Barking at the Big Screen: 2019 Lady and the Tramp

How does the latest Disney live-action remake compare to the original? Read our 2019 Lady and the Tramp review.

The most eagerly anticipated part of Disney Plus, in our opinion, was the live-action remake of the 1955 classic Lady and the Tramp. So naturally our 2019 Lady and the Tramp review was one of the first items of business when the streaming service launched on Tuesday, November 12.

Storyline

At Christmastime in a riverfront city, Jim Dear () gives his wife Darling (Kiersey Clemons) a Cocker Spaniel puppy named Lady (Tessa Thompson).

Like all new puppies, Lady doesn’t enjoy being left alone, so she talks her way into sleeping on the human bed, which soon becomes a regular part of the morning routine.

This includes being bathed and brushed Darling, chasing the rat away from the milkman’s deliveries, and visiting with her neighbors Trusty the Bloodhound (Sam Elliott) and Jock (Jacqueline) the Scottie (Ashley Jensen), where she shows off her new collar.

Down at the train yard, the Schnauzer mix Tramp (Justin Theroux) wakes up, steals a sandwich for breakfast and then donates it to a pair of adorable stray puppies. He then breaks his pals Bull the Bulldog (Benedict Wong) and Peg the Pekingese from the Dogcatcher’s wagon.

He hitches a ride on a passing truck to escape, which takes him to Lady’s neighborhood. She’s feeling neglected during the baby shower, and pours out her troubles to a sympathetic Trusty (who turns out to be Tramp). So she naturally protects her yard by barking very ferociously.

The Dogcatcher () stops by, hearing Lady’s barking, much to Jim Dear’s puzzlement, and after he leaves Tramp explains the whole baby concept.

When the family leaves for a vacation, Darling’s opera-singing dog-hating Aunt Sarah () comes to dogsit, and her dogs ruin the furniture and smash vases while singing a jazzy tune.

So Aunt Sarah hustles her off to the pet shop, where she gets muzzled, and then escapes, nearly getting attacked by a stray in the process until Tramp saves her by fast-talking their way out by claiming she has rabies.

With the help of a beaver statue in the park, Lady and the Tramp manage to free the offending muzzle, and then she reluctantly requests his help finding the way back home after realizing she’s lost.

Avoiding the Dogcatcher, they take the scenic route, which involves sneaking onto a steamboat taking a river cruise and listening to a jazz concert.

Then it’s time to tour the city and hit up Restaurant Row, where Joe and Tony at Tony’s whip up a spectacular spaghetti dinner that takes even Tramp a little aback, complete with musical accompaniment in “Belle Notte.” It’s so awkward but heartfelt at the same time.

After dinner he teaches her the joys of howling at the moon, and he reveals that he was dumped by a family once when their baby was born. Then the Dogcatcher shows up and corners Tramp in the train yard, only to escape when Lady causes a diversion, getting caught in the process.

At the city dog pound, she meets Peg, Bull and the rest, and learns about Tramp’s reputation through the “He’s a Tramp” number.

She gets picked up by Jim Dear and Darling and everything goes back to normal – walks, daily brushings, talks with Jock and Trusty – with the addition of a new little girl to protect. Still, she misses Tramp.

And he’s been moping around town, too – which isn’t helped by the fact that Bull and Peg got adopted. They talk him into trying to patch things up with Lady, which is only parttially successful.

As a storm comes in, Lady spots the rat sneaking into the baby’s bedroom, while Jim Dear and Darling  are forced to entertain the Dogcatcher, locking Lady into the pantry. While that’s happening, Tramp battles the rat, getting caught for his heroic efforts.

When she’s released, she shows them the rat and then dashes off in pursuit of the wagon, with Trusty and Jock joining in.

On her own, Lady stops the wagon, which crashes, knocking Tramp out. Jim Dear and Darling rather melodramatically announce that they’re adopting him, and then the story leaps forward to Christmastime, where Jock’s human has adopted the adorable strays, and Tramp gets his own red collar.

Our thoughts

While it was one of the key selling points of the first batch of original Disney Plus content in our opinion, naturally we had to do a 2019 Lady and the Tramp review as soon as possible. Still, given the iffy track record of these projects, our hopes weren’t that high, though we were cautiously optimistic.

While not perfect (is any movie actually?), this is a very satisfying, more in-depth version that delivers in most areas, making it a very welcome addition. The added depth takes what was a fairly flat-though-quite=pleasant tale and turns it into almost a classic romcom in structure, which works.

Plus it’s really cool that Rosie (Lady) and Monte (Tramp) were rescue dogs,

In short, our 2019 Lady and the Tramp review is this: It’s good.

Everybody should give this a watch, though preferably after you rewatch the original.