Lady And The Tramp Ii - Tumblr Posts
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.