Lady and the Tramp

Wilfred Jackson
 Produced by
 Written by
Erdman Penner
Joe Rinaldi
Ralph Wright
Don DaGradi
Concept
Joe Grant
Novel
Ward Greene
 Starring
Barbara Luddy
Larry Roberts
Bill Thompson
Bill Baucom
 Music by
Peggy Lee
Sonny Burke
 Editors
 Cinematography
 Studios
 Distributors
 Release date (s)
 Language
 Preceded by
 Followed by
*Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure*

**Lady and the Tramp**is a 1955 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released to theaters on June 22, 1955, by Buena Vista Distribution, making it the first Disney animated film to not be distributed by RKO Pictures. The fifteenth animated feature in the Disney Animated Canon , it was the first animated feature filmed in the CinemaScope Widescreen film process. The story, which was based the book Happy Dan, The Whistling Dog by Ward Greene, centers on a female American Cocker Spaniel named Lady who lives with a refined, upper-middle-class family, and a male stray mutt called Tramp. A direct-to-video sequel, *Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure*, was released in 2001. While not a runaway hit at first, today it is considered one of Disney's greatest classics.

## Plot

On Christmas morning 1909, Jim Dear gives his wife, Darling, a cocker spaniel puppy who she names Lady. When Lady grows up, she enjoys a happy life with them and with a pair of dogs from the neighborhood, a Scottish Terrier named Jock and a bloodhound named Trusty. Meanwhile, across town by the railway, a friendly stray silver mutt, referred to as Tramp, dreams to live in a home, be it begging for scraps from an Italian restaurant or protecting his fellow strays, Peg (a Pekingese) and Bull (a bulldog), from the local dogcatcher. At one point, Lady sees a big, sinister-looking rat trying to sneak into the yard and chases it away.

Later, Lady is saddened after Jim Dear and Darling begin treating her rather coldly. Jock and Trusty visit her, and determine that the change in behavior is due to Darling expecting a baby. While Jock and Trusty try to explain what one is, the eavesdropping Tramp enters the conversation and offers his own opinions. Jock and Trusty take an immediate dislike to him and order him out of the yard.

In due time baby Jim Jr. arrives and Jim Dear and Darling introduce Lady to him. Soon after, Jim Dear and Darling decide to go on a trip together, leaving their Aunt Sarah to look after Jim Jr. and the house. When Lady clashes with Aunt Sarah's two Siamese cats, Si and Am, she takes Lady to a pet shop to get a muzzle. A terrified Lady escapes, but is pursued by some alley dogs. Tramp sees the chase and rescues her. They then visit the zoo, where Tramp tricks a beaver into removing the muzzle. That night, Tramp shows Lady how he lives "footloose and collar-free", culminating in a candlelit spaghetti dinner.

As Tramp escorts Lady back home, his last thing is to chase hens in a chicken coop and then he is through being a stray. When they flee, Lady is caught by the dogcatcher. At the the pound, the other dogs admire her license, as it is her way out of there. They also reveal that Tramp had multiple girlfriends in the past, and they feel it's unlikely that he'll ever settle down. Eventually, Lady is collected by Aunt Sarah, who chains her to her doghouse in the backyard. Jock and Trusty visit to comfort her and tell her that strays are not allowed to be adopted. When Tramp arrives to apologize, thunder starts to rumble as she angrily confronts him about his "past sweethearts", after which he sadly leaves.

Moments later, as it starts to rain, Lady sees the same rat from before trying to sneak into the yard again. While it is afraid of her, it is able to evade her and enter the house. She barks frantically, but Aunt Sarah yells at her to be quiet. Tramp hears her and runs back to help. He enters the house and finds the rat in Jim Jr.'s room, and the two engage in a vicious fight. Lady breaks free and races inside to find the rat on Jim Jr.'s crib, as it had intended on killing him. Tramp pounces on it, but knocks over the crib in the process, awakening Jim Jr.. Tramp kills the rat, but when Aunt Sarah comes to Jim Jr.'s aid, she sees the two dogs and thinks they are responsible. She forces Tramp into a closet and Lady into the cellar, then calls the pound to take Tramp away.

Jim Dear and Darling return as the dogcatcher departs with Tramp. They release Lady, who leads them to the dead rat, vindicating Tramp. Feeling ashamed for their mistreatment towards Tramp, Trusty and Jock chase after the dogcatcher's wagon. Jock is convinced Trusty has long since lost his sense of smell, but the he is able to find the wagon. They bark at the horses that rear up and topple the wagon onto a telephone pole. Jim Dear arrives by car with Lady, and she is happily reunited with Tramp before they discover that the wagon fell on Trusty, nearly killing him.

That Christmas, Tramp, now a part of Lady's family, has his own collar and license. He and Lady raise four puppies together: three daughters that resemble Lady (Annette, Collette, and Danielle) and a son that resembles Tramp (Scamp). Jock comes to see the family along with Trusty, who is carefully walking on his still-mending leg. Tramp is happy to have finally become a house dog, and he and Lady live together happily with their children.

## Cast

* Barbara Luddy as Lady
* Larry Roberts as Tramp
* Bill Thompson as Jock, Bull, Dachsie, Policeman, and Joe
* Bill Baucom as Trusty
* Stan Freberg as Beaver
* Verna Felton as Aunt Sarah
* Alan Reed as Boris
* Peggy Lee as Darling, Si and Am, and Peg
* Thurl Ravenscroft as Al the alligator
* Mel Blanc as The Rat
* George Givot as Tony
* Dallas McKennon as Toughy, Pedro, Professor, and Hyena
* Lee Millar as Jim Dear, The Dogcatcher
* Sterling Holloway as Jock's singing voice (uncredited)
* The Mellomen as Dog Chorus
* Mel Blanc as The Stray Dogs
* Taylor Holmes as the Doctor