Lady and the Tramp

Voices of: Barbara Luddy, Larry Roberts, Peggy Lee, Bill Thompson, Bill Baucom, Stan Freberg, Verna Felton
Directed by: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Animation, Drama
1955

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: A proper, respectable dog meets a streetwise mutt from the other side of town.

Review:

Tim: Lady and the Tramp is a very good Disney animated film. I always like to see what Disney does with original stories, and it took this one and made it fairly iconic. While not the masterpiece that a The Lion King or Beauty and the Beast is, this is still a very entertaining, good movie. It features one of the most memorable moments in animation history- the spaghetti dinner shared by Lady and the Tramp. That is such a small moment, but it's never been forgotten.

I really like the work put in to make this film be from the dogs' perspectives. For example, the house and the surroundings are shown from the ground, not from where humans would view things. The faces of the human are also rarely shown, as dogs would be much closer to their knees. These little touches take us out of the human world and help us inhabit the dog one.

I thought the animators did a great job of capturing the actions of dogs. Anyone who has had a dog in their life will be able to quickly identify many of the dog's behaviors in this film. That is an easy element to overlook, but it's essential. The dogs here look and behave like real dogs- they whine at night, find creative ways to get around barriers, hop up on two legs, etc. The attention to detail here was impressive. I also really liked the aspects of the story that touch on the big events in a dog's life. The real change happens when the familiar masters leave, and an unpredictable, new person takes over. I love that a big part of the story centered around a dog being pushed to second fiddle when a baby arrives. This really does happen in real life, and it was interesting to see it captured on screen.

While I really enjoy this movie, I can't quite claim it is a great movie. There are definitely some crass stereotypes throughout the film. While you have to understand this through the context of the time in which the movie was made, it's still pretty jarring to see two Siamese cats portrayed as all the worst examples of racism against Asians. That hurts the movie. In addition, the whole rat thing just didn't make sense to me. Maybe I'm missing something, but why was it such a huge deal? I would also say that the end of the film is wrapped up a little too neatly for me. I know that this is a children's movie, but the film tackles some very adult themes- class differences, shifting priorities of new parents, a proposed shotgun wedding-ish moment, and remember, we see a dog being led to his untimely death. This is a movie for children that has a rich layer of meaning for adults, but the end of the film is just so Hollywood and cartoonish. I would have liked to see a stronger conclusion.

So, while this might not be a great movie, it is a very solid, entertaining animated film. As Disney's 15th animated film, it shows that Walt and company weren't running low on ideas. While it would be nice if every Disney film was an instant classic, that's just not going to happen. It is fun to watch these slightly second-tier animated films and realize that they are quite strong movies in their own right. This is a very, very good film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Aristocats, 101 Dalmations, Alice in Wonderland