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LADY AND THE TRAMP (Dir: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson & Hamilton Luske, 1955).
The first half of the 1950s was a fairly prolific time for Disney animation. Although production of shorts was dwindling, 1955’s Lady and the Tramp was the fourth feature film released that decade.
The movie draws upon Walt Disney’s love of turn of the century small town America (Disneyland’s loving recreation of the era, Main Street USA, opened the same year) and after Dumbo (Ben Sharpsteen, 1941) is the only other Walt-era animated movie to feature an (almost) contemporary US setting.
The tale of pampered Cocker Spaniel Lady (voiced by Disney regular Barbara Luddy) and street mutt Tramp (Larry Roberts) who fall in love over a plate of spaghetti is a fairly conventional one. However, the novel use of canine protagonists, witty dialogue and inventive scenes, such as the famed pasta-fuelled kiss, lift the familiar story above the mundane.
The artists’ extensive research of real life dogs neatly captures the movement and personality of our furry friends, displaying the most realistic animation in a Disney movie since Bambi (David Hand, 1942).
The first animated feature produced in the new widescreen CinemaScope format, this provided some problems for the artists. With less opportunities for character close-ups and the need to fill otherwise empty space with scenery, the Disney artists created a beautifully detailed, idealised recreation of late Victorian era America. Viewed entirely from a dog’s perspective, the elegant backgrounds and superior character animation combine to make Lady and the Tramp one of Walt Disney’s most visually attractive feature films.
Equally a treat for the ears are a handful of songs co-written by Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke. Lee adds her considerable vocal talent to showstoppers He’s a Tramp and The Siamese Cat Song in one of the greatest Disney musical scores.
Lady and the Tramp is a warm-hearted, intelligent romance with first rate animation, vocal performances and music; a lovely and lovingly crafted jaunt into America’s (idealised) past.
Read the full-length version of this review on my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME! Link below.
LADY AND THE TRAMP II: SCAMP’S ADVENTURE (Dir: Darrell Rooney, 2001).
46 years after Walt Disney’s original Lady and the Tramp (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson & Hamilton Luske, 1955) comes this belated straight-to-video sequel.
Lady and Tramp’s only son Scamp rebels at life on a leash, runs away from home and hooks up with a gang of tough junkyard dogs. Clashing with gang leader Buster and falling for fetching young pup Angel, Scamp eventually must choose between his family or freedom.
Produced by Walt Disney Television Animation (lately DisneyToon Studios) on a much smaller budget than a Walt Disney Animation Studios feature, resulting in a markedly less polished production than that of its sister studio. The character animation is flat and cartoony, replacing the original movie’s studied realism. The backgrounds, likewise, lack the depth and detail of the first movie, while a homage to Lady and the Tramp’s famous spaghetti sequence and a train dodge scenario lifted from The Aristocats (Wolfgang Reitherman, 1970) are a reminder of how superior those movies are.
Among the cast you may recognise the familiar voices of Disney’s own little mermaid Ariel Jodi Benson as Lady and Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney as Scamp’s pal Sparky. While certainly perfunctory, none of the voice actors make much of an impression. Some serviceable but forgettable songs punctuate the soundtrack, none coming close to Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke’s majestic originals. Here lies the problem with Lady and the Tramp II; it is simply weaker than the first movie in all departments.
In truth, there are worse movies than Lady and the Tramp II. There are probably even worse Disney straight-to-videos sequels. But I honestly do not understand why you would watch this film instead of the masterful original. Lady and the Tramp endures as one of Walt Disney’s greatest animated features. Sadly, this cannot be said about its sequel; a pale imitation of the original and a soulless, artless exercise in exploitation.
A review of the original Lady and the Tramp and a longer, more in-depth review of Lady and the Tramp II can be found on my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME! Link below.
ALICE IN WONDERLAND (Dir: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson & Hamilton Luske, 1951).
Visit my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME to read a longer, more in-depth review of ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Link in bio.
Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has inspired countless movie adaptations. Arguably the most successful screen version is Walt Disney’s feature length animation.
The well known story of Alice... concerns a curious young girl who chases a waistcoat wearing rabbit down a rabbithole into the weird and wonderful Wonderland. Many encounters with assorted freaks later, her adventure concludes with an unusual game of croquet in the court of the Queen of Hearts.
Read the full review on my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME. Link below.
