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A pampered Cocker-Spaniel named Lady falls for a street mutt named Butch in Disney Animation’s nineteenth animated feature, Lady and the Tramp. Lady comes from a well-off family on the good side of town, but when her owners start expecting a baby, their attention to Lady begins to wane. A visit from a babysitting aunt and her two conniving Siamese cats leads to Lady being muzzled and stranded far from home. That’s when Butch takes her under his wing and takes her out for a night on the town. The two fall in love, but when Lady hears from dogs in the Dog Pound that Butch is a ‘Tramp’ with a long line of broken doggie hearts in his wake, she wonders if she can trust him.
Lady and the Tramp isn’t one of the more exciting or emotionally compelling Disney ‘classics’, but it’s as gorgeously animated as one can expect from Disney, with a selection of characters that are warmly and humorously conceived. While Lady herself is a bit of a dullard, Tramp makes up for it with his ‘seize the day’ attitude. Perhaps the most lovable characters are Trusty and Jock, an aging bloodhound and a Scottish terrier who live next door to Lady and her family. Trusty and Jock come to Lady’s aid when she’s depressed, and play a big part in the climax of the movie when Tramp is captured by the dog catcher.
The first half of the story is lackadaisical in its pacing, but the film finally comes to life when Lady meets Butch. The night these two dogs spend together is indeed one of the more magical ones in Disney Animated history. Even if you’ve never seen Lady and the Tramp, you’ve probably seen the centerpiece scene in which Tramp takes Lady to Tony’s Italian Restaurant for a spaghetti meal while Tony and his sous-chef serenade their canine customers. The songs in the film are mercifully short and a few of them are even memorable, including the romantic “Bella Notte” and the villainous “Siamese Cat Song”. Singer Peggy Lee sings the more rousing dog house rendition of “He’s a Tramp”.
Lady and the Tramp has the distinction of being the first animated film presented in Cinemascope, with a wide aspect ratio of 2.55:1. Very few animated films were produced in this ‘scope’ format until the 21st century.
Featuring the voices of Barbara Luddy, Larry Roberts, Bill Baucom, Bill Thompson, Verna Felton, George Givot, and Lee Millar.