"You see, Pige, when you’re footloose and collar free, you take nothing but the best."
Disney's 1955 cartoon, "Lady and the Tramp", is not only one of Disney's most engaging films, it's also one of their most exquisitely done. The movie proves as endearing today as the first time it appeared so many years ago.
The moviemakers preface the film with a remark from nineteenth-century American humorist Josh Billings: "In the whole history of the world there is but one thing that money can not buy.….to wit - the wag of a dog's tale."
Lady is a beautiful, pampered, little brown-and-white purebred cocker spaniel raised from a puppy by an upper middle class American couple, Jim Dear and Darling. Lady's best friends are the neighbourhood dogs, a Scottish terrier named Jock and old bloodhound named Trusty. Everything goes swimmingly for the Lady and the family, until Jim Dear and Darling have a baby, and Lady starts feeling left out.
Things get even worse a few months later when Jim Dear and Darling head off on a trip, and the not so friendly Aunt Sarah arrives to babysit. She’s not a dog person, and she’s brought along Lady’s archenemies – her fiendish cats, Si and Am. Naturally, trouble ensues, and after being muzzled and banished to the doghouse outside, Lady runs away. She’s on her own in the scary city, until she meets Tramp, a dog from the other side of the tracks. He’s a streetwise mutt with none of Lady’s style, but a heart of gold. Soon, a romance blooms between the two dogs, which leads to many romantic scenes, including the scene where they share an Italian dinner and connect through a single strand of spaghetti, which has been copied in so many other movies after it.
On the whole, "Lady and the Tramp" is one of Disney's most appealing and enduring animated films, told with a creative dog's eye view of the world.
"So it is to all dogs.....be they ladies or tramps that this picture is dedicated"
thus spake Pollyanna @ 8:18 pm
Footprints: 10
