BACKGROUND
The 1950s was a busy time for Walt Disney and the Disney Studios.
Along with the usual slate of animated film releases, Disney were working on live-action films, the True-Life Adventures series of nature documentaries, and television projects. As well as that, Walt’s theme park project Disneyland opened on 17th July 1955, just one month before Lady and the Tramp was released, in June 1955, squarely in the middle of the eight animated features produced during the “Silver Age” of Disney Animation (1950-1967).
It’s no secret that Walt Disney’s attention had been split between these various projects, with animation not being at the forefront of his mind at times, however, despite his attention seeming to dwindle around this medium, Lady and the Tramp was an animated feature that Walt Disney himself was very much involved with. Not only that, but Lady and the Tramp marked a series of firsts: the first Disney animated feature to be based on an original story written by the studio, and have an everyday American setting, and it was the first animated film to be photographed in the widescreen format of CinemaScope[1].
And yet, I don’t like Lady and the Tramp. I hadn’t watched it fully for many years before this week, as it’s not an animated film I would choose to watch. I can’t quite decide why I don’t like it: possibly because I’m scared of dogs, a lot of them anyway; maybe because nothing very exciting happens and the music isn’t very cheery; or perhaps it’s just because it falls into that category of “animal films” that I don’t generally connect to! I certainly didn’t finish watching Lady and the Tramp and think my initial impression was wrong, as it was, at least in part, with other “animal films” like The Fox and the Hound (1981) and Bolt (2008), which I surprised myself by liking more than I thought. Lady and the Tramp wasn’t like that, and, despite only being around 75 minutes in length, I was bored through the majority of it! Having said that, there are a few scenes and sequences that I like, though they only total around a third of the whole movie, and the backgrounds and colours are quite pleasant.
PLOT
Lady and the Tramp is a love story, basically Romeo and Juliet but with dogs! The movie begins on Christmas night in a quintessential New England town, on a street filled with rows of Victorian houses. A woman opens a present from her husband, a golden cocker spaniel puppy, placed in a hat box with a bright red ribbon round its neck. The woman, “Darling”, names her Lady. Soon, it is time for Lady to go to bed in the kitchen, but she doesn’t want to be alone, so after hours of barking, crying, and attempts at escape, she successfully climbs the stairs to their bedroom, and is allowed to sleep on their bed. The movie then skips six months to find Lady still sleeping on their bed, and waking the couple up early every morning, including on Sundays, where she begins her daily routine of fetching “Jim Dear’s” slippers, burying bones, chasing rats out of the garden, and fetching the paper, which gets ripped as she pulls it through her dog door, followed by coffee and doughnuts – not something I think would be recommended for a dog’s breakfast these days!
Soon after, Darling gets Lady a new blue collar and a license, which all dogs in their area need to avoid being sent to the pound. Lady shows off her new collar to neighbourhood friends, Jock, a Scottie dog, and Trusty, an elderly bloodhound. The next day, across town, we see a mongrel waking up in the railway yard, Tramp, before going to a nearby restaurant, Tony’s, where the owners give him leftover bones to eat. He rescues his friends from a dog catcher who is en route to the pound, before stumbling into Lady’s part of town, the posh residential streets. Tramp overhears Lady talking to Jock and Trusty about how Jim Dear and Darling are acting strangely, generally ignoring her, calling her “that dog”. Jock and Trusty figure that Darling must be expecting a baby, with them telling Lady that babies are cute and special. Tramp comes in to correct them, telling Lady that a baby is the worst thing to happen to a dog’s home, and that she’ll be replaced as soon as it arrives. Lady doesn’t know what to believe but over the next six months, she notices many changes to their house, before the baby finally arrives. Lady is curious to know what a baby is and finds her way to the baby’s room where Jim Dear and Darling introduce her to their new born son. Lady decides that actually babies are cute, and this will be fine.
Then, Aunt Sarah arrives to look after the baby while Jim Dear and Darling are away. She doesn’t much like Lady, finding her a nuisance and a threat to the baby. When Sarah’s cats, Si and Am, who she brought with her, start to try and eat the family’s canary and goldfish, Lady stops them and fights them off, causing a total mess, with curtains ripped, water spilt and furniture destroyed. Sarah sees her cats (pretending to be) injured and decides the only way to fix this dangerous dog is to put a muzzle on her. Whilst at the pet store, Lady is scared and runs away, still with the muzzle and lead attached, almost getting runover by cars and wagons, and then finding herself in an alley, where dogs try to attack her. Luckily, Tramp arrives to save her, and sneaks her into the zoo to find an animal to remove the muzzle for her. After an alligator almost bites Lady’s head off, they settle for a beaver, who is sold on the muzzle being used as a log-pulling device for his work-in-progress dam.
After this, Tramp tells Lady that he doesn’t have just one family, but multiple ones who he visits for dinner on different days during the week, getting a new cuisine each day. Which reminds him that it’s time for dinner. Tramp takes Lady to Tony’s restaurant, where the owner, Tony, and chef Joe, make a fuss of the couple who are on their first date, feeding them spaghetti and meatballs and singing a romantic song for them, “Bella Notte”. The two continue their evening in the park, settling down for the night. The next morning, Lady is anxious that she didn’t return home last night. Tramp wants her to trade in that domestic life for one of freedom and adventure with him, but she wants to go home to look after the baby. On the way, though, Tramp decides he wants to chase chickens from a farmer’s coop. Lady doesn’t, but Tramp sets about it anyway, making the farmer mad, who starts shooting at them. Tramp and Lady run, but Lady is caught by the dog catcher and taken to the pound.
At the pound, Lady is teased by the stray dogs for her license, with Peg, a Pekingese dog, and Boris, a Russian hunting dog, leaping to her defence, saying she’ll be on her way home soon and that the others are just jealous. They live in fear of the day they must take “the long walk”. We see a shadow of a human leading a dog down the corridor, presumably on his way to be “put down”…Then, the strays mention knowing Tramp, telling Lady that he has a weakness for the ladies, and listing off his numerous girlfriends. Lady is annoyed, but is picked up by Aunt Sarah to go home before she can find out anymore. Sarah chains Lady up in the doghouse in the garden as punishment for running off. Jock and Trusty come over and offer to marry her so she can leave this abusive house. She declines, just as Tramp arrives. Lady talks with him, telling him she knows about “Trixie and Fifi and all the others”, and that she doesn’t want to see him again. Tramp reluctantly leaves. Lady then sees a black rat climbing up into the house, sneaking in through the window in the baby’s room. Lady barks to try and stop it but it doesn’t. Tramp comes back to help her, and rushes into the house to fight this rat. Lady manages to break her chain and comes to his aid. The rat is killed by Tramp, however, in the chaos, the baby’s crib is overturned. Sarah believes they tried to attack the baby, and Tramp is taken to the pound.
At this moment, Jim Dear and Darling return, releasing Lady from the cellar, who shows them the rat that tried to attacked the baby. Jock and Trusty overhear this and follow the dog catcher’s wagon to save Tramp, who they were wrong about. Jim Dear and Lady follow. Trusty and Jock try to get the wagon to stop, but spook the horses and the wagon tips, with Trusty hit by one of the wheels. He lies motionless on the ground…The movie ends at Christmas, with Tramp now a member of the family, and him and Lady having had a litter of four puppies, three girls like Lady, and one boy like Tramp. The dogs get on well with the baby. Then, they see some visitors walking up the path – Jock, in a tartan waistcoat, and Trusty, who just has an injured leg from the incident. The film ends with all of them celebrating together.
CHARACTERS & CAST
The “Juliet” character in Lady and the Tramp is Lady, the pampered, golden cocker spaniel who lives on one of the most upmarket streets in town. Because of this background, she is quite naïve and is scared of the world around her whenever she leaves her comfy house. Lady is a caring dog though, and very protective of her owners, and their new born baby when it comes along. She even tries to fight a huge evil rat to save it, and not forgetting the mischievous cats who want to eat and destroy anything in their sights! Unfortunately, I find Lady a bit one-sided, which is why Tramp was a necessary character to come into the movie, but I think she’s just a bit too sweet, and a bit too naïve, that I start to find her annoying after a while! Though I do like her opening sequence with Jim Dear and Darling, both as a puppy, because she’s so cute as a puppy, and as she’s older doing her “normal routine”. But as the movie progresses, I don’t find her particularly interesting. Barbara Luddy voices Lady, with Lady and the Tramp being Luddy’s first Disney voice credit, although she would later voice characters in subsequent Disney animated features, including Merryweather, in Sleeping Beauty (1959) and Kanga in the Winnie the Pooh series.
Tramp, therefore, is the roguish “Romeo” character. He lives a very different life to Lady, having to fend for himself most of the time, scavenging and begging for food, and having to dodge the dog catcher frequently. He’s a loyal friend to his fellow strays, risking himself to free them from the pound in one section. Tramp also tells it like it is, not wanting to sugar-coat the potential fallout that Lady could experience from this new baby coming into her cosy life, whether that makes him unpopular or not. And, despite the fact I hate Tramp’s pet name for Lady – “pigeon”, come on, really? – he does genuinely care about her. So, of the two, I find Tramp the most interesting; he’s the lovable bad boy, who turns good after meeting his perfect girl – that’s the foundation that most romcoms are built on! Tramp is voiced by Larry Roberts. He had been active in the Hollywood theatre scene, but retired from show business altogether in the 1950s. Lady and the Tramp was his only film credit. Walt Disney settled on the name of “Tramp”; the character had been called Homer, Rags, and Bozo before that. Walt Disney went with it against the objections of the majority of the team who felt the word had negative connotations attached to it. The live-action reference model for Tramp was spotted on story artist Erdman Penner’s way home. He found the dog in a local pound a few hours later, and rescued the dog. Everyone agreed he had the right look for Tramp – though they were later shocked to find it was a female dog! The dog then lived out the rest of her days at Disneyland’s Pony Farm with the Popes, who managed the Disneyland horses.
Then, there are Jock and Trusty, Lady’s neighbour friends. Jock and Trusty are quite protective of Lady, who feel like Lady is being led astray by Tramp, and being neglected at home. I like the first scene where we are introduced to them, especially Jock’s song where he’s singing about burying his “bonnie bones”, because he’s a Scottie dog, so naturally he has a strong Scottish accent! Trusty is a sweet, old dog, who we are led to believe has lost his sense of smell, though he still likes to track and hunt things. He shows everyone they’re wrong at the end of the movie though, when he follows that dog catcher wagon! I like these two; it’s a shame they don’t feature in the movie much. Jock is voiced by Bill Thompson, a veteran Disney voice artist who had also voiced the characters of Scrooge McDuck, and Mr. Smee in Peter Pan (1953). Thompson also voiced Bull the English bulldog, and Dachsie the dachshund, in the pound. Trusty is voiced by Bill Baucom.
There are multiple other dogs in the scene at the pound, with Pedro, Boris and Peg being the other “main ones”. Peg was originally going to be called Mame, as she has a big fringe, like President Eisenhower’s wife, Mamie. However, they felt this could be offensive so they named her after Peggy Lee, her voice artist, instead. Eric Larson had a great time animating Peg, as Peggy Lee was a big inspiration to the animation of the character. Pedro, a Chihuahua, and Toughy, a stray mutt with a Brooklyn accent, are voiced by Dallas McKennon, who is also the voice of Benjamin Franklin in The American Adventure show at Epcot in Orlando. Boris is a Borzoi, or Russian Hunting Sighthound, who naturally sounds incredibly Russian! Boris was going to have a much bigger role in Lady and the Tramp at one point, as him and “Homer”, the character that would later become Tramp as we know him, would’ve been neighbours, with them both fighting for Lady’s attention. Boris was a show-off, narcissistic dog, who couldn’t stop talking about himself, which was off-putting to Lady! Alan Reed, the original voice of Fred Flintstone, voices Boris. It’s a shame that we don’t see more of these dogs in the pound, because I feel like they would’ve been able to be funnier if they’d had more screen time; they seem like a random addition or afterthought.
For the remaining characters, one is Aunt Sarah. She already doesn’t like Lady before she even gets into the house, and keeps Lady outside for most of the time. I don’t think she is meant to be evil or mean-spirited; she’s just trying to do her job as the babysitter, after all, and I think she is generally upset when she realises Lady and Tramp were trying to save the baby from a rat at the end, knowing she’s got things all wrong. I don’t think she is forgiven by Jim Dear and Darling, as she is noticeably absent from the Christmas celebrations… Disney veteran voice artist Verna Felton voices Aunt Sarah. She had previously been the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella (1950), and the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland (1951). She would also voice Flora to Luddy’s Merryweather a few years later for Sleeping Beauty (1959). Felton’s son, Lee Carson Millar Jr., voices Jim Dear, with Peggy Lee voicing Darling. They are a well-meaning couple, who naturally become distracted by their new baby, and accidentally forget Lady at times, though they come together at the end[2].
One other character that I like is the beaver at the zoo. It’s a fun scene, one of the few others I like, where the beaver is being sold Lady’s muzzle as a log puller. The beaver is easily persuaded, and removes the muzzle so he can use it, even offering to pay, but is given it as a free sample. Walt Disney wanted the beaver to have a lispy, whistling sound to his voice. Stan Freberg, the voice artist, couldn’t quite do the whistle at all the right points, so held a whistle under his lips whilst recording his lines to make just the right noise!
PRODUCTION
The story used for Lady and the Tramp was an original story idea, with the first iteration of it being considered in 1937. Story artist Joe Grant came up with the first idea, being inspired by his own dog, a springer spaniel, named Lady Nell the Second. She had championship credentials but was not suited to the dog show business life so became a domesticated pet. When Grant and his wife had their first baby, they found that Lady was a good nanny and looked after the baby. This gave Grant story ideas and situations for the movie. This version of the story involved Lady being a pet to “Mister Fred” and “Missis”, with the baby already being six months old. The grandmother came to stay with her two Siamese cats, leaving Lady to protect the canary, Trilby, from being eaten by them. Lady was blamed for attacking the baby and was put out in the rain. Mister Fred later found pieces of lace and ribbons in the cats’ claws, and realised that it was them that had done the damage. The grandmother and her cats left the house, and Lady was welcomed back in[3].
Walt Disney did not like this idea. He thought Lady was the issue, as she was just a charming, sweet dog, with nothing much to her, and with little to no conflict for the story to take off. It was put on hold. This could’ve been the end to the whole thing, as so many stories end up being put on hold and destined to fade away. That would seem to have been the likeliest fate for Grant’s story, as World War II began just a couple of years later, with Disney resources then being devoted to making war effort training films for the government. After the war, society changed quickly, and television became the new exciting form of entertainment, leaving filmmakers unsure where this left them[4]. In the mid-1940s, Walt Disney was inspired by a short story he’d read in Cosmopolitan magazine, when it was a literary magazine, called “Happy Dan, the Whistling Dog”, which was published in 1943. Walt met with the writer, Ward Greene, to discuss his story, and specifically the main canine character, further. Walt wanted to combine this carefree dog with the delicate, lady-like spaniel from Grant’s original version of the story. The main bulk of the storyline was worked through, with Greene publishing the first edition novel in 1953 with the title: “Lady and the Tramp: The Story of Two Dogs”. It included illustrations from Disney story man Joe Rinaldi. The novel was published prior to the movie being completed so that audiences could become familiar with the story before the film’s release, as many of the animated films that had come earlier were based on known children’s books or fairy-tales. Despite using elements from Joe Grant’s original story idea, Ward Greene is credited as the sole writer. Joe Grant left the studio in 1949, though he would return in the 1989, and contribute to many of the Disney “Renaissance” films.
There were many changes to the movie during its production. One of the biggest ones is that Trusty was meant to die after being crushed by the dog catcher’s wagon. Walt Disney had been considering whether the scene was too intense, as he was not wanting to receive the backlash he had received when Bambi’s mother died in Bambi (1942). Walt was also influenced by Peggy Lee who said that people would be devasted if Trusty died, meaning that he was added into the final Christmas scene at the end of the movie as a surprise “twist”. There was going to be a sequence reminiscent of “Pink Elephants on Parade” from Dumbo (1941), with Lady having a nightmare where baby booties continued to multiply around her. She would then wake up to find the baby had been born. There were some minor changes as well, such as Aunt Sarah’s cats being named Si and Am instead of Nip and Tuck; Jim Dear and Darling becoming the new names of Lady’s owners, based on what she would hear them being called instead of their actual, full names; and Aunt Sarah being less of an evil character.
One change that many people will be glad to see did not happen was the iconic spaghetti-eating scene. Walt didn’t like it and wanted to cut the whole scene, as he felt it was awkward and unromantic. Disney veteran artist Frank Thomas was determined to win Walt over with this scene, and spent a lot of time looking at dogs eating spaghetti, sketching how it could look, and how it would work. Walt must have been convinced because it stayed, and is one of the most recognisable, iconic scenes in any Disney animated movie[5].
Another aspect of Lady and the Tramp’s initial story that is disputed is the legend of whether Walt Disney actually gave his wife a puppy for Christmas, disguising it in a hat box. Some people don’t believe it to be true, believing this “spark” for the movie was used as a story-telling device for interviews and not based in fact; others have mixed up elements of the story so it isn’t recounted consistently. Walt Disney himself stated that he’d always wanted a dog, however his wife, Lillian, was reluctant to have one, especially as dogs can shed hair everywhere. Walt did some research and found that Chows do not shed so much, so he bought a Chow puppy a few weeks before Christmas, keeping it hidden from Lillian, until Christmas Day when he put the puppy into a hat box, and tied a ribbon around it. Lillian was annoyed, as she believed the present to be a hat, and didn’t like anyone buying her hats, but luckily, it was the Chow puppy and Lillian loved it, naming it Sunnee[6]. I believe this story to be true, and as it happened so many years before the movie was even in production, that it is not only factual, but clearly helped Walt with situational ideas for the movie, with the whole opening sequence referencing the Christmas present to Lillian.
The inspiration from the movie is taken partly from Walt’s childhood in Marceline, Missouri. Lady and the Tramp was released at a time of big societal and political changes in the 1950s, so this gave audiences an opportunity to almost long for the simpler times. Disney wanted to make Lady and the Tramp so full of detail of the bygone era of turn-of-the-century America that it evoked nostalgia in people, and would get people interested in it for that “Americana” feeling. Disney also tried the new “big thing” for movie theatres: CinemaScope. This meant that backgrounds needed to be stretched to fill this new widescreen layout, with characters being spread out to fill space, and additional details being added to backgrounds, giving them more chance to experiment with the larger canvas. The only problem was not every theatre had CinemaScope so Disney actually had to make two versions of the movie to cover all bases! The CinemaScope format only lasted from 1953 to 1967.
MUSIC
The music played an important part in Lady and the Tramp, as it had to tell the story and work well with the animation, without overpowering it. The background score was composed by English composer Oliver Wallace, with songs being written by Sonny Burke and Peggy Lee. Lee performs three of the songs, and voices four characters in the movie: Si, Am, Peg, and Darling. She was very pleased to work with Burke and Disney on the movie. There is also a small performance by The Mellomen, who perform as the dog quartet in the pound. It’s fascinating to think of humans howling like dogs, and keeping it all in key but it gets a bit annoying after a while! The Mellomen were used by Disney for both film soundtracks, like Peter Pan (1953), as pirates and Indians, as well as Disney theme park attractions, such as the “singing busts” in The Haunted Mansion.
Oliver Wallace joined Disney in the 1930s, and composed the score for Dumbo (1941), for which he won the Oscar for Best Original Score. He worked with Disney for many years, doing the film scores for many of the Disney animated films that came after that, with Lady and the Tramp being his last one, though he would still score some of Disney’s live-action movies until his death in 1963. I really like the score for Lady and the Tramp, particularly the music that plays during the first fifteen or so minutes of the film, as it’s bouncy and joyful, matching the optimism of a dog’s life being full of possibility and no worries. The dramatic music at the end really helps build tension for the scene of them trying to rescue Tramp too. Wallace gave a nod to Victorian era and marching band music in this score, to match the setting and sentimental feel of the movie[7].
As for the songs, I am not a big fan of any of them, other than “Bella Notte”, though I only like when Joe and Tony sing it; I don’t like the whispery choir that sings it afterwards during the evening in the park scene! The other songs that Lee and Burke co-wrote were “Peace on Earth”, which plays during the opening sequence. I find it kind of haunting, which I don’t like because this is meant to be a happy scene; and “He’s a Tramp”, which is performed by Peggy Lee, as the burlesque “Dog and Pony Follies” former show dog Peg. It’s not a terrible song, as it is quite catchy but it’s a bit too burlesque-like for an animated movie, I think, so it feels a bit awkward to watch. “The Siamese Cat Song” is another one that is kind of awkward to watch these days, due to its stereotypical undertones. It’s not a great song, anyway, not really doing anything for the film; it’s just a comic way of introducing the two cats, who don’t even feature much! Lee enjoyed working on it though, and had a lot of freedom with how the cats would sound, and what sound effects could be used, choosing a mixture of bells, chimes and cymbals to accompany the music. Then there’s “La La Lu”, the lullaby that Darling sings, which is currently being used in a John Lewis advert in the UK. It’s alright, but it’s a bit grating after a while, for me!
Peggy Lee would sue Disney in 1988 over Lady and the Tramp for due royalties. She was embarrassed during an interview in 1987, when she realised that Disney had allowed Robie Lester to cover her song, “The Siamese Cat Song”, and change some of the lyrics. After a lengthy legal battle, the case was settled in 1991, with Lee winning $2.3 million, but the case did Lee no favours with her already frail health. She was not happy with the outcome and planned to write a book about the incident, but never did. Lee died in 2002.
RECEPTION
Lady and the Tramp was released in June 1955, one month before Walt’s dream theme park Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California. Some of the setting for the movie turned out to be inspiration for some of the Main Street, U.S.A, area of Disneyland, due in part to some of the film’s animators pulling in to help finish the park. Lady and the Tramp took four years and $4 million dollars to make. This was a huge amount of money considering that the Disney company were also building Disneyland at this time[8]. The movie received mixed reviews, with one review from The New York Times stating that the movie was “sentimental”, detailing a “conventional romance”, with nothing surprising. They found some scenes amusing, such as the burlesque-like dogs, and the funny Siamese cats, as well as appreciating the music in the movie. However, it did also state that the CinemaScope view of the movie magnified flaws in the animation[9]. Other reviews were more positive, saying that the characters were well-done, including the multiple different dialogues and accents, and that the artistic approach was beautiful. Walt Disney won one award for the movie, Best Foreign Producer at the David di Donatello awards in 1956, and received a BAFTA award nomination for Best Animated Film that same year, but got no “Oscar nods”.
LEGACY
As well as the movie inspiring architecture at Disneyland, and the theme parks that would follow, Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, themed to Lady and the Tramp and serving Italian fare, exists at Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World, within Main Street, U.S.A, and the town square. There are also two pairs of paw prints pressed into the cement around the restaurant, which is a nod to the scene of Lady and Tramp doing this during their evening in the park. You can also find topiaries of the two leading canines at the Italy Pavilion in Epcot during the annual Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival. At Disneyland Paris, you can eat at Pizzeria Bella Notte, a quick service restaurant also serving Italian fare, and themed to Lady and the Tramp.
Lady and the Tramp was “lucky enough” to receive a live-action/CGI remake adaptation, which I have not, and will not watch, but if you liked it, then fair enough! There are too many of these remakes, and I don’t think they ever improve on the original, however, the live-action remake in this case, Lady and the Tramp (2019), did go some way to dealing with some issues that have not aged particularly well from the original movie. This includes the removal of the stereotypical accents of the animals, including Si and Am who were replaced as two Devon Rex cats, with the song changed. The film is set in New Orleans, and includes a more diverse cast. It was released exclusively on Disney’s streaming service, Disney+, on 12th November 2019[10]. There was also a direct-to-video sequel released in 2001 titled Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure, which follows Lady and Tramp’s son, who we see at the end of the original movie. Scamp runs away from home to join a pack of stray dogs called the “Junkyard Dogs”. I vaguely remember watching this and I think I liked it, but I can’t recall most of the plot!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Nowadays, Lady and the Tramp is a beloved classic for many. For me, I still don’t enjoy watching Lady and the Tramp, and wouldn’t choose to watch it. I think it’s quite boring in places, and doesn’t really get particularly deep into a story; it’s mostly just different situations and sequences put together to make a feature-length film. But I know plenty of people like it, and it has some particularly iconic scenes and moments that stick with viewers. There are some sequences that I like, and I agree that the world would be a much less romantic place if it weren’t for that well-loved moment of Lady and Tramp accidentally sharing a kiss over a plate of spaghetti and meatballs!
As the movie states after the opening credits, a quote by Josh Billings: “so it is to all dogs – be they ladies or tramps that this picture is respectfully dedicated.” Lady and the Tramp is a story of love, both romantic and familial, and shows us just how important our pets are to us, and we are to them, especially the bond between humans and dogs.
But please remember, dogs are for life – not just for Christmas!
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Jim Fanning, The Disney Book: A Celebration of the World of Disney (2016), ‘Cache of Classics’, p. 73.
[2] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Volume 3 (2014), ‘Lady and the Tramp’, pp. 87-95.
[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Volume 3 (2014), ‘Lady and the Tramp’, pp. 87-95.
[4] Credit: Frank Teurlay, ‘Recap: Lady and the Tramp – A Technical Triumph’, The Walt Disney Family Museum (online), 28th May 2014.
[5] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Volume 3 (2014), ‘Lady and the Tramp’, pp. 87-95.
[6] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Volume 7 Christmas Edition (2018), ‘Walt’s Christmas Puppy’, pp. 23-25.
[7] Credit: Disney, Lady’s Pedigree: The Making of Lady and the Tramp (2006).
[8] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Volume 3 (2014), ‘Lady and the Tramp’, pp. 87-95.
[9] Credit: Bosley Crowther, ‘Screen: Dogs and Lovers; Disney’s ‘Lady and the Tramp’ at Roxy’, The New York Times Archives (online), 24th June 1955.
[10] Credit: Monica Castillo, ‘Lady and the Tramp’, RogerEbert.com (online), 11th November 2019.
The Disney Purist 