• Consequence
  • Music
  • Film
  • TV
  • Heavy
Menu Consequence
Menu Shop Search Sale
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Live
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
Advertisement
  • Film
  • Film Reviews

Film Review: Disney+’s Lady and the Tramp Feels Neutered

There's something off about this tale of two dogs

Lady and the Tramp (Disney+)
C
Advertisement
Clint Worthington Follow
November 12, 2019 | 8:38am ET

    The Pitch: One Christmas morning in a quaint Midwestern town in 1909, Jim Dear (Thomas Mann) gifts his wife Darling (Kiersey Clemons) with an adorable Cocker spaniel she names Lady (voiced by Tessa Thompson). After a few years as the Dears’ loyal, sophisticated housepet, though, Lady senses that the impending arrival of Darling’s new child will leave her without a home. One terrifying dogsitting stint from nosy cat lover Aunt Sarah (Yvette Nicole Brown) later, and Lady’s out on the street with nowhere to go; luckily for her, she runs into a cocky mutt with no name (voiced by Justin Theroux) and an equally independent perspective on life. Sparks fly, dogs kiss over noodles, you know the rest.

    Isle of Dogs: As Disney remakes go, Lady and the Tramp is certainly one of the more inoffensive of the bunch. It’s fitting that it’s headed straight for streaming (as part of Disney+’s opening slate), since everything about Charlie Bean’s remake of the 1955 original screams a kind of warm, gentle safeness. It’s a warm blanket disguised as a motion picture, focus-tested and guaranteed to not ruffle feathers (or fur) while making sure children don’t lose the script. It feels made for TV, for lack of a better term, and perhaps its best to judge it on those terms. Some of the cinematography is pleasantly warming in its amber glow, and Bean’s history as an animator makes for some clear, matter-of-fact visual language.

    But even then, there’s something off about the sickly-sweet treacle on display, which doesn’t feel this pronounced even in the 60-year-old film to which it’s paying homage. Part of it is the dogs themselves: while the real Lady and the Tramp (and the rest of their canine coterie) are portrayed by adorable real-life dogs — Lady, a spirited cocker spaniel named Rose, and Tramp a schnauzer-shepherd mix named Monte — their voices are accented by CG animated lips and facial movements that only occasionally divert. To their credit, Thompson and Theroux throw themselves into spirited voicework, evoking the kind of easy romantic chemistry of the original. But by the time you get around to seeing two real dogs slurp the same spaghetti noodle until their lips meet, the eerieness of the effect takes you out of it. (Which is a shame, because otherwise the “Bella Notte” scene is one of the film’s rare highlights.)

    Advertisement
    Related Video

    If You Don’t Please: The rest of the cast fares little better. As Aunt Sarah, Brown gets little to do but frenzied pantomime schtick; Mann and Clemons are stuck as the pleasant bores who love Lady with all their heart, and that’s about all we see. The other dogs don’t get used as much as one would like, with Sam Elliott’s Trusty and Ashley Jensen as a female Jock only around for the occasional quip. Janelle Monáe crops up as the Pekinese Peg, who offers a rousing (if disturbingly sultry) version of “He’s a Tramp,” and she at least throws herself into the material like a dog chasing a bone.

    As for the original’s most controversial (and poorly aged) scene, screenwriters Andrew Bujalski (Support the Girls) and Kari Granlund correctly recognize that 2019’s probably a bad time to bring back the Siamese cats and their accompanying “We are Siamese, if you please” song. But like John Legend’s proposed replacement lyrics for “Baby It’s Cold Outside” (“It’s your body and your choice”), what they do instead is hardly entertaining — now, Aunt Sarah’s Siameses crop up for a limp, jazz-infused ditty that goes in one ear and right out the other.

    Homeward Bound: It might feel weird to say for a Disney+ film, but this version of Lady and the Tramp actually lacks the thematic complexity of its ’50s inspiration. Go back and watch the original, and you’ll see some interesting exploration of class amongst its animal antics, with two dogs from different sides of the tracks learning to reconcile their differences. Here, there’s just some pablum about celebrating your independence, but also learning the value of finding a family. Lady’s more outspoken here, which makes her character more active but blunts any lessons she might have to learn as a babe in the woods. The Tramp, meanwhile, is effectively rewritten as a canine fuckboi: his major beef is that he’s not a ‘relationship’ guy (“I’m free to be myself, and I’m free to be ‘by’ myself”). And all of it is painted over with the aggressively pleasant staging and colorblind casting that’s a breath of fresh air from a representation standpoint, but whose presence adds substantively little to the proceedings.

    Advertisement

    The Verdict: With Disney+’s release, Lady and the Tramp is put in the curious position of coming out the same day as its inspiration hits streaming for the first time. To that end, viewers have the intriguing dilemma of having both available to watch on the same service: which will they choose? Either way, you’ll have a pleasant, if tooth-achingly sweet time with whatever version of Lady and the Tramp you choose to enjoy. Maybe you can sit your kids down in front of both and give them an early lesson in what is gained — and lost — in the art of adaptation.

    Where’s It Playing? Lady and the Tramp canoodles over noodles on Disney+ when it launches November 12th.

    Trailer:

     

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit

Actors

  • Janelle MonĂ¡e

More on this topic

  • Andrew Bujalski
  • Ashley Jensen
  • Disney
  • Disney Plus
  • Justin Theroux
  • Kiersey Clemons
  • Lady and the Tramp
  • Live-Action Remake
  • Sam Elliott
  • Tessa Thompson
  • Thomas Mann
  • Yvette Nicole Brown

Sign up for updates

Subscribe to our email digest and get the latest breaking news in music, film, and television, tour updates, access to exclusive giveaways, and more straight to your inbox.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Tiktok
Advertisement

Popular Stories

Frank Ocean 2022

Music

Frank Ocean Selling $25,000 Luxury Cock Ring

Robert and Toyah Crazy Train

Heavy Consequence

Robert Fripp and Toyah Jump Aboard Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train": Watch

Get Ready for Summer With Branded Tees & More Apparel

Get Ready for Summer With Branded Tees & More Apparel

Advertisement

Anne Heche

TV

Anne Heche Seriously Injured After Crashing Car into Los Angeles Home

john leguizamo james franco fidel castro casting appropriation

Film

John Leguizamo Calls Out James Franco's Casting as Fidel Castro: "He Ain't Latino!"

Personalized Stories

Around The Web

Latest Stories

C-
They/Them Review Kevin Bacon

They/Them Review: Kevin Bacon-Starring Slasher Proves Hollow

August 5, 2022

B+
Bodies Bodies Bodies Review A24

Bodies Bodies Bodies Skewers Gen-Z Figuratively and Literally: Review

August 4, 2022

A-
Prey Review Predator Sequel Hulu

Prey Is the Predator Sequel We've All Been Waiting For: Review

August 3, 2022

C-
Bullet Train (Sony Pictures Entertainment)

Brad Pitt's Bullet Train Gets Derailed By Its Smarmy Sense of Humor: Review

August 2, 2022

Advertisement

News

  • Music
  • New Music
  • Album Streams
  • Upcoming Releases
  • Film
  • TV
  • Pop Culture
  • Tours

Reviews

  • Music Reviews
  • Film Reviews
  • TV Reviews
  • Concert Reviews
  • Festival Reviews

Features

  • Editorials
  • Interviews
  • Cover Stories
  • Lists
  • Rankings
  • Artist of the Month
  • Song of the Week

Live

  • Concert Tickets
  • Festival Tickets
  • Festival News
  • Tour Dates
  • Livestreams
  • Music Instruments & Gear

Heavy

  • News
  • Interviews
  • Concerts

More

  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Music Videos
  • Streaming
  • Wellness
  • Giveaways

Other sites

  • Heavy Consequence
  • Consequence Media
  • About
  • Privacy policy
  • Advertising
  • Terms
  • Contact
  • Copyright
  • Do not sell my personal information

Download our app

  • Get it on the App Store
  • Get it on Google Play
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Tiktok
Consequence
Current story

Film Review: Disney+'s Lady and the Tramp Feels Neutered

Menu Shop Search Sale
Consequence
News
  • All News
  • Music
  • New Music
  • Album Streams
  • Upcoming Releases
  • Film
  • TV
  • Pop Culture
  • Tours
Reviews
  • Music Reviews
  • Film Reviews
  • TV Reviews
  • Concert Reviews
  • Festival Reviews
Features
  • Editorials
  • Interviews
  • Cover Stories
  • Lists
  • Rankings
  • Artist of the Month
  • Song of the Week
  • Giveaways
Live
  • Concert Tickets
  • Festival Tickets
  • Festival News
  • Tour Dates
  • Livestreams
  • Music Instruments & Gear
Podcasts
  • The Opus
  • Kyle Meredith With...
  • Stanning BTS
  • The Story Behind the Song
  • The What
  • Going There with Dr. Mike
  • The Rome and Duddy Show
  • Rootsland
  • This Must Be The Gig
  • Assembly
Videos
  • Interview
  • Video Essay
  • Fan Theories
  • Sole Kitchen
  • Annotated Video
Heavy
  • News
  • Interviews
  • Concerts
  • Premieres
  • Culture
  • Beyond the Boys Club
  • Mining Metal
Shop

Follow Consequence

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Tiktok
Close
Close