Movie Plot – Lady and The Tramp: The romantic story of two dogs, Lady and the street dog, the Tramp.

Director: Charlie Bean
Writers: Kari Granlund, Andrew Bujalski
Cast: Tessa Thompson, Justin Theroux, Sam Elliott

Most of us know the story

A newly married couple celebrates Christmas at home. Jim gives a young American cocker spaniel as a Christmas present to his wife, whom they call Lady. In the following months, Lady is the center of attention in the house.

She also befriends Jock and Trusty, two dogs from the neighborhood. Well, actually it’s not Jock, but Jacqueline now. Lady’s life changes when Jim and his wife expect their first child. Around the same time, Lady meets a stray dog, who predicts that once the baby is there, the couple won’t pay any more attention to her.

Soon he turns out to be right and once the baby is there and Jim and his wife leave home to visit Jim’s sister, Lady is left behind. She has to deal with aunt Sarah and even though she loves her nephew, she doesn’t like Lady at all. Her cats don’t make it any easier. When aunt Sarah wants to buy a muzzle for Lady she leaves.

In recent years Disney has been scattering around with live-action remakes of their animation classics; retellings with real actors and sets. I maintain that Jungle Book was the only truly successful remake. Other films had a lot of issues in my opinion, especially their latest Mulan film. Although I have to say that I have absolutely nothing against the remakes. There are already new live-action movies planned for the coming years, all based on an animation classic. And, I look forward to them.

Lady and the Tramp, however, marks a new phase, especially if we look at distribution. The film appeared on November 12th directly on streaming service Disney+, making it the first Disney remake that didn’t get a cinema release.

Some changes

Of course the remake is not a total copy, there are a few changes. And of course, it is very politically correct now. Something that Disney stands for super hard, although sometimes I think it’s a bit too much. For example, Jock changed sex and became Jacqueline. I personally thought that was a setback. A good thing is that this time Darling is an African-American. That felt right.

Jim and Darling, the owners of Lady, this time more emphatically present and in full view. Besides that, the couple is a lot less mean to Lady. And also in the field of emancipation a change can be seen. Tramp does not have to defend Lady’s honor this time when she is threatened, as she herself stands her own ground. It was a pretty funny scene, but again I was a bit disappointed. And that was purely because I thought it was such a cool scene in the cartoon.

Furthermore, some additions were made, something that seemed necessary to fill the longer playing time. One of the most beautiful adaptations is when Lady and Tramp end up on a ferry to see the city. Another is the addition of a background story for Tramp, which is shown to us in a flashback and gives an extra layer to his character. Here I had almost shed a tear, however, I was watching this movie with my girlfriend. Because of that, no male tears were shed.

The voice cast

My biggest criticism about this film will be the voice cast. I don’t know how Jungle Book did it, but in that film everything felt perfect in terms of casting.

In Lady and the Tramp, I had a hard time with a few voices. This was the case with Lady, I just didn’t think it came across as credible. And nothing against Tessa Thompson, but it didn’t click. The Tramp, on the other hand, felt good.

Trusty is another example that didn’t work for me. Again, I didn’t think this came across as convincing. I have to say that this might not be the case with you.

Conclusion

I’m a little critical towards Lady and The Tramp, but I have to admit that I enjoyed this film.

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