Hooray for widescreen - Lady and The Tramp

15 – Lady and the Tramp

Disney really got their act together with this one. While Peter Pan was a bit of an unfocussed mess for me, Lady and the Tramp really used the time it had well. Peter Pan had trouble focusing on any specific theme or character but this story really knows what it's trying to say. It's a simple story of two very different dogs that meet, bond and learn from each other. Also there's romantic spaghetti.

The key to any love story is how much you like the characters. If you don't like them, or even one of them, you really don't care if they end up together or not. You also don't want two characters that are so alike that they won't have any conflict. That's just boring. You want two characters that are different so they can learn from each other and find out things that they didn't know before. If this movie did anything right, it was making sure that Lady and the Tramp were both well developed and very different from each other.

The first chunk of the movie is actually dedicated to Lady. We get to see her as a puppy and we immediately know what kind of character she is. We know she hates to be alone when she cries after being locked away in the laundry room. Later, we see how protective she is when she chases a rat away. A bit later, we see how protective she is of the new baby her owners have. We get to see the environment that she grows up in. I think that's really important for a story like this. Since we know where she came from and how she was raised, with loving owners in a beautiful house, it's a good contrast to when we meet the Tramp living out in a train yard alone.

The first scene with the Tramp is really great too. We get a great contrast from Lady sleeping by a fire to the Tramp waking up in his train yard. We know immediately that they live in completely different worlds. They spend another little chunk letting us get to know him as well. We see that he's a kind when he sees puppies in a pet store window. When he saves his friends from the dog catcher we know that he's brave and adventurous. We see how resourceful he is when he goes to get food from the Italian restaurant. Immediately, I like these two characters. I want them to overcome the obstacles they face. That would have been all they really needed to do but they really impressed me with the side characters as well.

Lady's friends, Jock and Trusty, were way more developed than I anticipated. They popped up quite a bit more than I expected. You really get a sense that they care about Lady throughout the movie. You really see how protective they are and I like that Disney did that. They tend to get main characters right most of the time but side characters are usually relegated to being pure comedic relief. These two were funny but they were also used to simply emphasize how great Lady was.

Tramp's friends on the other hand were a bit less developed. They didn't show up nearly as much, which is fine because there's only so much time they have in a movie. They were really only used twice. Once to show that Tramp is brave and wants to look out for his fellow dog. That's the scene I mentioned before. Later they show up at the pound and tell Lady that Tramp is a bit of a ladies man. They're important scenes and I can't fault them too much when they did so well on the other characters. They were exactly what they needed to be.

I also have to mention Lady's owners. I really liked the beginning of the movie when Lady wins Jim Dear over. At first, he wants her to sleep alone in the laundry room but her continuous attempts to let her sleep with them finally breaks him down. This really showed me how kind they both were as owners and just how persistent Lady could be. It's also great to me that they were called Jim Dear and Darling. That's just a great little nod to what a dog might think a human's name might be by what they call each other.

This movie didn't really have a villain but the closest it had to one was definitely Aunt Sarah and her cats. Aunt Sarah was just horrible. Being a villain, I suppose that's a good thing. It was really great contrast when Lady's awesome owners leave and we're left with this devil woman. She really treats Lady poorly and is a catalyst for a lot of the events in the movie. Her cats, on the other hand, don't really do too much. They show up and act creepy for a bit, sing a song and cause a bit of a ruckus but they ultimately don't do too much. They're also vaguely racist against Asians but it's not nearly as bad as the Indians in Peter Pan. Out of all the things in this movie, I think they were kind of unnecessary and a bit of a waste of time.

The story itself didn't really have any crazy themes or set pieces but the story was simple and very focused on it's characters. I think that was the right choice for this kind of movie. The beginning of the movie sets up the story really well. We meet Lady and the Tramp separately and see how they live their normal lives. The beginning also sets things up for later. We see how important a collar and license is to a dog. We see the fear the dogs have for the pound. After Jim Dear and Darling have a baby, we see that Lady feels a specific desire to protect him. We also see this creepy looking rat that ends up being a bit more important than I thought.

What I would consider Act 2 goes into how Lady and the Tramp interact together. The movie honestly wasn't as overly sappy or romantic as I thought it would be. That's definitely a good thing. I felt like their relationship was handled surprisingly realistically. Lady ends up having a muzzle put on her by the awful Aunt Sarah. This leads to her running away and meeting the Tramp. They had met before but this is where they really get to know each other. Tramp gets to show off a bit, showing how resourceful and smart he is by sneaking themselves in a zoo and getting a beaver to take get her muzzle off. The scenes slowly get more romantic and this is where we get the famous spaghetti scene. Overall, it was really well done. I feel like they had a chance to bond. I also really liked the crazy Italian restaurant owner and cook. Finally, Tramp gets them into a bit of trouble that ends up getting Lady sent to the pound. Here, she learns that the Tramp has a bit of a reputation and that there have been many girls like Lady in his life before.

The end of the movie deals with the Tramp having to prove himself a bit. Lady is clearly angry with him. The Tramp can't seem to say anything to convince her to change her mind. A bit later, the rat from before appears. Since Lady is tied to the dog house she can't scare it off and it gets inside the house to the baby's room. Tramp shows up and goes in to protect the baby for her and gets in a big fight with the rat. He manages to kill the rat but the crazy aunt thinks he and Lady went in to hurt the baby. She calls the pound to get him sent away. Luckily, Lady's owners appear and realize that Lady would never try to hurt their baby. They see the dead rat and immediately go to save the Tramp. Lady's awesome friends also realize this and go to chase down the dog catcher. The whole ending sequence is really great. It's not the most exciting sequence in Disney but it was well thought out. I really liked that the Tramp didn't hesitate to go in to protect the baby.

Overall, I thought the movie was really great. It was way better thought out than Peter Pan. The side characters were more developed than I expected. They spent the perfect amount of time on the two leads. If I have any complaints, It would be that maybe those cats weren't needed. They also could have spent a bit more time building their relationship. I understood why Lady loved the Tramp. He was brave and exciting. I just didn't know why the Tramp liked Lady. She never really showed why she was different than all the other girls to the Tramp. That's not to say she wasn't a great character. She just didn't seem to have any defining scenes while in the presence of the Tramp. The story itself isn't the most ambitious either, but I think the quality of the characters made up for it. It was a simple idea, executed really well. All that really matters is that we like the characters. And I definitely liked them.

Now, I'm off to sleep...

15 down. 38 to go.