DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Lady and the Tramp 50th Anniversary Edition

By Jeff Swindoll Feb 25, 2006, 17:51 GMT

As my grandpappy Old Reliable used to say, I don’t recollect that I’ve mentioned Old Reliable before, this is one doggone great DVD. Lady and the Tramp is a perennial Disney favorite and is now given the two disc Platinum Edition treatment. It has been gorgeously restored by Lowry Digital Images.

Lady and the Tramp is the story of how a pampered, spoiled pooch meets a dog from the wrong side of the tracks and how they fall in love. Lady has an interesting production history since Walt and the boys began the animation intended to be fullscreen (1.33:1) but the decision was made to change to Cinemascope (2.55:1) early in production. The animators had to go back and “widen” the backgrounds for the animation that had been done. You’re given the option to watch the film in either fullscreen or widescreen. It’s also Walt Disney’s first feature that was not based on a fairytale or book.Lady also features great songs by Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke and don’t forget the wonderful score by Oliver Wallace. Barbara Luddy (Lady), Larry Roberts (Tramp), Stan Freberg (the Beaver) and Bill Baucom (Trusty) provide excellent vocal work. Bill Thompson (the voice of Droopy) and Peggy Lee also provide excellent vocal work in several roles.

Disney is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Lady and the Tramp with this great release, although a little late since the film was released in 1955. Disc 1 features both the widescreen and fullscreen versions of the movie. Disc 2 is where all of the extras are. The first extra is 12 minutes of deleted scenes. They’re presented in storyboard format with narration. The first is entitled “Turning the Tables” and is a “dream” sequence where humans and dogs switch places. The second is “Arrival of the baby” and is an alternate version of the baby’s arrival at home. The Music and more section features an early cut of the Siamese cat song (4:20) and features two unknown men’s voices instead of Peggy Lee. This section also has the prerequisite redo of a classic Disney song. Bella Notte is sung by Steve Tyrell (2:55), at least it wasn’t redone by the current crop of tweens from the Disney channel shows. Games and Activities features a Disney Virtual Puppy DVD-ROM game and Disney Dog Trivia Virtual Board game (playable on your DVD player, the DVD-ROM game is for your PC). This section also has Going to the Dogs : Disneypedia 9 minute mini-documentary hosted by Fred Willard that’s all about dogs. There’s also a personality quiz that lets you know which Lady and the Tramp dog character that you most resemble.

The Backstage Disney section and this is where the real meat of the extra features is located. First up is the excellent 52 minute making of documentary called Lady’s Pedigree that you can watch with the play all function or look at by chapter. Finding Lady : the Art of the Storyboard is next and is a 13 minute documentary about the storyboarding of Lady. Following that is a section that has a 12 minute narrated tour of the storyboards. They were able to find about 80% of the original storyboarding and it’s very different from the finished movie (it’s more about Lady and Tramp is called Homer(!?!) and is not in it that much. Everybody wants to be a Homer? Glad they changed to Tramp. Continuing, we have the Excepts from Disneyland TV show section starting with a 4-minute introduction. There’s a 17-minute excerpt of the “Story of Dogs” which aired December 1, 1954, and a promo trailer (3:05) for that show. Next up is my personal favorite, an excerpt from “Cavalcade of Songs” that runs 21 minutes and aired December 16, 1955. This features Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke working on the Siamese cat song and has Peggy laying down one track and then singing with the track to make the cat duet. However, my very favorite part is the performance by the Mello Men performing “No Place Like Home” howling like dogs. This section is rounded out by 3 theatrical trailers and a still gallery.

Lady and the Tramp is a fine addition to your Disney DVD Platinum collection. I highly recommend it for its beautiful restoration and plentiful bonus features. Lady and the Tramp 50th Anniversary Edition is available for pre-order at Amazon for a Feb. 28th release. It is now available at AmazonUK. Visit the DVD’s database for more information.

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JackieBFeb 26th, 2006 - 05:01:51

Only four stars for Lady and the Tramp?! Within the animated genre, if Lady and the Tramp doesn't merit five stars, what does?

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Jeff SwindollFeb 28th, 2006 - 13:58:19

The movie may warrant five stars, I'll agree, but the DVD is a four star. Disney has dropped the commentaries that they used to do for the Platinum editions. I'd give the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Dwarves?) DVD five stars. The documentary is very good but it is also very 'nice.' No mention of Peggy Lee's lawsuit that kept Tramp off of VHS for so long (though I doubted they would've said anything anyway, didn't Disney end up loosing the suit?). We will agree to disagree on the starring I imagine.

Cheers.

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NM8trMar 6th, 2006 - 18:17:49

The biggest problem with the new 50th Anniversery DVD of 'Lady and the Tramp' is that the entire widescreen presentation is OUT OF FOCUS. Not as bad as the completely out of focus 'Oklahoma!' that was recently released, but enough to enduce headaches when watching.

Great film, but what a shame it's not been presented as well as it could/should have been.

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NM8trMar 6th, 2006 - 18:22:13

Also, Peggy Lee's lawsuit didn't keep 'Lady and the Tramp' off of VHS. The release of the VHS is what CAUSED the lawsuit. She was hired onto the film as a musician; she co-wrote the songs and sang several of them. The musicians contract stated that she should recieve royalties. Disney wanted to classify her as a voice talent (she also did a few voices in the film), which would not have allowed her royalties.

The film came out on VHS in the mid-'80's and was, at the time, the largest selling VHS ever. When Peggy Lee inquired as to her royalties, Eisner and company sicced their lawyers on the case. MANY years later, Peggy Lee won--and then some. Her royalties and other compensation added up to nearly $30 million.

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AxaisiuakMar 6th, 2006 - 21:47:14

I think Lady and the Tramp really deserved 5 stars not four. It is a great movie and one of the best disney movie created. Lady and the Tramp is a great film so I would really wish that it had 5 stars. For a movie like that, 4 stars is way to bad to that movie!! PLEASE GIVE IT ONE MORE STAR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Patrick LMar 6th, 2006 - 22:32:50

He has said that the movie was worth five stars but the DVD was only worth four stars. His review is not just for the movie, but for the overall DVD. I haven't seen it, but if it goes out of focus from time to time then it doesn't deserve five stars no matter how great it was.

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NM8trMar 7th, 2006 - 00:55:15

It doesn't go out of focus from time to time.

The ENTIRE film is out of focus for the ENTIRE running length.

Disney is aware of this and has no plans to fix it until the HD version is released in the unspecified future.

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BreenaAug 14th, 2006 - 00:47:13

I want this movie!! It's my favorite from Disney and I loooove Tramp soo much!!!

XOXO

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