Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
Well, I didn’t think I would do it, but now I have. I’ve subscribed to Disney+. This is because I want to check out certain things that are currently only available on Disney+, including the latest live-action ‘Star Wars’ show ‘The Mandalorian’. Hopefully after this review, I’ll be seeing that show very soon. 🙂
And of course due to the current times we’re living in – please keep safe – it gives me a chance to check out certain Disney-related items that I’ve wanted to see on DVD/Blu-ray and/or Google Play but can’t due to them not being available outside Disney+ yet. I pray they’ll become widely available.
With that said, the first thing my parents and I checked out on Disney+ was the latest live-action remake of ‘Lady and the Tramp’. This was fascinating to see, especially since I’ve seen and reviewed the original 1955 animated ‘Lady and the Tramp’ film last year before watching the live-action film. 🙂
I’m surprised the 2019 ‘Lady and the Tramp’ film wasn’t shown at cinemas instead of just being made available only on Disney+. Maybe the film wouldn’t have been a huge box office success like the 2019 remakes of ‘Aladdin’ and ‘The Lion King’ were which I suppose is a pretty fair argument. 😐
After seeing the film though, did I think 2019’s ‘Lady and the Tramp’ was good? Well, to be honest with you, yes. I thoroughly enjoyed the latest live-action version of ‘Lady and the Tramp’. In fact, I’d be forthright to say that I enjoyed the 2019 version of ‘Lady and the Tramp’ more than the 1955 one.
Mind you, do I think it’s perfect? No, there are some fascinating structural changes made to the story in the live-action version compared to the original animated version. But sometimes, those structural changes enhance the story to be better in live-action than what they were in animation. 🙂
For those who don’t know the story, it’s about a female American cocker spaniel named Lady who starts off as a little puppy before growing up to become an adult dog. She enjoys being pampered in the lives of her owners before she gets caught up in an adventure when meeting a stray male dog. 🙂
It happens to be a mongrel called the Tramp who prefers being on the streets. He shows Lady what life on the streets is like and they have many romantic adventures together. Lady is soon torn between the life she once had with her owners who now have their baby and being with the Tramp.
Now from watching the film, the story more or less follows the same direction as the original film did. But it’s interesting how the movie makers approached the aesthetics of ‘Lady and the Tramp’ from a modern point of view whilst also keeping in check what was featured in the original movie. 🙂
In terms of the cast, Lady is voiced by Tessa Thompson (who is well-known for playing Valkyrie in the ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’). The Tramp is voiced by Justin Theroux; Trusty the bloodhound is voiced by Sam Elliott (who I’ve seen in the 2003 ‘Hulk’ movie) and Jock the Scottish terrier (who happens to be female instead of male in the live-action film – Interesting) is voiced by Ashley Jensen.
I like how the mixture of real-life dogs and CGI animation is incorporated to make the dog/cat characters in the movie seem like they’re actually talking. It’s on the same lines as ‘The Lion King’ 2019 remake, but honestly, I found it more impressive in ‘Lady and the Tramp’ than in ‘Lion King’. 😀
There’s also Peg, the dog who sings “He’s a Tramp!”, voiced by Janelle Monáe; Bull the bulldog, voiced by Benedict Wong (who plays Wong in he ‘MCU’) and Isaac, a brutal, territorial street dog that attacks Lady who gets saved by the Tramp, voiced by Clancy Brown from ‘The Shawshank Redemption’. There’s also Devon and Rex, Aunt Sarah’s two Devon Rex cats (not Siamese cats as in the original), voiced by Nate Wonder and Roman GianArthur. They don’t even sing ‘The Siamese Cats Song’ here, since they sing a blues song called ‘What a Shame’ instead, which I guess is a blessing. 😀
In terms of the human cast, there’s Thomas Mann as Jim Dear and Kiersey Clemons as Darling, Lady’s owners. There’s Yvette Nicole Brown as Aunt Sarah (who I think is written better in the remake compared to the original); Adrian Martinez as Elliot, a dog catcher who’s obsessed with catching the Tramp and wasn’t in the original film, I don’t believe; F. Murray Abraham (who was in ‘Star Trek: Insurrection’) as Tony, the owner of Tramp’s favourite restaurant and Arturo Castro as Joe the chef. There’s also Ken Jeong as an unnamed doctor that visits Jim and Darling at their home regarding their baby.
A notable thing I’ve noticed about the cast is that it’s racially diverse. This would be questionable especially since the film is set in the 1900s, but after seeing the film, I don’t really mind that much. I can accept it with ‘Lady and the Tramp’ being set in fantasy and not reality and at least it’s not being played for laughs like in ‘The Personal History of David Copperfield’ which I’ve seen on Google Play.
The film’s music and songs are pretty good, especially as they reused songs from the original film such as ‘Bella Notte’. It was fascinating to hear F. Murray Abraham sing that song compared to the original. After seeing the film, my Dad was singing ‘He’s a Tramp’ since he enjoyed the 2019 remake.
To sum up, 2019’s ‘Lady and the Tramp’ on Disney+ was worthwhile. I’m glad I’ve seen it, especially since I saw the original film. Even though I like the original film a lot, especially since I saw it during lockdown this year, I find the 2019 remake to be better. It’s a fascinating modern update on the tale.
Mind you, I’m still concerned about Lady as a puppy suffocating in a box whilst waiting to be opened on Christmas Day since that’s now done in both versions. Seriously, the 2019 remake did that as well as the original? I hope no dogs were harmed in the making of this film! 😀 Otherwise, it’s really good.
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim. 🙂
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