Lady and the Tramp (2019)

Tonight, I saw the live action remake of “Lady and the Tramp,” which was released on Disney+ last month. You could probably predict what I’m about to say, but let’s just look at the film first.

When Disney’s new streaming service started, it has given countless movies and television shows from the company and its handful of additional. One of the large porch titles – one of the only new releases included in Disney+’s schedule – is a live-action remake of “Lady and the Tramp.” Disney+ has also given the original 1955 animated version of “Lady and the Tramp,” so anyone who wants to argue the comparative qualities of the two will have the chance. Matt Singer said in his review, “I am not sure the comparisons will be particularly flattering.”

In all honesty, the new “Lady and the Tramp” is fine. With its cast of cute puppies and tame canine adventures, it’s obviously targeted at very young children – and it will almost certainly satisfy that random audience. Singer said, “Still, in a world where it will be available right alongside the original film — both at a click of the exact same button for the same monthly price — I’m not entirely sure why it exists, beyond refreshing this particular IP, reminding customers about the original movie, and slightly padding out Disney+’s lineup of “original” offerings.” It is harmless and pointless.

Once again, the film is about the romantic journeys of a treated family dog named Lady (Tessa Thompson) and a street dog named Tramp (Justin Theroux). As it often happens to dogs, Lady feels ignored after her owners Jim (Thomas Mann) and Darling (Kiersey Clemons) have their first child. She follows the Tramp and they roam around their rural little town – the time isn’t entirely evident, but it looks like maybe the 1920s – sharing plates of spaghetti and avoiding the local dog catcher, played by Adrian Martinez.

The film’s setting hasn’t been updated, but some of the more racially thoughtless parts have. The “Siamese Cat Song” – one of the most famous songs from the original, and also the one that has been labeled with racial stereotypes – has been changed for a new musical number from a different pair of twin cats who apparently are not Siamese.  There are other minor changes, mostly when seeing how it has been given a 2019 updated look. However, this is mainly the “Lady and the Tramp” we’re familiar with only with live-action actors and real dogs – however the dogs are sometimes changed with CGI doubles (Martin noted, “or their mouths are Mister Edified with computers to make it look like they’re talking.”)

The other dog characters include a Pekingese that sounds doubtfully like Janelle Monáe a wise old Bloodhound with the rich bass tones of Sam Elliott, and an almost-achingly pretty Bulldog voiced by Benedict Wong. They’re exactly supporting cast. The main actors are the protagonists. Theroux shows so much personality as the proudly loner Tramp, but Thompson is boring and forgettable as Lady. Singer said, “I’m not necessarily looking for a lot of “chemistry” between these voices, but a little more enthusiasm would have been nice.”

The new “Lady and the Tramp” is a slight improvement from the new “The Lion King” that loaded into theaters this summer and quickly became a giant financial success for Disney despite being interior to the original animated film in every possible way. Singer noted, “The Lion King’s animals were entirely CGI, and for all their photorealism, they barely displayed any emotions as they belted out show tunes or mourned the loss of a loved one.” At least the dogs in “Lady and the Tramp” are real, and when they’re not replaced by talking CGI doubles, they show some real dog character in the way they walk and talk and sit when told. It is interesting to say, that both here and in “The Lion King,” that the more human CGI experts try to make these animals, the less real they look. Singer noted, ‘At least they’re dogs, who are objectively cuter and more fun to watch run around than big jungle animals.”

Singer continued, “The new Lady and the Tramp was co-written by Andrew Bujalski, the very talented indie filmmaker who was one of the founders of what became known as the “mumblecore” movement, and the director of excellent movies like Mutual Appreciation and Computer Chess. The results here bear so little of his quirky authorial stamp that if you asked me to guess who wrote this Lady and the Tramp, told me it was a director I greatly admired, and informed me the guy’s first name is Andrew, there is literally zero chance I would get it right.”

Singer ended his review by saying, “It never dawned on me until now how strange it is that the beautiful song “Bella Notte,” faithfully recreated in this version by an amusing guest star, is a love ballad about two dogs smooching over a bowl of pasta.”

This is better than the other live action remakes I have seen this year, with nice voice acting, direction and some funny moments. However, it lacks the heart of the original movie. The added storylines didn’t seem to fit, the reworked scenes and songs weren’t needed, the recasting of Pekingese was distracting, the CGI dogs were expressionless and almost not believable like the CGI animals in the remake of “The Lion King” and you could probably predict the direction they were going in. They didn’t need to make it as long as they did, seeing how the original was told short and sweet. Just don’t see it if you’re a subscriber to Disney+. At least this wasn’t theatrically released, which is a relief.

Now that we’re done with that, stay tuned tomorrow for the next review in “Disney Channel Original Movie Month.”