Week 15: Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Lady and the Tramp has always fallen into a weird part of the spectrum for me. It's a Disney classic to be sure, but growing up I can't ever remember a time when it was my favorite movie, so it hasn't really ever come to the forefront of my mind when thinking of Disney films. And it's possible that Disney is partially to blame, because in its parks and in its merchandising, Lady and the Tramp just isn't something you see all that often. It's not a princess movie and it doesn't quite fit the bill of being a "boy" movie - I promise I'm not trying to stereotype here, but let's be honest about how kids movies are generally divvied up to the masses - which might have caused it to sort of fall by the wayside over the years. What seems to have really helped the Disney Princess franchise over the years is that every time a new princess is introduced, she is seen alongside her predecessors and merchandised into all of eternity.

In the end, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I want to apologize to movies like Lady and the Tramp that for one reason or another seem to be forgotten in spite of the fact that they are legitimately good. I will just say now that Robin Hood also comes to mind for me, but it's too soon to get into that!

Whether or not it's a movie I associate with the Disney brand is somewhat beside the point, because when it came to rewatching this movie after fifteen to eighteen some-odd-years, many scenes had stayed with me, visually speaking. I had forgotten certain plot points such as Lady and Tramp's all night adventure - who knew things kept going after their spaghetti dinner? Quick aside about that moment we all know and can't help but love, Disney nearly cut the spaghetti scene because he didn't think dogs sharing a meal would be at all appealing. But, thanks to some determined animator, the scene was drawn up anyway and has clearly lived to prove the animator's point and Disney himself wrong. I honestly can't think of (m)any animated movie moments as iconic as this one. And I'm not the only one who refers to the act of co-eating food as Lady-and-the-Tramping, right?

But that's what makes Disney movies so special, isn't it? Sure I've gone on and on about characters and story, because yes they're important in their own right, but Disney movies so often give us, the viewers, animated scenes that seem to stay with us forever. Or they do for me... and that's what really counts!

Another such instance, I think, is when "Jim Dear" balances the gumball on Lady's nose. As a kid, I always found this to be such a joyful moment. First, it was a cool trick and, second, it involved candy. What's not to love? Seriously, though, I remember looking forward to this scene as much as Lady looked forward to greeting her master.

The plot is pretty sophisticated and accurate, too. Well, as a set up that is, I won't speak to the dogs eventually overturning the carriage with Tramp as a prisoner. That doesn't feel accurate, but by that point who cares? No, what really works is Lady's trajectory. She starts out as the new addition to Jim Dear and Darling's young married life together. At first she's frightened of being left to sleep alone and only begrudgingly allowed a place in their bed "for a night," but soon enough she's full-grown and apparently a welcome addition to the bed. Then, just as Lady has started to settle into her role as the center of Jim Dear and Darling's lives, she starts to be pushed away without warning. In time she learns that she was pushed aside to make way for a baby and can come to terms with the change in status quo. But, before long she becomes as protective and attentive to the baby as either of its parents.

In other words, her life undergoes a lot of shifts, which is very authentic. These beats also help to bond the audience to Lady. I have considered the fact that if I were to buy a pet at this point in my life that it would very likely live long enough to see me settle down and have a family of my own as weird as it is to think of. I'm also pretty set on a cat, which feels like a controversial thing to say in a blog about a dog movie... But going back to the different beats of Lady's relationship to her owners, I know that when my mom came home from the hospital with my oldest brother that the first thing her dog did was throw up on her, which is why it is so easy to buy into how rejected Lady feels by her owners at first.

My other thoughts on Lady and the Tramp are scattered. As a kid I never could understand how Aunt Sarah, who seemed so nice at first, could have such horrible cats and be so mean to Lady! As for the cats, I'm not afraid to say that I still don't like Siamese cats very much because of their depiction in this movie. I recall also being pretty distressed about how much of a mess they made of the house - this was a recurring theme for me in any sort of movie or show where things were ruined, I don't even know. It seems wrong not to mention much about Tramp, but as far as characters go, he doesn't have a huge impact on me until the scene of him running inside the house to chase off the rat. After that point I really like him, but prior to it, he's just kind of there.

In all, a solid film, if not perhaps the most memorable in the canon.

Up next: Sleeping Beauty.