Lady and the Tramp (1955)

In Disney's film (the studio's 15th animated feature film) - it was a musical love story between two anthropomorphic dogs from differing classes and backgrounds; the fable referenced the time period of the early 20th century when America was becoming a melting pot of immigrants, allowing the film to comment on themes of class differences, breeding, and social mobility. However, the film faced controversy and criticism for its stereotypical representation of two Asian cats as evil, with slanted eyes and broken English.

The plot was based on Ward Greene's 1945 Cosmopolitan Magazine short story titled "Happy Dan, the Cynical Dog"; it was the first Disney animated feature released in widescreen CinemaScope (2.55:1), and opened at the same time as Disneyland in Anaheim, California; there were two follow-up films: (1) the direct-to-video sequel Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure (2001), and (2) a live-action/CGI hybrid remake also titled Lady and the Tramp (2019):

• during the opening credits, two title cards presented a quote: "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 tail" - Josh Billings [a 19th century Yankee humorist] so it is to all dogs - be they LADIES or TRAMPS that this picture is respectfully dedicated -

Title Screens Dedication

• the film opened in a small Midwestern town at the turn of the century (in the year 1909), on a celebratory Christmas Eve, to the tune of "Bella Notte": ("Holy is the spirit of this night All the world is calm and peaceful All the world is bright and joyful Spirit of love And child of peace Love unending That shall not cease")
• in the upper-class two-story household of Jim Dear and Darling (with first names only, and with faces that were rarely seen), a brown-on-tan, refined female cocker-spaniel puppy named Lady was given as a gift by Jim Dear to his wife Darling; the animal was presented in a purple striped hat box and with a red ribbon bow around its neck; the first night, Lady was feeling lonely and refused to sleep in her pet bed in the kitchen, preferring instead to be pampered and sleep on the human's bed
• her playful and happy daily routine included pushing Jim Dear's slippers to him, running after birds in the backyard, burying a bone in the garden, chasing away a threatening rat (a foreshadowing), and bringing in the day's newspaper; the couple were very pleased with the new addition to their home: "I just don't know how we ever got along without her"
• during her pleasant, well-tended life with the couple, Lady marked her six- month milestone by proudly receiving a collar with a license; she also befriended two other licensed neighborhood dogs -- heavy-accented Scottish terrier Jock (who hoarded bones in a backyard) and elderly, slow-witted, forgetful, smell-impaired Southern-accented bloodhound Trusty with droopy ears

Scottish Terrier Jock

Southern-Accented Bloodhound Trusty

Stray Mutt Tramp

• across town living in the back-streets near the railway yard, another scruffy, independent, grey-colored, mangy, roguish stray mutt was introduced, named Tramp; the raffish, collar-less, resourceful dog (an mixed American breed) roamed the town's streets, and as a clever, good-natured, and optimistic freeloader, he often perused the town for bones and scraps of food at ethnic restaurants, and from his favorite locale Tony's - an Italian restaurant
• Tramp greeted two other unlicensed, stray dogs who had just been impounded by the local dog catcher -- an English bulldog named Bull with a Cockney accent, and floozy Pekingese Peg with unkempt hair; he was able to release them from the wagon, and distract the dogcatcher to save them by racing away - and eventually ended up in the neat and clean neighborhood where Lady resided
• the expected coming of a baby for Jim Dear and Darling caused Lady to become upset, perplexed and worried; she was increasingly being neglected or ignored by the preparations of the two prospective parents; Darling sat in a rocking chair to knit "booties" - which meant no walks or time for playing ball with Lady; she expressed her concerns to her friends Jock and Trusty, who attempted to explain to her what a baby was: ("They resemble humans. But I'd say a mite smaller. Aye. And they walk on all fours. And if I remember correctly, they bellow a lot. Aye. And they're very expensive. You will not be permitted to play with it. But they're mighty sweet. And very, very soft. Just a cute little bundle. Of trouble")
• after Tramp's arrival in the high-class section of town where Lady resided - a neighborhood of the privileged and pure-blooded with fenced manicured lawns, yards and fences, he attempted to help Jock and Trusty describe what was happening to Lady; he called babies "homewreckers" and warned Lady that she would frequently be pushed aside (to prevent fleas or barking), lack attention, and would no longer receive scraps of food; there would be lectures, loss of status and punishments by being sent to the yard's leaky doghouse during a rain-storm
• Jock tried to silence Tramp's disturbing words: "Do not listen, Lassie. No human is that cruel. Of course not, Miss Lady. Why, everybody knows a dog's best friend is his human....And we've no need for mongrels and their radical ideas. Off with you, now"; but Tramp reiterated his warning: "When a baby moves in, a dog moves out"
• once the infant baby boy arrived about five months later at springtime, Tramp's words would soon turn prophetic; at first, however, Lady was introduced to the new member of the household and patted on the head, she smiled and initially was very protective and fond of the child
• later, the couple announced that they would be taking a short vacation trip, and Aunt Sarah would be coming to care for the house and the baby; the dog-hating Aunt Sarah brought her two cruel, wily and trouble-making Siamese cats into the household; Lady was relegated to a downstairs box for her bed
• the two slanty-eyed, slinky, crafty, and mischievous Si and Am sang "The Siamese Cat Song" ("We are Si-a-me-se if you please. We are Siamese if you don't please"); they terrorized Lady and the household's pet bird and fish, and caused a destructive mess (breaking a flower vase, clawing the curtains, etc.), that Aunt Sarah blamed on Lady; she was taken to a pet store to be fitted for a combination leash and muzzle
• frightened by the experience, Lady ran away and was chased by three vicious, snarling, and barking stray dogs into the poor side of town on the other side of the tracks; Tramp heroically appeared as her hero to fight them off and save her from the threat; then, he asked: "Hey, Pige, what are you doing on this side of the tracks?"; he helped her to remove her muzzle by tricking a beaver (with a lisp) in a zoo to gnaw it off
• afterwards, Tramp showed Lady how he lived - it was a very different world of collar-less dogs and footloose living; he explained how he wasn't tied down, and was known by many different names by a variety of families: ("One for every day of the week. The point is, none of them have me")
• in the film's most memorable and romantically-sweet sequence, the mongrel Tramp introduced Lady to his Wednesday meal location at Tony's, where he was known as "Butch"; the two were serenaded for a candlelit meal by a waiter singing the love song ''Belle Notte" ("For this is the night It's a beautiful night And we call it Bella Notte, Look at the skies They have stars in their eyes On this lovely bella notte Side by side With your loved one You'll find enchantment here The night will weave its magic spell When the one you love is near")

• they shared a romantic meal of "two spaghetti speciale. Heavy on the meats-a ball" at the back entrance to Tony's; they each started chewing or slurping on opposite ends of a spaghetti strand and were startled to unexpectedly meet in the middle - where they kissed. Lady blushed charmingly, as he nudged a meatball toward her with his nose as a symbol of his affection
• after their meal and by the next morning, Tramp introduced Lady "to what a dog's life can really be" - without life on a leash: ("There's a great big hunk of world down there with no fence around it. Where two dogs can find adventure and excitement. And beyond those distant hills, who knows what wonderful experiences? And it's all ours for the taking, Pige"); on their way to escort her home, he suggested chasing hens in a fenced-in chicken coop just for fun ("Start building some memories")
• they were shot at (by an unseen human), causing them to flee; during pursuit, Lady was snagged by the dog-catcher and separated from Tramp; there was a colorful assortment of dogs in the local City Dog Pound, including a howling group known as the "Pound Dogs": the recaptured, drooling English bulldog Bull, Brooklyn-accented and street-smart ringleader Toughy, thick Mexican-accented, small and slender brown tunnel-digging Chihuahua Pedro, and Boris - a tall, slender, wise and thoughtful, gray Russian Wolfhound (aka Borzoi); joining them was small and slender German-accented dachshund Dachsie, and sultry, blondish and tough Pekingese Peg - one of the cast-off 'dames' that Tramp had once been with; the captured pound dogs sang a memorable chorus of "There's No Place Like Home (Home, Sweet Home)," just before Lady was delivered and locked up
• the pound dogs, especially Bull and Toughy, teased and questioned Lady about her high-class upbringing; and derided her as "Miss Park Avenue herself" and as "a regular bloomin' debutante"; Lady was jokingly asked: "Hey, whatcha in for, sweetheart? Putting fleas on the butler?"; Peg intervened and tried to shelter and defend Lady: "Can't you see the poor kid's scared enough already?"; the license around Lady's neck was considered her "passport to freedom"
• as Nutsy was taken on the "long walk...through the one-way door" (to be euthanized), the dogs extolled how Tramp could always evade the dog-catchers ("there's a bloke what never gets caught") and find his way out of a tight jam; but they described how he had one "Achilles heel" weakness for "dames" and his multiple past girlfriends: ("He has an eye for a well-turned paw, he has")
• Peg sang a tribute song to Tramp, titled "He's a Tramp" - warning Lady about Tramp's reputation: ("He's a tramp He's a scoundrel He's a rounder He's a cad He's a tramp But I love him")
• moments later, due to her identifying collar-license, Lady was returned home, as Peg told her: "You're too nice a girl to be in this place"; however, Lady was quite shaken, "embarrassed and frightened" by her experience as a "jailbird," topped off with being banished from the house and chained to the yard's doghouse by Aunt Sarah; Jock and Trusty attempted to console her
• the rascally Tramp appeared and asked "Anything new in the kennel club set?"; then, he apologized to Lady for being separated from her, but she remained aloof and angry, and criticized him for all of his past lady-friends, as thunder sounded and it began to rain

The Rat's Entry into the Yard and House

Tramp vs. Large Rat

• Tramp sadly left the yard, but was called back by Lady's frantic barking and snarling at an approaching rat, that was threatening to enter the house and attack the baby in the upstairs nursery; Tramp redeemed himself when he viciously and heroically fought against the disgusting large rat and killed it; when Aunt Sarah entered the nursery and saw the overturned baby crib, she mistakenly regarded Tramp as an intruder: ("Caught him attacking a baby"), and locked him in a closet before he was apprehended by the dog-catcher and taken away; the old bloodhound Trusty admitted Tramp had been misjudged: ("We should've known. I misjudged him")
• once Jim Dear and Darling returned shortly later, Lady was able to vindicate Tramp by showing them the dead rat; meanwhile, Jock and Trusty pursued the dogcatcher's wagon, barked at the horses to spook them, and caused the wagon to topple over (it fell on Trusty and injured him - later revealed as a broken right leg); brought to the scene in Jim Dear's car, Lady was happily reunited with the vindicated Tramp
• by Christmastime as the film concluded, Tramp (now domesticated and with his own license and collar) had been adopted as part of Lady's family and household, and they were proud parents of a litter of four puppies (the three females were identical to Lady and the one male was Tramp-like)