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Live Action Lady and the Tramp (2019): Parent Review

Live Action Lady and the Tramp (2019): Parent Review

Lady and the Tramp (Live Action) | PG | 1 hour 43 minutes | Disney Live Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Disney Plus | November 12, 2019

Live Action Lady and the Tramp Synopsis

In the live action Lady and the Tramp remake of the animated classic, Lady and Tramp get a “modern” update. Though some plot points changed, the ultimate story remained the same.

The addition of a new family member (aka a baby) causes a stir in Lady’s perfect life. When the dog hating sister of Darling takes over temporarily, Lady escapes and winds up falling in love with Tramp, the rebel without a cause.

Live Action changes

Lady and the Tramp live action made several changes to the movie. Oddly enough, almost none of the changes actually added to the story. But if you are curious about the short list of changes between the live action Lady and the Tramp and the cartoon, here you go:

  • Jock is a female whose owner paints her in different outfits as a largely useless filler to the movie
  • The twin Siamese cats are not in the live action remake and neither is their largely offensive Siamese song. Instead, a new pair of cats sing a less offensive to Asian culture song that also incites Lady to cause a ruckus and eventually end up on the street
Siamese cats Lady and the Tramp
We are offensive to people, if you please. We are offensive to people, if you don’t please.
  • The dog catcher gets a larger role but does not get that much more depth as a character
  • Jim Dear and Darling are an interracial couple, which is a refreshing change from primarily seeing same race pairings
  • The movie is a bit longer with some added fluff that does not really add much more than time to the narrative
Live Action Lady and the Tramp

Movie title: Lady and the Tramp (Live Action)

Movie description: n the live action Lady and the Tramp remake of the animated classic, Lady and Tramp get a "modern" update. Though some plot points changed, the ultimate story remained the same.

Date published: November 12, 2019

Country: United States of America

Duration: 1 hour 43 minutes

Director(s): Charlie Bean

Actor(s): Tessa Thompson - Lady (voice), Justin Theroux - Tramp (voice), Sam Elliott - Trusty (voice), Ashley Jensen - Jock (voice), Janelle Monáe - Peg (voice), Benedict Wong - Bull (voice), Clancy Brown - Isaac (voice), Nate 'Rocket' Wonder - Devon (voice) (as Nate Wonder), Roman GianArthur Irvin - Rex (voice) (as Roman GianArthur), James Bentley - Chance (voice), Jentel Hawkins - Dame (voice), Ara Storm O'Keefe - Dodge (voice), Aemon Wolf O'Keefe - Ollie (voice), Thomas Mann - Jim Dear, Kiersey Clemons - Darling

Genre: Family, Live Action Remake, Adventure, Romance

Overall
3.6
  • Plot
    (3.5)
  • Characters
    (2.5)
  • Watchability
    (3.5)
  • Creepy CGI
    (5)
Sending
User Review
0 (0 votes)

Dad's Take

Probably the best way to summarize the live action remake of Lady and the Tramp is it should be called Lady and the Tramp – The Dogs Have Eyes. Seriously. The CGI’ed eyes and mouth movements are freaky and terribly rendered. Disney does a better job with live action dog eyes in their made for DVD movies Spooky Buddies and Santa Buddies… a first where either of those two films is better than something else. I’m pretty sure either Lady, the Tramp, or any of the creepy ass dogs are going to try to kill me and steal what’s left of my soul.

But that’s about the worst of what the live action Lady and the Tramp has to offerThough mostly true to the original animated movie, live action Lady and the Tramp does have some notable differences.

For example, the movie features a bizarre, largely unnecessary, gender swap with Jock. It really serves no purpose to the story, but for that matter, it doesn’t take away from the story either.

Another change fans of the cartoon version of Lady and the Tramp will notice in the live action version is the removal of the Siamese cats and their stereotyped Oriental song. Twin, male cats replace the missing Siamese pair. They sing their own little ditty that ultimately lands Lady in a muzzle before she escapes to meet up with the Tramp.

Oddly enough, they kept the song “He’s a Tramp,” a mildly suggestive song which Sanctimommies probably can’t have their darlings hear. Because, you know, it will cause their perfect little children to become promiscuous.

Finally, the dog catcher has a much larger role in the live action Lady and the Tramp, giving him a bit more to do… But oddly, the larger role doesn’t add much to his story line, an actual arch, or anything of any real interest.

The iconic spaghetti and meat ball scene is still included, much to the delight of anyone who is a die hard fan of the original cartoon. But I’m sure purest will still find something to gripe about regarding the scene, and the several modern updates given to Lady and the Tramp.

But, as live action remakes go, Lady and the Tramp is not terrible. In fact, it is one of their better interpretations of one of their own cartoons. It is at least on par with live action Aladdin,which makes sense since Disney used Lady and the Tramp to help bolster sales to Disney Plus.

My biggest complaint is the CGI’ed faces and eyes. They still haunt my dreams. And pretty sure they still have a part of my soul. Otherwise, nothing jumped out as particularly terrible… or great for that matter.

If you are a purest and only like the cartoon version of Lady and the Tramp as is, then you probably won’t like the live action one much. If you’re a Sanctimommy, I’m sorry for you and your children. But if you are a normal-ish person, who can appreciate the relative faithfulness to the original while still making some updates to the story, then the live action Lady and the Tramp is well worth a watch.

Pros

Sticks closely to the original plot and story of Lady and the Tramp

Modern updates were there, but they did not take away from the story

Well made for a straight to streaming movie and is on par with other Disney live action remakes

Cons

THE EYES WILL TRY TO STEAL YOUR SOUL

The eyes and facial expressions are terrible

Nothing remarkably better than the original with minimal addition to the actual story as seen in the live action Beauty and the Beast and some other live action remakes

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