Disney Era Analysis – Lady and the Tramp
As mentioned in the first blog post in this series, I’ll be writing analysis content on all 60+ Disney animated feature films and their film making eras.
The third era is the Silver Age, which ran from 1950 to 1967 and started with Cinderella. As mentioned in a previous blog post, the Silver Age is also known as the “restoration age,” as the films during this era returned to Disney’s roots of feature-length narratives and adaptations of famous narratives, having high-art animation, being approachable (cartoonish gags, music from contemporary artists, and a lighter approach to storytelling), steering clear of intense scenes, and being heartwarming with happy endings, good morals, and catchy songs.
So how well did Lady and the Tramp measure up to these famous features, and was it the right film to mark the halfway point of the era?
Returning to Disney’s roots of feature-length narratives and adaptation of famous narratives:
Lady and the Tramp is based on Ward Greene’s 1945 Cosmopolitan magazine story, Happy Dan, the Cynical Dog, as well as the sketches of Disney story man, Joe Grant.
According to the film’s IMDb page, Ward Greene wrote a novelisation of his magazine story, which Walt Disney insisted be released two years before the film was released to give audiences time to familiarise themselves with the plot.
Having high-art animation:
Lady and the Tramp was the first animated feature film to be filmed in CinemaScope, which actually made the animation of the film difficult.
According to the film’s IMDb page, the wider canvas space made it difficult for a single character to dominate the screen, and groups had to be spread out to keep the screen from appearing too sparse. Layout artists had to reinvent their technique, longer takes were required, and animators had to remember to move their characters across a background, instead of the background passing behind them. However, the animators managed to overcome these issues, which was evident during the Tramp and rat chase scene (and Wolfgang Reitherman’s choice to keep rats in a cage next to his desk to study their actions before animating that scene would have helped as well).
According to the film’s IMDb page, the decision to film in CinemaScope was made when the film was already in production, which resulted in the background paintings having to be extended to fit the new format, with overlays added to cover up the extension seams.
According to the film’s IMDb page, background artists made models of the interior of Jim Dear and Darling’s house and shot photos from a deliberately low angle to simulate a dog’s point of view, as well as provide a guide for staging.
Ultimately, Lady and the Tramp was made in both CinemaScope and standard Academy ratio version, as most theatres weren’t equipped to show a film in CinemaScope.
Being approachable (cartoonish gags, music from contemporary artists, and a lighter approach to storytelling):
Cartoonish gags:
I felt that the scene with the beaver and the log was cartoonish, but fun to watch. The brief scenes with the Siamese cats were not so much a cartoonish gag, but rather their movements were cartoonish, too cartoonish for Walt Disney’s liking, which led to most of the footage featuring them being omitted from the final film.
Music from contemporary artists:
Interestingly, some of the songs were co-written and performed by Peggy Lee, who also voiced Darling, and was a music superstar at the time of the film’s production. Oliver Wallace composed and conducted the film’s score.
A lighter approach to storytelling:
I personally felt that the sweet and cute nature of Lady, Tramp, Jock, and Trusty, provided the lighter approach to the storytelling of the film.
Steering clear of intense scenes:
I personally found that the scenes where Lady was chased by aggressive dogs through Tramp’s neighbourhood, and the subsequent fight between Tramp and the aggressive dogs to be intense. I also found the chase and fight scene between Tramp and the rat, as well as the scene where Jock and Trusty try to stop the pound carriage, to be intense.
Interestingly, Walt Disney found the scene where Jock and Trusty tried to stop the pound carriage to be so intense that he had the animators include Trusty at the end of the film to show he wasn’t killed, which is how it looked at the end of the scene (I thought he had died). Walt Disney made this request as he was worried it would be traumatic, like Bambi’s mother’s death.
Being heartwarming with happy endings, good morals, and catchy songs:
Lady and Tramp was heartwarming throughout, which I put down to the sweet and cute nature of the main dogs, as well as the beautiful scenic animation, and the lack of obvious villain (it’s been argued that the rat’s actions were purely instinctive, and you could say the same about Aunt Sarah). It definitely had a happy ending with Tramp and Lady having babies of their own, Tramp being adopted by Jack Dear and Darling, and all of them, along with Jock and Trusty, becoming an unofficial but loving family.
In regards to good morals, Lady and Tramp touches upon the importance of love, family, loyalty and friendship. One main moral I felt was present throughout was to not let class get in the way of love, with classism also being a major theme present throughout the film.
In regards to catchy songs, I felt that “Bella Notte” and “He’s a Tramp” were the catchiest ones.
My overall thoughts:
I loved Lady and the Tramp and feel that it is the best film of the Silver Age so far. I was smiling from ear to ear, I loved the sweet and cute nature of the characters and the film overall, and it was fun to watch. The fact that Walt Disney found this film fun to make is evident.
The film was well-written with Christmas bookending the film, the events leading to the climax of the film foreshadowed in subtle ways, and the early 20th century setting being subtly referenced through certain expressions, with the time jump feeling natural rather than jarring.
One thing that does unfortunately bring the film down is the Asian racial stereotypes present with the Siamese cats, that did not age well at all.
Ultimately, it was a good film to mark the halfway point of the era, especially with it being made in CinemaScope.
The next part of the Disney Era Analysis series will focus on Sleeping Beauty.
Fun Facts and Trivia:
- According to the film’s IMDb page, Walt Disney didn’t want to include the ‘Bella Notte’ spaghetti-eating scene, which went on to become one of the most iconic moments in Disney’s history.
- To maintain a dog’s perspective, Darling and Jim Dear’s faces are rarely seen.
- Tramp never calls Lady by her actual name, he instead calls her by two nicknames: Pigeon (Pidge) and Kid.
- Darling’s real name is never revealed, with her friends at the baby shower referring to her as ‘Darling.’ It’s never made clear whether it is her real name or a term of endearment.
- Jock is suspicious of Tramp the moment he meets him. His breed, Scottish Terrier, is naturally suspicious of other dog they don’t know.
- The opening scene of Jim Dear giving Lady to Darling was based on an incident in Walt Disney’s life – he had forgotten a dinner date he had with his wife and gave her a puppy in a hatbox to make up for it.
References:
Loveday Writing 