7th Apr 20231st Oct 2025 by The Disney Purist

#15 Lady and the Tramp (1955)

BACKGROUND

The 1950s were 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 17^th July 1955, just one month after 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 with.

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 voiced 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 was 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 was 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 was 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, voiced 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 voiced 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 a few years later for Sleeping Beauty (1959). Felton’s son, Lee Carson Millar Jr., voiced 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 and ending sequences. 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 was 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 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 good, 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.

Clips from the movie may also be seen in certain nighttime shows at the Disney Parks, including World of Color: Season of Light, the holiday version of World of Color at Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort; Wondrous Journeys at Disneyland; and Wonderful World of Animation at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World. “Bella Notte” is also a featured song in The Golden Mickeys show on certain ships of the Disney Cruise Line. You should also be able to find some pieces of merchandise related to Lady and the Tramp, such as clothing, soft toys, and accessories.

Lady and the Tramp was “lucky enough” to receive a live-action/CGI remake adaptation. 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 12^th 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), 28^th 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), 24^th June 1955.

[10] Credit: Monica Castillo, ‘Lady and the Tramp’, RogerEbert.com (online), 11^th November 2019.

31st Mar 20232nd Oct 2025 by The Disney Purist

#42 Lilo & Stitch (2002)

BACKGROUND

It all started with …Stitch?

When Lilo & Stitch was released in 2002, many people fell in love with that little blue alien, who is both cute and fluffy. Stitch was so popular he got himself a whole fictional backstory of his time as an “extra” in Disney Animation before getting his “big break”; his own attractions; and a whole range of merchandise items, as well as multiple meet-and-greet locations and spots in parades and shows at the Disney theme parks.

Lilo & Stitch was released between two major flops for Disney Animation: Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and Treasure Planet (2002). During this time, Disney Animation was struggling against strong competition and a lack of direction. So, it was a huge surprise to everyone that the low-budget, left-alone, little-anticipated movie of Lilo & Stitch did so well. It managed to succeed critically, and commercially, and is still fondly remembered, having triumphed over the other animated features that came out in the 2000s.

I didn’t used to like Lilo & Stitch at all. I didn’t like Stitch much. I thought he was disgusting and gross – his chilli dog burp in Stitch’s Great Escape still haunts me – and I thought Lilo was quite bratty. It wasn’t until I was much older that I fully understood the main family plotline, of Lilo being brought up by her sister, Nani, and the risk of her being taken away by Social Services. Once I understood that, I found I liked the film a whole lot more, and could connect with the characters, by understanding their troubles.

PLOT

The movie starts off at a criminal trial in space. Dr. Jumba Jookiba is accused of illegal genetic experimentation, actually creating something – the evil, naughty, disgusting Experiment 626. Jumba is sentenced to prison, and Experiment 626 is to be exiled to an isolated asteroid, but before he can be transported there, he escapes, taking a red police cruiser, which eventually crash lands on Earth. The United Galactic Federation had hoped he’d land in the ocean as the creature cannot survive in water, but manages to land on one of the Hawaiian Islands, Kauai. Jumba is released from prison and sent to Earth to recapture Stitch, along with Agent Pleakley.

In Hawaii, we meet a little girl called Lilo, who struggles to fit in with her classmates, and generally misbehaves often. Lilo is cared for by her older sister, Nani, as both their parents have recently died, however, Nani struggles to juggle work, home, and care responsibilities, meaning that the two are on the radar of Social Services. Social Worker Mr. Bubbles has been assigned to them. Their first meeting does not go well, as Lilo has gone home alone and locked all the doors, so Nani has to climb in through a back window to open the door to Mr. Bubbles. He is not impressed and Nani is given three days to turn things around. Lilo and Nani fight, but make up later, where Nani secretly hears Lilo wishing for a friend. Nani decides to take Lilo to the local dog shelter the next morning. Meanwhile, Stitch has crash-landed on this strange island, and is run over by multiple trucks. The drivers take him to the local dog shelter for medical attention.

Lilo and Nani arrive at the shelter, where Lilo is told to pick out a dog. She stumbles across Stitch, a strange-looking blue “dog”, and instantly feels a connection to him. The shelter owner and Nani want her to choose a different one, as this one not only looks weird, but acts strangely. Lilo refuses to choose anyone else, and officially now owns the creature, which she names Stitch. Soon, Lilo realises that Stitch is very bad and destructive. Stitch doesn’t want to be a pet, but has to use Lilo and Nani as protection against Jumba and Pleakley who are watching, waiting to capture him. Stitch ends up attacking Pleakley and Jumba whilst at a luau dinner show with Lilo, waiting for Nani to finish her shift as a waitress. Nani is promptly fired for the incident and now must rush to get a new job on Bubbles’ orders, with Lilo being told to make Stitch into a “model citizen”. He is destructive and continues to break things in the house, but feels some sort of affiliation with the story of “The Ugly Duckling”, who feels lost and like he doesn’t belong – as Stitch does.

The next day, Lilo tries to teach Stitch to be like her idol, Elvis Presley, while Nani desperately searches for a job. Just when things are looking up at the beach, with Nani close to getting a lifeguard position, and Lilo organising a show for Stitch to play some Elvis music, the attention he receives causes Stitch to go crazy, and he attacks people, and destroys more public property. To cheer them up, Nani’s friend, David, arrives and takes them surfing. The good vibes are promptly spoiled by Jumba and Pleakley grabbing Stitch underwater, who drags Lilo down accidentally. Nani swims down to rescue her, with David having to go back in to save Stitch. Everyone is ok; however, Mr. Bubbles has witnessed the whole day’s events, and tells Nani he will be taking Lilo into care tomorrow morning. Nani and Lilo have a heartfelt discussion that evening, with Lilo admitting that she’d hoped Stitch would become a part of their family. Stitch leaves, wanting to cause no more damage, settling in the woods.

The following morning, Stitch is found by Jumba, and runs to Lilo for help, where she is alone at the house, with Nani going with David to try to secure a job in town. Jumba and Pleakley enter the house and Jumba and Stitch fight, destroying everything, with an exploding plasma gun leaving the whole house obliterated. Lilo is put into Bubbles’ car on his arrival at the house, with Nani pleading with him not to take her away. Lilo, upset, runs out of the car into the woods. Stitch follows her, to return one of the few unharmed items from the house – the last photo she has of her parents. Suddenly, Gantu, part of the Galactic Federation who has been sent here to finish the job that Jumba and Pleakley are clearly not capable of, captures both Lilo and Stitch, putting them into a container at the back of his ship. As the ship is about to depart, Stitch manages to crawl out of the container, leaving Lilo behind. Nani shouts for the ship to stop, but it departs, leaving Nani to ask Stitch for information on where Lilo has gone. Jumba finally captures Stitch before he can tell Nani anything. She pleads with all three of them to help her. They won’t do it. Stitch then says the word “’ohana” to Nani, who is perplexed that he understands the meaning of ’ohana and family, but it shows that he will find Lilo. Stitch easily convinces Jumba to help.

They fly off in Jumba’s red spaceship, including Nani, who is incredibly confused by this whole situation, and catch up to Gantu, who now realises Stitch has escaped. A chase ensues, through mountains and valleys, until Stitch can jump on to Gantu’s ship. He is pushed off, back to the mainland, where he commandeers a gas truck, driving it into one of the nearby volcanoes to set off an explosion to blast him back up into the air. Stitch crashes through Gantu’s windscreen, and throws him out, though he is caught by Jumba’s ship. Stitch breaks the container, releasing Lilo. Gantu’s ship explodes, and Stitch and Lilo land onto Jumba’s ship, with it landing safely in the ocean, and David giving them a ride to shore on his surfboard! Stitch is arrested by the Grand Councilwoman of the Galactic Federation. Mr. Bubbles, who is actually a former CIA agent and has met the Grand Councilwoman before (Roswell, 1973), has come to witness this, and prompts Lilo to tell the Grand Councilwoman that she paid for Stitch. Lilo shows the paperwork and says she cannot take Stitch away, otherwise it’s stealing. The Grand Councilwoman is pleased by this turn of events, and sentences Stitch to “exile” on this planet, with Lilo and Nani; the family is now under the protection of the Galactic Federation and Bubbles. The movie ends happily with them rebuilding Lilo and Nani’s house, and shows how the family has adjusted to daily life.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Stitch is one half of the titular characters, obviously. He’s gross, disgusting, poorly behaved, with bad manners, and a sole purpose to be destructive and “evil”. He was made to destroy cities, and cause general chaos. Something he doesn’t manage to achieve much of in Hawaii. He is a strange-looking, weird, blue alien-type thing, with antennae, back spines, and six limbs. When Lilo is looking for dogs at the pet shelter, Stitch manages to retract his antennae, spines and two limbs to look more like a dog – using inspiration from a poster on the wall of a dog hugging a little girl. Originally, Stitch was going to be a green alien, but the team at Disney decided that was too “out there”, so they started to make Stitch grey, to make him seem a bit like a cross between a koala and a dog, before making him bluer, partly because some of the dogs in Lady and the Tramp (1955) were a kind of slate blue, so it wouldn’t be such a stretch for a dog to be that colour. Supervising Animator Alex Kupershmidt added in different movements for the character of Stitch, so he could be creepy, with insect-like movements, or cute, with pet-like ones[1].

Stitch doesn’t talk at the start of the movie, and the plan was for him not to talk at all, however, the team decided that by letting him speak some English, small phrases or words here or there, it would show him integrating with humans and becoming comfortable with his new family. His monologue at the end about ‘ohana is one of the main reasons that he is released, as it shows that he has learnt how to adapt to a family, and has begun to mend his “evil ways”. Stitch feels like he belongs now, and by saving Lilo from Gantu, putting himself at risk, he learnt the true meaning of ‘ohana[2]. Stitch’s voice artist was in fact the movie’s director, Chris Sanders. He was inspired by the silly high-pitched voice he’d use to annoy work colleagues, and added in strange animal noises and sounds for Stitch’s “temp track”. When Stitch was given some dialogue, Sanders continued to provide that too, as everyone had gotten used to the voice. Plus, they felt it would be awkward to ask an actual actor to sound like Stitch![3]

For the character of Lilo, the team knew they needed someone who could sound sweet, but also be able to tap into the darker emotions that Lilo has. Lilo is a complicated character. She is struggling with the death of her parents, and the upheaval that has come with it; she doesn’t know whether to see her sister as just her sister or as her guardian now; she doesn’t get on with her classmates, and lashes out with frustration at not belonging, leading to her attacking and biting one of the girls, Mertle, which further outcasts her from the group; and she is just generally feeling confused and lonely. It’s a lot of emotions for one little girl to have!

After many casting calls, Daveigh Chase was chosen to voice Lilo as she was able to give a haunting quality to the character, along with a really dry demeanour. She gave such a strong performance, whether that was being over-excited about things, or having to be really down and depressed. I particularly like Lilo’s line where she is putting spoons into pickle juice for some sort of voodoo ritual and just says matter-of-factly but in a creepy sort of way: “My friends need to be punished”. Daveigh Chase, in the same year as Lilo & Stitch, would star in the supernatural horror movie The Ring (2002). For her role as Lilo, Chase won the Annie Award for Outstanding Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production, and a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role: Age 10 or Under. After Lilo & Stitch, Chase went on to be cast as Joyce in the Fox sitcom Oliver Beene (2003-04) and as Rhonda Volmer in the HBO drama Big Love (2006-11).

Nani is Lilo’s older sister, and now guardian. She has to juggle so many things at once, with keeping Social Services at bay being the main priority in her mind, because, as much as her and Lilo fight and argue, they are the only family each of them has, and there’s no way they could be separated. It’s difficult to remember at times that Nani is only nineteen years old because she has so much responsibility that she has to deal with.

Actress and singer Tia Carrere was chosen to voice Nani, and, as she grew up in Hawaii, she was asked to look over her lines and add in any colloquialisms that she felt would enhance the authenticity of her character, as well as being asked for specific examples of what she or Nani might say. For example, Carrere was asked what would she say if somebody hit her with a car, and she said “stupid head”, which was included in the movie, as well as the phrase “lolo”. Carrere has had roles in movies such as True Lies (1995), and was also a participant in the second series of Dancing with the Stars (2005-present). As a singer, she has won two Grammy Awards for Best Hawaiian Music Album; in 2008 for Ikena, and in 2010 for Huana Ke Aloha. I love Nani; she’s hilarious and probably my favourite character, along with her friend and love interest, David. They’re great together.

David loves to surf and is a fire dancer at the luau dinner show where Nani used to work. He cares a lot about Nani: he tells Nani about a job towards the end of the movie, treats Lilo like his own little sister, and tries to help the two of them stay together as much as he can. Lilo tells David at one point that, from reading Nani’s diary, she learnt that Nani thinks he has “a nice butt and fancy hair”, to which David is clearly pleased! He’s a bit goofy at times, but he’s a perfect fit for Nani, and Lilo. Tia Carrere actually suggested Jason Scott Lee for the role of David, as he was also raised in Hawaii, so he would comment on the script as well, adding to it, to make it sound more local and real. Jason Scott Lee played the role of Mowgli in the 1994 live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book, and the part of Böri Khan in Disney’s 2020 remake of Mulan. Recently, Jason Scott Lee played the role of Benny, Doogie/Lahela’s father, in the Disney TV series Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. (2021-23).

To round out the main human characters, we have Mr. Cobra Bubbles, a tough-looking Social Worker, who catches everyone off guard. He’s very intimidating and doesn’t give anybody an inch. At first, he was going to be a skinny, nerdy-looking, nervous guy from the mainland; a typical civil servant type, with Jeff Goldblum being approached for the role. However, it was decided that actually, in order to keep Lilo from walking all over this person, they had to go in the opposite direction. That’s when they decided that Ving Rhames, with inspiration from his role as Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction (1994), would be the best fit. He was intimidating, even to the directors, and no-nonsense, but he worked well and did a great job with the character[4]. For me, I didn’t think he was just one sided. Sure, he was kind of menacing, but actually, towards the end, you do get the sense that he has emotions and doesn’t want to split up this family. Rhames is also known for his role as Luther Stickell in the Mission: Impossible film series, and voiced the character Thunderbolt in the critically acclaimed DreamWorks Animation movie The Wild Robot (2024).

The aliens of Pleakley and Jumba in Lilo & Stitch are, quite clearly, the comedic relief. Pleakley is an agent of the Galactic Federation, and Jumba is the convicted mad scientist. Pleakley is very “by the book” and Jumba is crazy and impulsive, wanting to do things his way. If it weren’t for Pleakley and his belief that humans are a necessary part of the plan to revitalise the mosquito population on Earth (something Bubbles convinced him of years before, we learn), Jumba would’ve obliterated everything and anyone who got in his way of capturing Stitch. They have some great scenes together. I particularly like the luau scene, all of it really, including Stitch eating the cake and then spitting it back out again, but particularly when Nani is concerned that Pleakley, dressed as a female guest, looks really swollen after Stitch tried to bite his head off, and Jumba replies: “Actually, she’s just ugly”. They are a great comedic duo together, and the movie wouldn’t be the same without them.

Jumba was voiced by David Ogden Stiers, of M*A*S*H (1977-1983) fame, playing Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, as well as of Disney fame, voicing characters such as Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast (1991), and Governor Ratcliffe in Pocahontas (1995). He sadly passed away in 2018. Kevin McDonald voiced Agent Pleakley. He is known for being a part of Canadian comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall.

Finally, we have the evil Captain Gantu and the Grand Councilwoman. Gantu will stop at nothing to destroy Stitch, though he fails and ends up looking incompetent so many times, as he even “allows” Stitch to escape en route to his banishment asteroid. Gantu was voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, best known for his voice work, where he has voiced characters in numerous series and franchises, including Transformers; The Simpsons (1989-present); Family Guy (1999-present); and American Dad! (2005-25). More recently, he also voiced characters in animated movies, like The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) where he voiced Kamek, and the Trolls franchise, where he voiced Mr. Dinkles.

The Grand Councilwoman is very proper and matter-of-fact, however, when she releases Stitch to Lilo at the end of the movie, we see that she does have a heart and doesn’t want to separate this family either. The Grand Councilwoman was voiced by Zoe Caldwell was a four-time Tony Award winner known for her theatre work, winning her awards for roles such as Jean Brodie in the 1968 Broadway performance of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and the title role of the 1982 Broadway performance of Medea. She also appeared in numerous Shakespeare plays during her career. Caldwell died in February 2020.

PRODUCTION

Lilo & Stitch turned out to be a much deeper movie than what audiences had been used to from Disney. Lilo & Stitch represents a problem in society, of the constant scrutiny from Social Services despite trying to do your best by your family, as well as pushing forward the idea of non-conventional families being just as important and just as solid as nuclear ones. It also shows a real sisterhood between Lilo and Nani, with all the love and messy moments that come with it. It’s important to remember that these two existed a decade before Anna and Elsa, so Disney did make strong, real female characters before 2013!

Lilo & Stitch was based on a children’s book written by Chris Sanders, the movie’s director, in the 1980s. It was an original idea that was meant to be set in the forests, with a strange alien-being interacting with these woodland creatures that wouldn’t want anything to do with him. The book was never published, but Sanders kept the idea in mind for the future.

The book was not published, however, when President of Walt Disney Feature Animation Thomas Schumacher asked for new ideas for movies after Mulan (1998) had wrapped, Sanders decided to pitch his idea. Schumacher liked the idea but felt that it would be better if the alien interacted with the human world instead of with animals, yet still somewhere remote. They thought about Kansas, but Sanders then thought to base the movie in Hawaii instead, especially as it was remote and rural enough a setting for the alien to avoid detection. Sanders brought in Dean DeBlois who had worked with him on Mulan to co-direct. They were mostly left alone to figure out the movie, but were told that they would have to work at the Florida Studio where Mulan had been animated. DeBlois was reluctant as he’d had a miserable time there with the packed schedule, so wanted Sanders to agree that they would only work during the weekdays, and not at the weekends. This was agreed and led to a much more creative and energetic team working on the movie[5].

Disney Feature Animation Florida was an annex of the official Disney Burbank Studio, operational from 1989 to January 2004. It was originally housed in trailers near where Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster currently stands, with only around forty artists. In 1998, they were moved to their own $70 million building which stood behind the, now-defunct, Magic of Animation pavilion, with the number of artists increasing to around 400. The animators in Florida had developed sequences and supervised animation on some characters for many of the “Renaissance” films. Mulan (1998) was the first animated feature to be produced primarily by this Florida studio. Lilo & Stitch would be the second one to be almost entirely made in Florida. The last film to be produced there was Brother Bear (2003)[6].

During production, some changes had to be made to the movie quite late in the production journey, based off test screenings. Test audiences found that the original scene of Jumba attacking Lilo and Nani’s house was too violent, as Stitch cuts a gas line and Jumba ignites it to blow up the house. This was amended to be the blocked-up plasma gun going off instead, with Stitch and Jumba passing it back and forth to the children’s rhyme “hot potato”. Stitch was meant to part of a villainous gang with Jumba, however, this didn’t allow for Stitch to redeem himself at the end of the movie, as he would’ve been inherently evil having started off down a villainous path. They made Stitch a genetic mutation instead, knowing that he would then be able to go on a journey to overcome evil. The test screenings also showed that viewers thought Lilo and Nani were mother and daughter, so the scene in Lilo’s bedroom was altered to make this clear, by mentioning the fact they are sisters three times!

The biggest change, though, came from the tragic events of 9/11. The original end scene of the group saving Lilo was meant to involve Stitch hijacking an aeroplane, with Jumba flying it through a city. Although this tragedy only happened around nine months before the release date of the movie, and the sequence had already been completed, the production team set about making changes early on, even before Disney executives told them they had to. The 747 was changed to be Jumba’s huge red spaceship, which him and Pleakley drove to get to Earth – it still has the generic shape of a 747 plane, but it did work well. The setting was changed from a city to a mountain valley. The original scene has been released as a deleted scene on multiple DVD releases[7]. Although this change was disappointing for the team, even though they it had to be so, it did allow for them to have a couple of extra minutes of budget to play with. They created a postscript for the film with this budget, showing a montage of scenes of how the family’s life was now, including birthdays, vacations, Halloween and Christmas. They were very pleased with this ending, and felt it really made the film. I personally love this ending; the film wouldn’t be the same without it.

Luckily, because Schumacher wanted the movie to be worked through without notes from the “higher-ups”, and as it was only running on a small budget, the Disney executives, including Michael Eisner, were given generic updates on the movie. It wasn’t until the movie was completely finished, with colour, music, effects, etc., that Eisner saw any of it. Thankfully, he liked it, even though he found it strange and odd[8].

For the animation style, it was decided that watercolours would be used for the backgrounds, something that hadn’t been done by Disney for decades. It was considered dated by some animators, and had been abandoned for its slow, awkward process. Sanders was insistent on using watercolours for the backgrounds to give the movie a “storybook” feel. Ric Sluiter, Art Director on this movie, was not a fan, and wanted to do a standard wash instead. He tried both a wash and a full watercolour, and they came out completely differently, with the watercolour winning out. They had to be trained to in this medium again[9]. I believe it made such a difference to the movie, as the backgrounds feel real yet magical. The character designs had mostly come from the original picture book that Chris Sanders had created, with the idea for voices also already being more or less decided.

To capture the beauty and reality of Hawaii, the team went on a research trip and were surprised by the purity and clarity of colours on the island, seeing as there is little to no pollution disrupting the view. Instead of just taking photographs, the artists were observing and painting sites and structures in person as they saw it in real-life. Even specific details like the colour of the sea form being pink, not white or grey, were included in the movie. Andreas Deja, Supervising Animator for Lilo, was told to go to the local school and see how the children behaved and looked. After some discussion, Deja was allowed in and sketched some of the children, seeing how fidgety children of Lilo’s age could be. The team wanted to carefully observe everything and get even the smallest details to feel accurate and authentic. They got the approval of Tia Carrere, who felt not only was the art style beautiful but that the houses looked just like the houses she’d grown up around, and that her character, Nani, looked like a local girl. It was also on this research trip that they were introduced to the term ‘ohana and how it refers to both close and extended families. It’s about people coming together and sharing a bond, no matter whether they are “blood relations” or not.

Hula and music are a huge part of Lilo & Stitch, with Chris Sanders saying that hula and Hawaii had been treated badly in Hollywood, by not replicating anything truthfully. The team made sure to consult the correct people, to truly replicate these art forms[10]. The animation of hula was of particular importance to the production team of Lilo & Stitch as they were only too aware of the spiritual and cultural important of the dance for the Hawaiian community. They consulted with “hula masters”, and filmed hula dancers for a whole day, performing a dance based off the opening song “He Mele No Lilo”, and animated the sequence movement-for-movement, so every gesture was accurate and authentic[11].

MUSIC

With the help of Mark Keali’l Ho’omalu coming onto the team as both a consultant and to write the two main songs of the movie. “He Mele No Lilo”, the opening song, and “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride”, played when Lilo, David, and Nani go surfing, they successfully recreated authentic music, even incorporating historic native Hawaiian language into the songs, giving a mixture of both English and Hawaiian. These songs were performed by Ho’omalu and the Kamehameha Schools Children Chorus. The Disney team booked out a movie theatre to show the movie to all of them in Honolulu before Lilo & Stitch was released.

Ho’omalu collaborated well with Alan Silvestri, who was brought in to compose the score. He had been in mind from the start of production. Silvestri is known for composing for many Robert Zemeckis movies, like The Polar Express (2004) and Forrest Gump (1994), as well as one of my favourite movies, Father of the Bride (1991).

The rest of the soundtrack comes from either Elvis originals or covers of his songs. The final song “Burning Love”, which plays over the ending montage, was a cover recorded by singer Wynonna Judd in Nashville. The team had always planned for Lilo to like Elvis and knew they’d have to ask permission to use Elvis’ picture, to reference him, to mimic him, and to change his lyrics. Luckily, the representatives from Elvis’ estate loved the screening of the movie and gave them permission for all these points! Other songs used include “Suspicious Minds” and “Hound Dog”.

Another cover of an Elvis song came from the Swedish pop group A*Teens, an ABBA tribute band. This song was “Can’t Help Falling in Love”, which appeared on the Lilo & Stitch soundtrack and in the movie’s End Credits, as well as the band’s third album Pop ‘til You Drop! They performed together from 1998 until 2004, but reunited in 2024, and have been on their A*Teens Generation Tour in 2025.

RECEPTION

Before the movie was released, Disney set up a clever marketing campaign to entice audiences to see the movie. They came up with four teaser trailers, where iconic moments from four of Disney’s “Renaissance” movies would be ruined by Stitch, with some of the voice actors from the original movies even coming in to record lines! The trailers were incredibly popular and can still be found on YouTube. They did the job of getting everyone interested in Stitch himself. These trailers involved Stitch crashing the chandelier onto Belle and Beast; Stitch arriving on a space ship in the middle of Aladdin’s “A Whole New World”; Stitch being raised by Rafiki on Pride Rock instead of baby Simba; and Stitch crashing a wave onto Ariel while she’s singing. I remember seeing these trailers. I’m not sure what I thought of them back then, but I like them now! The production team also went to Cannes Film Festival in 2002 to do screenings for the international press[12].

Lilo & Stitch was released in June 2002, with a premiere at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, and a premiere in Honolulu. Lilo & Stitch made around $270 million at the box-office against a small budget of $80 million, making it the second-highest-grossing animated film of 2002 behind Ice Age (2002). The movie was praised for its fun and charming story; its approach towards families and their problems; and for its artistic style.

Lilo & Stitch unfortunately lost out to Spirited Away (2001) at the Oscars for Best Animated Feature, though Daveigh Chase and David Ogden Stiers had voice roles in both movies, so I guess they would’ve been winners either way.

Lilo & Stitch was nominated for numerous other awards too though. For example, at the Critics’ Choice Awards and the Annie Awards, also for Best Animated Feature, but again losing to Spirited Away. At the Annie Awards, Lilo & Stitch was also nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Character Animation, Character Design, and Directing, but this time lost to Monsters, Inc. (2001); Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002); and Spirited Away respectively. Lilo & Stitch did, however, win some awards, for example Best Animated Film at the Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards and a special award at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards.

LEGACY

Lilo & Stitch may not have swept the board at awards season, but it was still incredibly popular, especially in amongst Disney’s other not-so-great 2000s movies.

It was so well-received that it spawned a TV series, Lilo & Stitch: The Series (2003-2006), and three direct-to-video sequels: Stitch! The Movie (2003), which sets up the plot of the TV series; Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005); and Leroy & Stitch (2006). Original main cast members returned to voice their characters in these spin-offs, except for Jason Lee Scott as David who only returned to voice his character in Lilo & Stitch 2. David was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker in the other spin-offs. Also, for Lilo & Stitch 2 only, the voice of Lilo was provided by Dakota Fanning.

Stitch as a character was so popular in Japan that he also got his own anime-style TV series called Stitch! which aired from 2008 to 2012. Another series called Stitch & Ai (2017) aired on Disney Channel in Southeast Asia.

Stitch has also been a crowd-pleasing character for both Disney merchandising and within the Disney theme parks. He received his own attraction called Stitch’s Great Escape, taking over the location of ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter at Tomorrowland in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. It opened on 16^th November 2004. The attraction was popular to begin with, but was soon rarely at capacity, and closed in January 2018; signage was removed in 2020. However, he does still remain as a meet-and-greet character in Tomorrowland, and you can meet him as well as Lilo at ‘Ohana at Walt Disney World’s Polynesian Resort. It serves a family-style character buffet breakfast and dinner each day.

At Disneyland, Lilo and Stitch have been added to the it’s a small world attraction. They were also added to this same attraction at the Hong Kong and Tokyo parks. You can also find Stitch at the interactive Stitch Encounter shows at Disneyland Paris, known as Stitch Live!; Tokyo Disneyland; and Shanghai Disneyland. It was present at Hong Kong Disneyland from 2006 to 2016. Similar to Turtle Talk with Crush at Epcot, Stitch Encounter allows children to interact with a Stitch via a big theatre screen. At Tokyo Disneyland, The Enchanted Tiki Room: Stitch Presents Aloha e Komo Mai! opened in July 2008, featuring songs from the movie. There is also a Lilo & Stitch-themed room available at the Disney Ambassador Hotel here. As you can see Stitch has been a beloved Disney character all over the world for many years. At Hong Kong Disneyland, Lilo and Stitch may meet guests in Adventureland. Stitch has also met guests at the other Disney Parks in previous years. Stitch is a frequent visitor to Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa in Hawaii too. In 2024, for Disneyland After Dark: Disney Channel Nite, some of Dr. Jumba’s other “experiments”, like Stitch, that featured in Lilo & Stitch: The Series even made an appearance.

But the most “interesting” announcement is that a live-action remake was released on 23^rd May 2025, with early responses being positive, although I personally do not love the idea of this film. Stitch does at least have the same voice though, thanks to Chris Sanders returning to Disney, having left to work at DreamWorks Animation in 2007, to voice Stitch. Tia Carrere and Jason Scott Lee also have cameos in this movie. It had been heavily advertised in the months before its release, with a teaser released during the Super Bowl in 2025; a promo clip of “live-action” Stitch running around Disneyland, as both promotion for the live-action movie as well as Disneyland’s 70^th Celebration; and having him roll up to his premiere in a little pink car on 17^th May 2025. Stitch even appeared on TSA security baskets at Orlando International Airport[13]. Now that is marketing gone mad.

There has also been new merchandising released ahead of the movie’s release, such as clothing, plush toys, figurines, and accessories.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Lilo & Stitch has continued to be popular and relevant for its strong sense of family, as well as for its lovable characters, beautiful artistry, and catchy, well-known music. It’s a movie that is mentioned and referenced often, and I do like it, much more than I did when I was younger. It was one of those Disney movies that didn’t have many expectations attached to it, so it was much more likely to exceed them. The budget was small, it wasn’t overlooked by Disney executives much, and it kept things simple. This was the perfect approach to the movie, and from researching, I can tell how much passion and enthusiasm went into the project – it shows.

Mostly importantly, it lets everyone know that families can come in all shapes and sizes and be messy; there is no correct version of “family”. I will always have the most memorable quote from the movie in my head, as I’m sure many people will; that important phrase: “’Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind – or forgotten”.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Spence D., ‘A Look Inside the Creation of Lilo and Stitch’, IGN (online), 17^th June 2012.

[2] Credit: Douglas Laman, ‘The Untold Truth Of Lilo & Stitch’, Looper (online), 8^th June 2022.

[3] Credit: Disney, The Story Room: The Making of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2005).

[4] Credit: Bilge Ebiri, ‘An Oral History of Lilo & Stitch: The beloved Disney movie made in a “secret hangar” that almost brought hand-drawn animation back.’, Vulture (online), 19^th October 2022.

[5] Credit: Disney, The Story Room: The Making of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2005).

[6] Credit: Dave Shute, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: When Disney’s Hollywood Studios was a Studio’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.

[7] Credit: Disney, The Story Room: The Making of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2005).

[8] Credit: Bilge Ebiri, ‘An Oral History of Lilo & Stitch: The beloved Disney movie made in a “secret hangar” that almost brought hand-drawn animation back.’, Vulture (online), 19^th October 2022.

[9] Credit: Disney, The Story Room: The Making of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2005).

[10] Credit: Bilge Ebiri, ‘An Oral History of Lilo & Stitch: The beloved Disney movie made in a “secret hangar” that almost brought hand-drawn animation back.’, Vulture (online), 19^th October 2022.

[11] Credit: Disney, “Animating the Hula”, from Lilo & Stitch (2002) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[12] Credit: Disney, The Story Room: The Making of ‘Lilo & Stitch’ (2005).

[13] Credit: Gretchen McDermid, ‘New Stitch TSA Security Baskets Added to Orlando International Airport’, WDWNT.com, 3^rd May 2025.

24th Mar 20231st Oct 2025 by The Disney Purist

#37 Tarzan (1999)

BACKGROUND

When Tarzan was released in 1999, Disney hoped it would make more of an impact than some of the previous “Disney Renaissance” movies. Hercules (1997) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) had not performed as well as expected, and did not receive the same attention or accolades as the likes of The Lion King (1994) and Beauty and the Beast (1991).

Luckily, Tarzan did perform well at the box-office and took the Disney Animation department in a new direction, with an increased use of CGI technology; a move away from the typical fairy-tale approach; and a step back from the Broadway-musical style. Despite all that, some say that Tarzan was the movie that set Disney Animation off on a new path to failure, since, by dismissing the well-used, tried and tested formula of the early “Disney Renaissance”, it meant that Disney made a series of either inadequate, underperforming movies, or disappointing, major flops after Tarzan, a trend that went on for almost a decade.

Tarzan has much more of a mixed reaction to it than I thought. I have always loved Tarzan. I think we probably watched it at the cinema when it first came out, but I do distinctly remember watching it at a “kids club” while on holiday in Cyprus a year or so after its release. So, I’ve been disappointed to find that amongst the general articles detailing Tarzan’s legacy and movie history, there are also multiple essays picking holes in the plotline of Tarzan and/or discussing its “complicated history” and describing it as a “disappointment”. It’s a strange mixture of opinions. Perhaps it has something to do with the number of adaptations of the novel that exist today, or maybe people just don’t think much of the character of Tarzan and his story anymore.

Regardless of your opinion on Tarzan, everyone knows the basic story: a man is raised by gorillas in the jungle and then meets humans for the first time.

PLOT

Disney’s movie starts off with an intense opening sequence of both a human family and a gorilla family. The humans have been stranded in the jungle after escaping a boat fire with their baby. They decide to build a treehouse to survive in the jungle. This is paralleled with a gorilla family, who have a baby too, however, soon that baby is killed by a leopard, known as Sabor, leaving the parents heartbroken. Later, the mother gorilla hears a strange crying, and follows the noise to a treehouse where she finds a baby, alone, with evidence of Sabor having attacked whoever else lived there. The mother gorilla, Kala, decides to raise the baby herself, but sees the leopard is still there, waiting for its next prey. Kala and the baby escape, leaving Sabor tangled in some ropes. Kala is allowed to keep the baby, after some discussion, but still to the reluctance of her partner, and leader of the gorilla pack, Kerchak.

Five years later, the baby, called Tarzan, has grown, however, struggles to fit in with the other gorillas, with relations between him and Kerchak still strained. Tarzan is determined to belong and after an incident of Tarzan trying to fit in starts an elephant stampede, he feels even worse about himself, until Kala tells him they aren’t so different. He is determined to be “the best ape ever” anyway. The movie jumps fifteen years where Tarzan is friends with Terk and Tantor, an elephant he met during the unfortunate stampede, and has figured out how to act within the gorilla family, though Kerchak still is not fond of him. That is, until Sabor attacks the family, and Kerchak, injured, is saved by Tarzan, who kills the leopard, thus getting at least a small bit of respect and admiration from Kerchak.

The reconciliation is cut short by the sound of a gunshot. Kerchak, concerned, tells the group to move out. Tarzan, however, follows the sound, and finds three strangers – who look just like him. Curious, he follows them, which is good, because soon, the woman, Jane, upsets an angry pack of baboons who chase her through the jungle, and Tarzan has to save her from being killed. Once the baboons have left, Tarzan stares at Jane, confused about why she looks like him, and why he can’t understand her. After a few awkward moments, Jane asks Tarzan to take her to her camp, where they find that Terk, Tantor, and some of the other gorillas have destroyed most of their belongings. This is where Jane learns that Tarzan is one of the gorillas; Tarzan leaves with them. Jane then tells her father, and Clayton, their “guide”, about her confusing ordeal.

The next day, Jane is explaining her encounter with the “ape man” further, when he appears, just when the other two think she’s gone mad! Thinking Tarzan can help them find the gorillas, they teach Tarzan English and about humankind, whilst Tarzan and Jane also start to develop feelings for each other. Tarzan refuses to take them to the gorillas, not wanting to go against Kerchak, but when he realises that Jane is leaving soon, he relents and takes them to the group, using Terk and Tantor as bait to lead Kerchak away. This goes well, for a while, until Kerchak unexpectedly returns. Tarzan holds Kerchak back so they can escape, and becomes angry at his mother for keeping his true identity from him. Kala takes Tarzan to his parents’ treehouse for the first time, telling him he can choose whether to leave with the humans, or stay with them. Tarzan decides to go to England with Jane.

However, as they are about to board the boat, Tarzan, Jane, and her father find they have been double-crossed by Clayton and his men, who imprison them and the ship’s crew, before going ashore to capture the gorillas and take them back to England to sell them. Tarzan is angry at leaving his family in danger and finds he is not being able to free everyone from the steel cage. Luckily, Tantor and Terk board the ship, sensing danger after hearing Tarzan yelling. They fight the guards with the roof of the cage breaking under Tantor’s weight. Now freed, Tarzan, Jane and her father rush to the mainland to defeat Clayton and his men, who are attacking the gorillas, with ropes, guns, and flares, before throwing them in cages. As Tarzan returns, they decide to take what they can, which includes Kala. Jane races over to free her, with Tarzan coming to her aid with a crowbar to open the cage. Now, Tarzan must fight off Clayton, who has shot Kerchak, and also him. They take the fight into the trees, where Tarzan breaks Clayton’s gun, so he can do no damage. But Clayton simply pulls out a knife and threatens Tarzan with it. In defence, Tarzan throws vines onto Clayton to stop him, but Clayton pulls and cuts at the vines, which tighten around his throat, until he freefalls down. Thanks to a well-timed lightning flash, we see a silhouette of Clayton’s lifeless body, hanging in the vines…

Kerchak lays dying, and apologies to Tarzan for not making him feel like he belonged with them, when he did all along. Kerchak makes Tarzan the new leader of the group. Despite his feelings for Jane, Tarzan now knows his duty is to stay in the jungle. Jane and Porter go to board their ship to return home. Porter encourages Jane to remain in the jungle with Tarzan, because she loves him. Jane jumps out of the boat and swims to Tarzan where she greets him with an awkward kiss. Porter also decides to jump out and stay in the jungle, telling the ship’s captain to say they never found them; people get lost in the jungle all the time! The gorillas are overenjoyed to find that Jane is staying with Tarzan, and the film ends happily with them all adjusted to their new lives.

CHARACTERS & CAST

We first see Tarzan in the movie as a baby, quite a curious one, as we see when he meets Kala for the first time. He isn’t scared though, and that’s something that we see throughout his life; he certainly isn’t timid and is just curious about the world around him, especially when he meets Jane and the others. As he gets older, Tarzan feels more and more like he doesn’t belong with the gorillas, despite his efforts to fit in. When he does meet the humans, it makes him even more confused about where he really belongs, and becomes torn between his duty to his family, but wanting to be around the people who look like him and can teach him about his real species. He feels angry at his mother for not telling him about his birth parents earlier, and is upset at never being fully welcomed into the family, thanks to Kerchak’s lack of approval. When Tarzan meets Jane, things start to make sense for him, and he feels like he’d be better off in England with them, even if that breaks his mother’s heart, and his. Tarzan is loyal to those he loves, and will protect them at any cost, as we see at the end of the movie, when he races in to save his gorilla family. This culminates in a touching scene between him and Kerchak where Kerchak finally sees him as his son, and Tarzan becomes the new accepted leader.

The character of Tarzan was animated primarily by Glen Keane, working with a group of thirteen other animators at Disney Animation’s Paris studio, meaning that some parts of the film were made in France, while others were created in the studio in California. He wanted to draw Tarzan as he was written, as the live-action actors who had played Tarzan had not been able to do the character justice, simply because they could not move in the way the character did. This is something that Edgar Rice Burroughs had agreed with from as early as 1936; that animation would be the best medium to bring his hero to life on screen[1]. It was important to make his movements as fluid as possible, and to experiment with how he used his environment. “Tree surfing” was very much Keane’s idea, and is frequently used in the movie. He drew inspiration from his son’s skateboarding and love of extreme sports[2]. Glen Keane believed that animating Tarzan would be simpler than designing other characters, as clothes and drapes of fabrics would not have to be thought about, however, it was actually more challenging because instead, Keane had to accurately capture human muscles, with a professor of anatomy even superimposing drawings of correct muscles over the top of the Tarzan drawings so Keane could make corrections[3].

Tarzan was voiced by Tony Goldwyn. Goldwyn has appeared on television in series such as the ABC political drama Scandal (2012-18) as President Fitzgerald Grant III, and in films like Ghost (1990), where he played Carl Bruner, Divergent (2014) and its sequel Insurgent (2015) as Andrew Prior, Tris’ father, and most recently Oppenheimer (2023) where he portrayed Gordon Gray. Goldwyn was cast as District Attorney Nicholas Baxter in the revival of Law & Order (2022-present) in 2024. Disney were pleased with Goldwyn’s strong voice and the fact that he was a good mimic so could do the animal noises that Tarzan makes throughout the movie. There is some debate, though, around the iconic Tarzan yells. Brian Blessed has been credited with them, however, in an interview at the D23 Expo in 2019, footage was shown of Goldwyn making the iconic call, with the directors claiming Goldwyn’s one was used. I have seen both actors do it, and neither sound like the one in the movie, so who knows! Maybe it’s a combination of both?

Jane is Tarzan’s love interest in the movie. I’ve always liked Jane, because she wasn’t just pretty and sweet; she was both incredibly intelligent and very funny, something that Disney’s leading ladies didn’t used to be at this time. She’s also creative and inquisitive, which gets her into trouble around the gorillas and the baboons in the jungle. Her relationship with Tarzan is very sweet, though she doesn’t allow herself to love him initially because they come from two different worlds and she doesn’t think it will work. She even resigns herself to being separated from him for ever by going back to England, until her father persuades her otherwise. Professor Archimedes Q. Porter, to use his full name, is not a major character in the movie, however, him and Jane have a great relationship with each other, being able to tease each other, and having their studies in common.

Nigel Hawthorne, the voice of Professor Porter, as well as that of Fflewddur Fflam in Disney’s The Black Cauldron (1985), brought warmth and intelligence to the character, who could’ve so easily ended up as a bumbling buffoon! Hawthorne had starred in the British sitcoms Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister (1980-88) as Sir Humphrey Appleby, and won a BAFTA for Best Actor for his portrayal of King George III in the movie The Madness of King George (1994) prior to Tarzan. Hawthorne passed away in 2001. Jane was inspired by conservationists Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey. Jane was voiced by Minnie Driver, who is known for her work on TV sitcom Speechless (2016-19), along with being cast in big films such as Good Will Hunting (1997), playing the role of Skylar, and The Phantom of the Opera (2004), where she was cast as Carlotta. Driver has recently appeared as Janet Harward in the Jason Statham movie The Beekeeper (2024), and was cast as Queen Beatrice in Amazon Studios’ adaptation Cinderella (2021). Driver does a great job as Jane, and even improvised the scene of Jane describing her meeting with Tarzan, resulting in one of the longest animated scenes being created, which took around seven weeks to animate[4].

For Tarzan’s gorilla “parents”, Kala and Kerchak couldn’t be more different. Kala and Tarzan’s relationship is at the heart of the film. She is loving and nurturing, teaching him that it’s what’s inside that counts, and that in actual fact humans and gorillas aren’t so different. She also learns to let go, saying that Tarzan “will always be in her heart” regardless of whether he chooses to go to England or stay with them. Glenn Close, the voice of Kala, was very interested in playing a mother in a Disney animated movie. Close had worked with Disney before, playing the role of Cruella de Vil in the live-action film 101 Dalmatians (1996), and its sequel 102 Dalmatians (2000) – a character who is the complete opposite of Kala – as well as appearing as Nova Prime Irani Rael in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) for Marvel. Close is also known for roles like Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction (1987); Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons (1988); and for starring opposite Jonathan Pryce in The Wife (2017). She was nominated in the Best Actress category at the Oscars for all three roles. Close did, however, win a Golden Globe and a SAG award for her role as Joan Castleman in The Wife. On stage, she has starred as Norma Desmond in the musical Sunset Boulevard. Close won the Tony for her performance in 1995, and was nominated for an Olivier award in 2017 after returning to the role.

Kerchak on the other hand is the stepfather figure to Tarzan. He doesn’t initially want Kala to adopt Tarzan, but relents, though he makes it clear that just because he can stay, “that doesn’t make him my son”. Tarzan spends much of the first part of the movie trying to avoid Kerchak and doing anything he can to not annoy him, before trying to gain his approval. At the end, just before his death, we get to see a different side to Kerchak, where he apologies for his behaviour, and accepts that Tarzan has always been his son; he gets a chance at redemption. Kerchak was voiced by actor Lance Henriksen, who had roles in films such as the Alien franchise, where he played Bishop, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), playing Robert, as well as doing further voice work, such as voicing the character of Admiral Steven Hackett in the Mass Effect games. Henriksen also starred as FBI Agent Frank Black in the series Millennium (1996-99).

Then there are Terk and Tantor, Tarzan’s childhood friends. Terk is a lovable gorilla, despite her being loud, overly confident, and a bit bratty, but she is a good friend to Tarzan, and helps him out when she can. She’s also very funny and quite the show woman, so that helps the audience connect with her. Terk and Tarzan are very close and have been since they were young. Rosie O’Donnell was brought in to voice Terk, giving the character the tomboy vibe that the team wanted. O’Donnell began her career in comedy, before hosting her own daytime talk show The Rosie O’Donnell show from 1996 to 2002, for which she won numerous Daytime Emmy Awards. O’Donnell also played the part of Betty Rubble in the live-action movie The Flintstones in 1994, and more recently, was cast in the recurring role of Rita Hendricks in the sitcom The Fosters (2013-18), and as Lisa Sheffer in the mini-series I Know This Much Is True (2020), which starred Mark Ruffalo.

Tantor is a neurotic, germophobic elephant who Tarzan and Terk meet partway through the movie, when they are about six years old. Tantor likes his peace and quiet, but can’t find a lot of that around those two! He’s the one to convince Terk that Tarzan needs their help at the end, proving that, although he is scared of things, he will push through it for others. Wayne Knight was the voice of Tantor, though Woody Allen was in the initial line-up for the role before being poached by Jeffrey Katzenberg to voice the lead character in the DreamWorks film Antz (1998). In the 1990s, Knight was perhaps best known for playing Newman in Seinfeld (1992-98) and Officer Orville in 3^rd Rock from the Sun (1996-2001) as well as for being in Jurassic Park (1993). He would voice the character of Al for Pixar’s Toy Story 2, released in November 1999, five months after Tarzan.

Then we come to the villains of the movie: Sabor and Clayton. It is not just coincidence that once Sabor is killed by Tarzan, we then meet Clayton as the two were both created to be parallel to each other, with the colour palettes of the characters even being similar. Sabor is just a leopard, doing what he does because of his nature; he’s a predator in the jungle, he’s supposed to hunt things. On the other hand, Clayton is a game hunter with a hidden agenda: to capture all the gorillas and sell them for a lot of money, under the guise of being Jane and Porter’s guide and protector. Clayton is suave and charming on the surface, but brutal and malicious underneath[5]. He’s a great villain, one of the better Disney ones I think, though he is not referenced so much in the Disney villain franchise, which is a shame. Clayton has one of the more horrifying deaths, as he ultimately ends up being hung by vines. It’s not something I ever noticed as a child, so it’s not like it’s traumatising, but the image of his silhouette hanging in the jungle is quite haunting and quite a push for Disney, whose villains mostly disintegrate or fall from great heights so you don’t see anything too grisly!

Clayton was voiced by legendary English actor Brian Blessed, known for his distinctive voice and so many performances, such as Prince Vultan in Flash Gordon (1980), Lord Locksley in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), and for originating the role of Bustopher Jones in the London cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s theatre show Cats in 1981. Blessed has also lent his voice to other non-Disney animated movies in recent years, such as voicing Charlemagne in DreamWorks’ Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (2021) and Pirate King in Aardman’s The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012).

MUSIC

The songs for Tarzan were written by Phil Collins, known for both his solo career and for being the drummer, and later lead singer, in the band Genesis. Collins wrote five songs for the movie. He had been asked to wait until the team had fleshed out the story, but Collins had been so inspired from reading the novel that he ended up sending across multiple draft songs, with three ending up in the final movie. “Two Worlds” was the first song to be written by Collins, and is used for the whole opening sequence, showing the two “worlds” that Tarzan will become a part of. It is also reprised at the end of the movie, when Jane and her father become part of the two worlds as well.

Then, there is “Son of Man”, which plays during the “time jump” sequence, where Tarzan is growing up, figuring out what role he plays within the family. This is my favourite song and scene in the movie, because it’s optimistically hopeful and cheery, and full of funny sequences of Tarzan being taught by Terk how to act like a gorilla. Though a close second-favourite of mine is both the scene and song of “Strangers Like Me”, which accompanies the scenes of Jane teaching Tarzan about the human world, where the two start to fall in love. “Trashin’ the Camp” is a bit different to the other songs, as it is very percussion-centric, something that Phil Collins was well-known for. It demonstrates the sounds that the objects in the human camp make as Terk, Tantor and the gorillas break, destroy and turn over everything in the camp, with some “doo-wop” vocals from Terk. It’s another good song, and is very catchy, with a great beat. It might sound simple, but according to Collins, it was difficult to achieve. Phil Collins also recorded a version of this song with NSYNC for the Tarzan soundtrack. Finally, “You’ll Be in My Heart” was written with his daughter in mind, to be a lullaby to her[6]. Apparently, this song was written during Christmas dinner at a neighbour’s house.

Initially, Phil Collins was reluctant to be a part of Tarzan, as he didn’t think he could write story-telling songs to fit a typical Disney musical. Directors Kevin Lima and Chris Buck flew to Switzerland to persuade him to come on to the movie as they wanted a percussive-style for the music to separate it from the other Disney “jungle” movie, The Lion King (1994). Collins said he would try. “You’ll Be in My Heart” would go on to win an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song in 1999, and the soundtrack would win the Grammy for Best Soundtrack Album[7] – so I think he did more than “just try”! As well as this, Phil Collins recorded many of the songs in different languages, such as French, German, Italian, and Spanish, for the releases of Tarzan in other countries. It was the first time Collins had ever done that. Collins would collaborate with Disney again for the music on Brother Bear (2003).

Mark Mancina was brought on to compose the score, having worked as an additional composer and music arranger on The Lion King soundtrack, before working on the score for the theatre adaptation. He would work with Phil Collins again for Brother Bear (2003), and for Disney again by composing the score for Moana (2016) alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda. Mancina and Collins made sure to work collaboratively together to ensure the music kept the same style throughout the movie[8].

PRODUCTION

Disney’s Tarzan is based on the 1912 story Tarzan of the Apes, by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, with the story first being published as a novel in 1914. The novel actually spans dozens of sequels, but Tarzan is based on the first one. There are differences between the novel and the movie, with some notable ones being that Kerchak kills Tarzan’s father; Tarzan finds his parents’ treehouse at a young age, so knows humans exist from that point, even teaching himself to read English; Tarzan kills Kerchak in the novel; Jane leaves the jungle to travel back to the USA, where she plans to marry Clayton, who is a Viscount, not a hunter; and Tarzan leaves the jungle to go to Europe, before following Jane to the US. In the sequel novel, Tarzan finally marries Jane, but they are not together in the first book. Some of the novel’s characters have also been excluded from the movie, such as a tribe of African settlers, and French naval officer Paul D’Arnot,. Another interesting point is that Tarzan is known to be the son of Viscount and Lady Greystoke, with his name being John Clayton II, meaning Clayton is actually his cousin, who takes control of their English estate after the family’s disappearance[9]. Although Tarzan’s lineage is not mentioned in the Disney movie, it’s interesting to think that Clayton and Tarzan are cousins and that Tarzan is actually a nobleman by birth!

Originally, it was thought that Jeffrey Katzenberg wanted to make Tarzan as a TV adaptation, to be made from a new Disney studio in Canada. Kevin Lima at the time was in the middle of post-production on A Goofy Movie (1995), which had been partly produced by the Disney Television Animation department. Katzenberg approached Lima to direct this new Tarzan adaptation; however, Lima was unsure about adapting Tarzan via the television animation route and did not accept. Katzenberg then left Disney in 1994.

From this point, Lima was approached by then-CEO Michael Eisner to adapt Tarzan as an animated feature film, with this being his directorial debut. Lima agreed and brought in Chris Buck to co-direct, who had just finished working on Pocahontas (1995) as supervising animator. Lima and Buck knew they would not make Tarzan in a musical style, as they felt that Tarzan singing, and swinging through vines in his loincloth would look ridiculous. I have to agree. This route forward was boosted by Bonnie Arnold coming on to the movie as producer, having just produced the Pixar smash-hit Toy Story (1995), as Pixar used their music as more of a commentary to the story and did not have their characters sing[10].

In March 1996, the production team went on a research trip to Africa for inspiration, both around animals and vegetation. They took multiple rolls of footage, making sure to notice the smallest details. They went on safari, toured reserves in Kenya, and saw mountain gorillas in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, where they observed the special family relationships that gorilla groups have, as well as appreciating the beauty of the jungle, and feeling the all-encompassing nature of it[11].

Part of what made Tarzan so brilliant to look at was the specific software that was created to design the convincing jungle landscapes. It was called Deep Canvas, a computer-based tool used to enhance the depth of the backgrounds. It also allowed for more movement and flexibility in how the camera moved around its backgrounds. For example, the use of camera motions like this is most evident in the rollercoaster-style sequences of Tarzan “tree surfing”, the baboon chase with Jane and Tarzan, as well as the vine swinging shots in the tree canopies. These sequences using Deep Canvas totalled around ten minutes of the 88-minute running time. The moving background environments were created in computer-generated shapes to give a full 3D look. Once these backgrounds were computer-animated, then the hand-drawn characters were added to them, before painting the backgrounds digitally. This whole process took hours, compared to months, to execute the correct painterly finish[12]. The Deep Canvas technology would then be used for other Disney animated films, like Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and Treasure Planet (2002), before winning a Technical Achievement Academy Award in 2003[13].

As usual, not every scene developed for Tarzan made it to the final edit of the film. The film had an alternate opening, which would’ve involved Tarzan’s father writing at his desk in their newly built treehouse during a strong storm before being attacked by Sabor, the leopard. This opening seemed quite dark, and makes the demise of Tarzan’s parents much too obvious, rather than just alluding to it. Secondly, the “exploring the human camp” scene was extended, with Terk “volunteering” to check out the place. Terk realises none of the objects can hurt them, so they continue their search for Tarzan. This scene was edited out due to it being unnecessary to the plot. Finally, the final battle between Clayton and Tarzan was originally to have taken place on a riverboat, with lots of gunfire, explosions, and fire. This was ultimately not used as it didn’t feel like a fitting ending; Disney felt Tarzan should have his final fight in the jungle[14].

RECEPTION

Tarzan was released in June 1999, and did very well at the box office. It made $450 million worldwide against a budget of $130 million, so it was deemed a success in that way, with the visuals being a standout feature of the movie. It also did get some good critics’ reviews, who enjoyed the animation and story choices, although many did admit that it was not at the same level as some of Disney’s other 1990s movies.

Other reviews criticised the comic relief characters, and did not like Phil Collins’ music. They also found the romance between Tarzan and Jane weak, and did not understand the removal of all African characters from the movie. In regards to specific issues with characters and music, this is simply about personal preference. I personally like the music, and I think Tarzan and Jane are a great couple; I believed their romance wholeheartedly, both as a child and an adult. I also do not have a problem with the comic relief characters.

Focusing on the comments around race, this is something Disney get picked up on often, especially nowadays. I understand that we are looking to be more inclusive and diverse in our use of characters in the entertainment industry, and that it is important not to cut out a whole section of a source material simply because it could be difficult content to include. Disney stated the removal of the African characters from Tarzan was to ensure the film was not made “over complicated”.

Tarzan was nominated for other awards outside of its music. For example, it was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Satellite Awards and Best Fantasy Film at the Saturn Awards. It lost to Toy Story 2 (1999) at the Satellite Awards, and to Being John Malkovich (1999) at the Saturn Awards. At the Annie Awards, Tarzan was nominated in numerous categories, like Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing; Effect Animation; and Production Design, as well as for Best Animated Feature. The Iron Giant (1999) won in all the categories that Tarzan was nominated for, including Best Animated Feature. Minnie Driver also missed out on the Annie Award for Voice Acting to Eli Marienthal who was the voice of Hogarth in The Iron Giant. However, Rosie O’Donnell did win the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite Voice in an Animated Movie for voicing Terk.

LEGACY

With the commercial success of Tarzan, the movie would span quite a franchise for Disney, at least in the early 2000s. First, there was an animated television series, called The Legend of Tarzan, which directly follows on from the ending of the movie. This aired for two seasons between 2001 and 2003. There were also two direct-to-video films. One was Tarzan & Jane (2002), which used three unaired episodes of the TV series. It was set one year after the original movie, with Tarzan and Jane celebrating their first wedding anniversary. Then Tarzan II (2005) was released, which takes place within the events of the original movie, during Tarzan’s childhood. A sequel called Tarzan III was cancelled in 2006. A Broadway musical version of Tarzan was also created, opening in 2006. Multiple productions took place between the original 2006 Broadway and 2016. The musical did return to Germany in 2023, running into 2025. It was also staged in Australia in September 2025.

Within the Disney theme parks, there was a theatre show called Tarzan Rocks!, which ran from 1999 to 2006 in the, previously open-air, Theater in the Wild at Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort. I remember watching this show a few times during my visits. Instead of a retelling of the movie, it was a rock concert experience involving gymnasts, singers, dancers, aerialists, roller-blades, and an aerial ballet between Jane and Tarzan. A live-band played hit songs from the movie. It closed in 2006, in part because of the opening of the Broadway show, and because the theatre was slated for construction work to enclose it fully[15]. It currently houses the show Finding Nemo: The Big Blue…and Beyond.

At Disneyland, the original Swiss Family Treehouse walkaround attraction, based on the 1960 Disney movie Swiss Family Robinson, was closed on 8^th March 1999 to make way for a Tarzan-themed renovation. The attraction Tarzan’s Treehouse opened on 23^rd June 1999, with ten feet being added to its height, and live-size fiberglass figures of the characters being added to the rooms, with the story being that Tarzan and Jane moved into his parents’ treehouse in the jungle. Music from the movie was edited to play repeatedly as instrumentals[16]. Sadly, Tarzan’s Treehouse was closed at Disneyland in 2020 to make way for a new treehouse called Adventureland Treehouse, to be based on the Swiss Family Robinson once more. I’m not really sure why they did this as the reason for refurbishing it to be themed to Tarzan was because most audiences were not familiar with the Swiss Family Robinson story. Tarzan’s Treehouse still exists at Hong Kong Disneyland and has been there since the park’s opening in 2005. To get there, you have to board a log raft to take you over the Rivers of America as the treehouse resides on an island in the middle of the river, which makes it a real event and not something you just pass by, although since February 2025, the treehouse has been closed until further notice, and the rafts have not been running.

Tokyo Disneyland, Shanghai Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris do not have any Tarzan-themed attractions, however, at Shanghai and Paris, there was a stage show based on the film. At Shanghai it was called Tarzan: Call of the Jungle. It was a huge stage production, similar in ways to Tarzan Rocks!, that opened in 2016, but closed three years later in 2019 for unknown reasons. At Disneyland Paris, their stage show was called Tarzan: The Encounter and it opened in April 2000. It ran until 2008, when it was closed, only to be revived in 2011 but closed again in 2012, for unknown reasons. These two stage shows were very similar and featured a rock soundtrack, acrobatics, and dancing.

The characters, such as Jane, Tarzan, and Terk are harder to find these days, though they are most likely to appear at Hong Kong Disneyland because of its Tarzan-themed attraction and at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom Park because of its theming. Most recently, Terk, Tarzan, and Jane, plus even Kala and Kerchak were spotted at the DVC Moonlight Magic event at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 2023. Tarzan, Jane, and Terk were also around during Earth Week that same year. At Hong Kong Disneyland, Terk was seen by the rafts to the treehouse a few years ago.

It is generally becoming more difficult to find any reference to Tarzan in the Disney Parks as newer movies take the spotlight. However, Disneyland’s current nighttime and fireworks show, Wondrous Journeys, features clips and references to every Disney animated movie, so Tarzan can be seen here. This is also the case with the show Wonderful World of Animation which takes place on the Chinese Theatre in Disney’s Hollywood Studios Park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Songs from Tarzan are also featured within The Golden Mickeys show on certain ships of the Disney Cruise Line.

But new merchandise was released to celebrate Tarzan’s 25^th anniversary in 2024. This included a pair of “Minnie Ears”, with Terk and Tantor on them; a Terk plush; a Tarzan and Jane figurine; and the usual mugs and ornaments[17]. A milestone anniversary seems to be the best way for lesser known, under-appreciated movies to be remembered.

FINAL THOUGHTS

My overall view of Tarzan has always been that I like the movie. It is one of my favourites, for the music and the characters. Many do agree that visually Tarzan looks stunning, with the jungle landscapes looking incredibly realistic, and the actions scenes being particularly daring and intriguing, even if they did not generally like the movie. Tarzan would be one of Disney’s last “good” animated features for a while, both critically and commercially, as the new millennium would mean Disney became inconsistent with their animated movies, and ended up releasing some real flops, with Pixar and DreamWorks only increasing in popularity over this same period.

Still, Tarzan allowed Disney to do something a bit different, by moving into CGI, and stepping back from their usual formula of fairy-tale retellings with a Broadway twist. It may not be to everyone’s liking, with comparisons between the ever-popular The Lion King (1994) making Tarzan seem lesser, but it was a good chance to experiment with new technologies and to remain faithful to a character who, up until that point, had not lived up to his potential in other Hollywood adaptations.

Tarzan was a success in many more ways than it was a failure, and it gave Disney some confidence and reasoning to experiment with new ideas. It may not be as memorable or beloved as other Disney “Renaissance” films, but it still deserves to be classed as a hit.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Disney, “From Burroughs to Disney”, from Tarzan (1999) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[2] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? Seven Swinging Facts About Disney’s Tarzan’, D23 (online), 18^th June 2019.

[3] Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Tarzan (1999)’, pp. 109-111.

[4] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? Seven Swinging Facts About Disney’s Tarzan’, D23 (online), 18^th June 2019.

[5] Credit: Disney, “Creating Characters”, from Tarzan (1999) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[6] Credit: Disney, “The Making of the Music”, from Tarzan (1999) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[7] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? Seven Swinging Facts About Disney’s Tarzan’, D23 (online), 18^th June 2019.

[8] Credit: Disney, “The Making of the Music”, from Tarzan (1999) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[9] Credit: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes (1912).

[10] Credit: Josh Spiegel, ‘Disney’s ‘Tarzan’ Was A Hit – So Why Is It Remembered As A Disappointment?’, SlashFilm (online), 8^th October 2019.

[11] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? Seven Swinging Facts About Disney’s Tarzan’, D23 (online), 18^th June 2019.

[12] Credit: Steve Daly, ‘”Tarzan” changes the face of animation’, Entertainment Weekly (online), 9^th July 1999.

[13] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? Seven Swinging Facts About Disney’s Tarzan’, D23 (online), 18^th June 2019.

[14] Credit: Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes”, from Tarzan (1999) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[15] Credit: Dave Shute, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: The “Extinct” Shows of Theater in the Wild’, YourFirstVisit.Net, date unknown.

[16] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Story of Tarzan’s Treehouse’, MousePlanet (online), 18^th April 2018.

[17] Credit: Shannen Ace, ‘New ‘Tarzan’ 25^th Anniversary Loungefly Ears, Terk Plush, and More at Walt Disney World’, WDWNT.com, 15^th August 2024.

The Disney Purist

Film Review Site

Tag / Disney Animation

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