. The sweetness is overpowering, the cute is so forceful that it almost burns. It’s a quiet moment of true romantic connection between two characters.

Pity than that the overall film is somewhat unsatisfactory for some elusive reason. Could it be that the stakes are so low as to be non-existent? Or that many of the moments of dread or darkness are immediately undercut by a balmy reassurance that nothing bad has actually happened to them? It’s probably all of it. For all of the beautiful backgrounds, lovely animation, and adorable supporting players, Lady and the Tramp is just too dry for me to fully embrace any longer. For me, the best and most enduring of children’s entertainment was always the stuff that flirted with danger and didn’t always play nice. It’s a very good film that just can’t seem to shake off a sense of blandness.


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An average movie

Posted : 8 years, 7 months ago on 20 August 2015 06:48

Among all the classics released through the rich history of Disney, this movie is probably not one of my favorites but I have to admit that it is quite charming. First of all, as usual, the animation was just top-noch. My favorite part was probably the first 10 minutes, when Lady is introduced to her family. Indeed, even though I'm not myself a huge fan of the whole concept of pets, my wife is a huge dog lovers and, right now we have 7 of them (I know, it is a lot and that's a rather long story...). So, I can say I'm a little bit familiar with the behavior of dogs in a general and those first 10 minutes were just completely convincing and quite fascinating to watch. Unfortunately, they couldn't help it, they had to make those dogs talk. Seriously, it must be one of Disney's most annoying trademarks, the way they always have to make all animals talk. On top of that, I thought it was always rather condescending the way they tried to romanticize the life of stray dogs. And yet, in spite of these flaws, it does work anyway and the spaghetti scene must be one of the most romantic moments I have ever seen. Anyway, to conclude, even though I don't think it is really amazing, it is still a solid animated feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.


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Beautiful, heart-melting Disney Classic!

Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 31 July 2010 09:26

Awww... Lady And The Tramp is perhaps the most heartwarming animated film of all time. Having loved it since I can remember, it has always stuck with me! It shows how beautiful the world really can be by animals, families and pleasant and friendly neighbourhoods. What I feel is so special about Lady And The Tramp is that there is nothing mythical or fictional about this at all. Like there doesn't need any fantasy within for it to succeed. I tell you it wouldn't have been a success if there was fiction involved. Yeah, there are talking dogs but the owners don't know about it and also they have their own language anyway so we don't understand them.


Lady is a young female cocker spaniel who lives with her owners Jim Dear and Darling. She grew up very peacefully and couldn't have asked for anything better. She has great friends with the names of Jock (Scottish terrier) and Trusty (bloodhound). On the other side of the story, a mongrel dog that lives on the street that comes himself Tramp is having fun with his life but once he meets Lady, they both forge a romance and a powerful combination like nobody else could. What I love about the chemistry between Lady and Tramp is that they both separate class dogs who have different lives (you can tell by their names and the neighbourhood they live in) but their personalities are just so similar and they bond together almost instantly.


Lady And The Tramp was the first Disney animated feature filmed in CinemaScope. The finished film is slightly different from what was originally planned. Although both the original script and the final product shared most of the same elements, it would still be revised and revamped. Originally, Lady was to have only one next door neighbor, a Ralph Bellamy-type canine named Hubert. Instead of being called 'The Tramp', they went through a number of suggested names including Homer, Rags, and Bozo but did decide in the end to stick with Tramp. I cannot believe that Lady And The Tramp didn't earn any Oscar nominations at all when it should have! At least have one for Best Original Score because the score was breathtaking like almost every Disney.


Overall, Lady And The Tramp is a very moving, tear jerking and fun Disney Classic that deserves its rightful place as one of the best animated films of all time.


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