Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Written by Erdman Penner, et al.
Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, & Wilfred Jackson

I have something to admit: I can’t stand movies in which animals, especially dogs, can talk, and they go through hardships. Not because they’re bad movies, but because I always over-sympathize with the dogs. Any sad dog, and I instantly get tears in my eyes. I’m ashamed to admit that I even teared up at Beverly Hills Chihuahua…its so dumb, but sad dogs just pull at my heartstrings faster than anything else.

So, of course I spent a lot of the time watching Lady and the Tramp trying not to cry. It’s been, by my calculation, over 25 years since I’ve seen the film, and doggone it, perhaps it needs to be that long before I watch it again, because those dang dogs toy with my emotions far too much.

This film is beautifully animated…as I watched it, I had to keep reminding myself that the film is over 60 years old, because the animation quality holds up just that well. That’s not to say it could have been animated today, its not quite that advanced, but out of context, I’d have placed it squarely in the late 80’s, early 90’s.

D’awwwww…

The dog characters are fully realized, and I loved seeing their interpretations of what are, to humans, ordinary events. I didn’t recall that Lady even had any dialogue, and Tramp was such a smooth talker, I bought into his character 100%. And, of course, how cute is that spaghetti scene?

Bad kitties…

Another milestone here is, this is the first Disney film in which one of the villains, in this case, the Siamese Cats, get their own song (I’m not counting the Pirate’s song from Peter Pan as a villain song, as the Pirates in question aren’t even secondary antagonists).

One last question, how can the dogs read? There’s a plot point that revolves around it, and its never explained.

I found myself not taking many notes here, but I’m not sure if that speaks to how good the film is or isn’t. Certainly, there are great moments within it, and other moments that are uncomfortable (I’m looking at you, racist cats). Lady and the Tramp has always been, for me, a film that I didn’t feel the need to watch over and over again, mostly because as good as the technical aspects are, there isn’t a hook to draw me back in. I’d be curious to hear from anyone who considers this their favorite, and why.

FINAL GRADE: B