Once Upon A Disney #15: Lady and the Tramp

The golden age continues this week with the adorable, if slightly traumatic and racist...

Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Lockdown, week 5 - Feeling cosy

Previous Disney films have already shown us that the studio is very fond of their canine pals, but this one cements it. Following a typical 1950s opening (painted concept art with a swooning choir singing 'Bella Notte'), we are told that this movie is dedicated to dogs. And immediately, I'm sold.

Zooming into a nostalgic scene of snow-covered houses in 1909, we are introduced to Lady, a gift for a wealthy new wife on Christmas Day. Thankfully, this puppy isn't just for Christmas, because she is RIDICULOUSLY cute. A wide-eyed, loveable spaniel, the animators have found the key to our hearts. As Lady scrambles to win a place on her owners' bed – Jim Dear and Darling, as we know them through her ears – her movements are uncanny for a real-life dog. Being fairly closely acquainted with a cockapoo, I know all too well the whining at the door, and the excitable tail wagging when said door is opened. She's just precious.

The gift to end all gifts

Just as well-observed as Lady is her dependable doggy neighbours, Jock the Scotty dog, and Trusty the bloodhound, with no sense of smell. Soon we start to develop a sense of canine community, with the whole film shot as a dog's eye level. We rarely see past human waists, and everything the owners talk about is interpreting through the innocence of a pooch.

With this in mind, Lady is understandably concerned when she starts being ignored, and Jock figures out that her owner Darling is pregnant.  For a dog, this means the potential to get shut out, and for a spaniel, sacrificing undivided attention. Enter troublemaker, the Tramp. Full of Sky Masterson charm, he adds fuel to the fire, telling her that her owners will have no time for her once the baby arrives. However, Tramp proves his position as loveable rogue when the doggy poop hits the fan.

'Get out of my pub'

As if she's not troubled enough, things go from bad to worse for Lady – much worse. After discovering that Jim Dear and Darling still love her even after the baby is born, Lady is content. But then her beloved owners go away for the weekend and Aunt Sarah really f-s it up. Firstly, she clearly hates dogs and won't let Lady near the baby. Not cool. Secondly, her Siamese cats are evil personified. Perhaps on a par with Cinderella's Lucifer, they destroy the house, blame it on Lady (which gets her muzzled!) and try to eat the goldfish all in the space of 5 minutes. Oh, and sing an extremely racist song, but I suppose that's not their fault. One thing's for sure – Disney is not a cat-lover.

'We'll never get our deposit back!'

Lady's dash for freedom from the muzzling causes her path to cross with Tramp once again. Now in dire need of a helping hand, Tramp uses his resourcefulness to help her out, charming the spaniel along the way. After tricking a beaver to nibble her muzzle clean off ('It works shhhwell!') the pair head for Tony's, where their romantic Italian date goes down in Disney history. While real dogs would growl at each other to try and swipe that last meatball, we'll forgive the storytellers for using dramatic license here. The 'Bella Notte' montage, where the new couple takes a moonlit stroll through the park, draped in muted blues, is genuinely pretty romantic. It helps that the entire town looks like Mainstreet USA in Disneyland, with pretty shopfronts and turn-of-the-century architecture.

Find yourself someone who looks at you like this mongrel looks at a spaniel <3

But of course, Tramp ruins it and gets Lady into trouble again – the scoundrel. Thrown into the Pound, Lady is distraught and heartbroken. The perfect time for sultry Pekingese Peg to let her know that Tramp is a player, through the medium of a jazz number. 'He's A Tramp,' accompanied by a howling barbershop quartet, is signature Peggy Lee, and wouldn't be out of place in a human musical of the time. We're thinking Guys and Dolls, White Christmas style.

When you go a bit too heavy on Bank Holiday weekend 

It takes something even more sinister than the shockingly racist Si and Am to give Tramp the opportunity to redeem himself. A massive, terrifying rat. Having seen Lady chase this evil bastard off the backyard earlier in the film, he's back – and for some reason, he wants to attack the baby?! So dark. When Lady and the Tramp infiltrate the nursery to protect the newborn, Aunt Sarah thinks they are the danger, and sends Tramp to the Pound.

Thankfully Jim Dear and Darling arrive home just in time and set things straight, but not before Jock and Trusty chase after the dogcatcher's wagon to rescue Tramp. In heroic fashion, Trusty tracks him down, but gets crushed under a wheel in the process. Honestly, this was an emotional rollercoaster. Following some genuine trauma, Lady and the Tramp delivers the perfect happily ever after, with Trusty on the mend, and new puppies in the neighbourhood. Boxes ticked.

Our faces when we saw this biological inaccuracy 

Best Song: 'He's A Tramp' because Peggy Lee. And the howling dog backing singers.

Disney Detail: The film is also set in Walt Disney's favourite time period, the 1900s, on which he based large sections of his Disney parks. He saw it as a nostalgic yet optimistic time. Peggy Lee voices not just Peg, but Si and Am, and Darling. Finally, no-one knows whose initials J.M and E.B are, written in a heart in cement during Lady and the Tramp's date.

Why it's a Classic: It gave us that iconic spaghetti scene.