Lady and the Tramp Review
PG: Some mild thematic elements and action/peril
Runtime: 1 Hour and 42 Minutes
Production Companies: Walt Disney Pictures, Taylor Made
Distributor: Disney+
Director: Charlie Bean
Writers: Andrew Bujalski. Kari Granlund
Cast: Tessa Thompson, Justin Theroux, Kiersey Clemons, Thomas Mann, Janelle Monáe, Yvette Nicole Brown, Ken Jeong, F. Murray Abraham, Sam Elliott
Release Date: November 12, 2019
This entire year, Disney’s live-action trajectory has been overly reliant on remakes of their classic animated films. I’ve disliked or hated every single one of their live-action adaptation releases of this year. After The Lion King I became completely livid, for that “movie” fully capitalized on our nostalgia and the showcasing of its visual effects. Now, we have one last live-action remake of the year and that is Lady and the Tramp for Disney+. After this long and excruciating year, I’m happy to say: Finally! Finally, a live-action remake that I actually ENJOYED! How funny. They saved their best for their streaming service.
You know the story, so why explain it? Seriously, I’m not going to explain it. The 1955 animated movie is right there and if you haven’t seen it, don’t worry. It’s right there on Disney+.
At first glance, director Charlie Bean might’ve been a very questionable choice given his background in animation. Yet, out of all the directors to helm live-action features, his approach is the only one that feels grounded while still retaining the original’s silliness and incorporating his own flavor in terms of animation.
Unlike Jon Favreau, Bean clearly knows how to work with actors in the recording booth and give them the proper direction to make them breathe life into these characters. Ultimately, the biggest strength lies within the vocal performances from the central leads. Given some of the key changes to the original and the rather traditional rom-com twist in the script provided by Kari Granlund and (surprisingly) Andrew Bujalski—who did my #10 best movie from last year, Support the Girls—there are more scenes of intimacy between the leads and the romance set between them is developed further while fleshing them out individually, making them much more sympathetic characters. Tessa Thompson and Justin Theroux do a great job in their titular roles as they provide charisma and energy. I’m unsure if they did their recording sessions together or not, but they share fun banter on screen that makes me think they did. As a matter of fact, all of the performances—both animals and humans—are effective and it becomes extremely difficult not to crack a smile.
Since I did spark this discussion, making comparisons to 2019’s The Lion King remake, I’m glad this didn’t take the photorealistic route when it came to the talking dogs. Clearly, the animal’s movements are CG and it’s way too visible through closeup shots when they’re delivering their dialogue or doing some unrealistic actions, but thank God they’re expressional. Unlike The Lion King, these animals are given facial expressions that match the characters’ dialogue, even making some of the recreational scenes actually effective. The spaghetti scene as a whole is relatively charming and they still capture the emotional beats through the dogs’ expressions. No, they don’t live up to the hand-drawn original and some sequences aren’t as effective as the animation, but some of it works effectively.
I also liked the humans in this. Not just because they’re all portrayed by very recognizable faces, but because they all bring their own individual personality that works for the film overall, giving it its own identity. The darling family here is an interracial couple portrayed by Thomas Mann (who I didn’t know could grow a ‘stache) and Kiersey Clemons, which at first I found confusing given how it never specifies when and where this story takes place, but I certainly know it has to be during Jim Crow… but I digress. It’s Disney. Side note, good for Clemons for being able to sing for a Disney movie. She has come a long way since Dope and Hearts Beat Loud and her beautiful voice is now in the big leagues. Mann and Clemons are good whenever they're on screen. Autero Castro and F. Murray Abraham are hella delightful as the chefs who sing “This is the Night”, which also begs the question: Why does Castro, a Guatemalan, work at this Italian restaurant during the early 20th Century? Okay, this movie definitely skimped on accuracy to center on diversity, but I don't mind because it's Disney. (you fool) I hate that this is the mindset I need to have when it comes to this period piece, but at the same time, it didn’t bother me… too much. Not as much as the CGI of the dogs.
Initially, the CGI threw me completely off. I guess I have higher standards when it comes to movies featuring talking animals, but this was weird at first. The dogs looked way too animated whenever they would do specific actions. It’s obvious when the shots of the dogs are real dog actors and when they’re completely animated. At times, it looks unfinished and not as effective as other talking animal movies of the past. Like, the dogs in Beverly Hills Chihuahua looked more complete than the dogs present here. It gets on par with… shit… Cats & Dogs. The dogs are overly reliant on uncanny CGI and sometimes it falls flat, especially during the music cues.
Speaking of which, this movie would’ve had more integrity if it bypassed the musical sequences. The movie is 30 minutes longer than the original and provides its own personality whenever it deviates from the areas of the original. When it’s not doing that, it’s going through the obligatory motions, delivering shot-for-shot recreations of the tunes from the original and they’re all so poorly timed. Each musical cue, excluding “This is the Night”, is rushed and awkwardly executed due to the lack of genuine buildup and being unable to give a scene its own mood/emotion prior to the needle drops. It was doing so well, feeling fresh and new, but Jesus, there was no need for this to be a musical. There aren’t enough iconic tunes from the original for this to require that route, especially when—and I emphasize for the final time—THE ORIGINAL IS ON THE PLATFORM.
Hey, I like this. I truly do. This is more deserving of a theatrical release than most of the features distributed by Disney this year. It could’ve taken Dumbo’s slot if anything. Lady and the Tramp is the best Disney live-action remake of the year, for it has a developed romance and voice performances with character, but unless you’re doing comparisons between the two versions, it’s not essential for you to watch it. You got both versions on Disney+ and yeah, it doesn’t live up to the original whatsoever. At best, the film is… oh God… perfect for the platform. It’s a rental of a movie and yet, it’s going to be right there for you to view.
