Disney brings out the sequel to Lady and the Tramp in a limited edition, but if you bought it the first time you probably should skip this one.
The film takes place a short time after the ending of the original. Lady (Jodi Benson) and the Tramp (Jeff Bennett) have moved in with Jim Dear and Darling. They’ve have four pups, the three girls take after mom and Scamp (Scott Wolf) takes after dear old dad. In the fine tradition of Tramp, Scamp feels put upon my house pet life and wants to strike out on his own.
He makes a mess of the house and Jim Dear chains him in the backyard. Tramp tries to have a heart to heart with him, but he says that Tramp doesn’t understand since he’s always been a house dog (little does he know). While in the backyard he witnesses a dog named Angel (Alyssa Milano) running with some other dogs from the Dogcatcher (Jeff Bennett again – his performance and the look of the Dogcatcher are based on Don Knotts).
Tramp escapes and follows Angel and the others to the junkyard. Here he meets the leader of the junkyard dogs, Buster (Chazz Palminteri). The junkyard dogs include Mooch (Bill Fagerbakke), Francois (Bronson Pinchot), Ruby (Cathy Moriarty), and Sparky (Mickey Rooney). Scamp wants to join up with the junkyard dogs, but his father and family are out looking for him. Will they find him before he goes down the path to a life of “crime” and will Scamp discover his father’s secret identity as the greatest junkyard dog of all?
Scamp meets Angel
It’s always ill-advised to attempt a sequel to an all-time classic as my grand pappy old Reliable always told me. This movie in no way comes close to the classic status of the original (I don’t think that any of the direct to video sequels come close, the best you can usually say is that wasn’t too bad). However, if you’re looking for a virtual babysitter, this’ll do. Disney has already released this movie to DVD in 2001 and this new edition adds little to that version.
Scamp’s Adventure is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.66:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. The only new additions special feature wise are some new games, sing along song feature, and the Fast Play system - which basically plays the movie and all video based features automatically if you do not go to the main menu (virtual babysitter).
Special features include a commentary track from director Darrell Rooney, co-director/producer Jeannine Roussell, and director of animation Steve Trenbirth located under the Backstage Disney menu. There are also some DVD games under the Games & Activities menu. The first is called Junkyard games and is new to this release. The other is called Tramp’s Hide and Seek and was on the old disc. The other new feature is under the Music & More menu and allows you to play all 5 songs in the film with on screen lyrics so that you can sing along.
The Backstage Disney menu also contains the 16 minute making of featurette called “Making of Lady and the Tramp II: From Tramp to Scamp.” It features interviews with Jeannine Roussell, Darrell Rooney, Steve Trenbirth, animation timing director Joanna Romersa (who worked on the original film too), original film animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, actor Scott Wolf, supervising animator Andrew Collins, actress Alyssa Milano, supervising animator Lianne Hughes, supervising animator Kevin Peaty, actor Chazz Palminteri, and song/music/lyrics composers Normal Gimbel and Melissa Manchester. Finally they include the bonus Pluto shorts Pluto Jr. (7 minutes), Pluto’s Bone Trouble (8 minutes), and Pluto’s Kid Brother (6 minutes).
Junkyard Dogs
If you have the original release, I don’t think that this limited version has anything worth you purchasing it for. The Disney sequels to their classic films are always a mixed bag. This one is not too bad, but it falls well short of the original. You may want to consider a rental for the kiddies. Actually the real treasure may be the Pluto shorts on the disc.
Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD’s database for more information.
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