Lady and the Tramp

The march of Disney’s live-action remakes continues, but this time, its latest reimagining of a beloved classic will not open in a theater near you. Instead, “Lady and the Tramp” will only be available on Disney+, the company’s new digital streaming platform launching November 12. The situation may become an interesting case study on audience behavior (which isn’t that what every streaming company loves?). When faced with the choice of watching the original or a new remake at their fingertips, which option will the viewer choose? Will they binge the two back-to-back to compare? Or, will the new version replace the old as the family favorite? 

We may never know the answers to those questions because the streaming side of the movie business loves to collect our data but has very little incentive to share its findings. What I can tell you is this: Just like many of the Disney live-action remakes before it—think “Cinderella,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Jungle Book”—much of the “Lady and the Tramp” remake follows the exact story of the animated version. On Christmas in the 1900s, a young couple opens a Christmas present revealing an adorable cocker spaniel pup inside. Jim Dear (Thomas Mann) and Darling (Kiersey Clemons) are smitten with the affectionate puppy they name Lady (voiced by Tessa Thompson), and she becomes the center of their world. Her pampered life is nothing like that of the scruffy loner named Tramp (Justin Theroux), who roams the streets of New Orleans unattached to any other dog or family. On the run from an obsessive dog catcher (Adrian Martinez), Tramp crosses paths with Lady, and while at first, the two don’t get along, she helps him escape his captor and he warns her that her happy home life may change with a baby on the way. His words come true and Lady’s place at the center of attention is taken by Jim Dear and Darling’s new baby. When her owners leave her in the care of dog-hating Aunt Sarah (Yvette Nicole Brown) and her home-wrecking pair of cats (Nate "Rocket" Wonder and Roman GianArthur), Lady escapes and then finds and falls for Tramp, leading her to question her idea of home. 

Director Charlie Bean, who comes to the movie with a background in animation, works well to smooth over the rougher transitions between the live dogs, their animated mouths and human-like expressions. Of course, the harder or more dangerous scenes for pooches on the run are covered by the magic of computers. Luckily, the movie’s real-life fluffy stars have enough charm and appeal for any dog lover. In comparison, the human actors seemed more stiff and unnatural than their digitally altered co-stars. Like their animated counterparts, Jim Dear and Darling are unfortunately rather one-dimensional but well-meaning dog parents.

Although much of the 1955 animated movie remains intact, Andrew Bujalski and Kari Granlund’s script updates a few things. Lady still has her circle of neighborhood dogs to rely on, and while Trusty (Sam Elliott) the bloodhound is the same, Jock (Ashley Jensen) the Scottish terrier is now a lass instead of a lad. The street dogs Peg (Janelle Monáe), a Pekingese, and Bull (Benedict Wong), a bulldog, are present, but thankfully the many silly accents of the dogs in the pound, like a Chihuahua with a Mexican accent, have been left in the past. Instead of the “Meet Me in St. Louis”-style midwestern setting from before, now the story’s set in a jazzy turn-of-the-century New Orleans, a place brimming with diversity. Perhaps the most noticeable change is the welcomed excision of the Siamese cats and their infamous song, replaced instead with another pair of smooth-coated kitties. However, the song that replaces is so utterly forgettable, it felt even below the mediocre caliber of “Mary Poppins Returns.”