The Radical Child

Based on “Happy Dan, the Cynical Dog” by Ward Greene, this Disney classic opens at Christmastime in 1909 when a husband, addressed as “Jim Dear,” gives his wife, termed “Darling,” a Cocker Spaniel puppy as a present, ultimately named Lady. Years later, the stray terrier-mix Tramp encounters the pampered pooch, neglected due to Jim and his wife expecting a baby. Jim’s Aunt Sarah visits with her destructive Siamese cats after the child is born to babysit; after muzzling Lady, she escapes with Tramp, having it removed at the zoo and touring the town with her. Events at Jim’s home result in Tramp’s capture and potential euthanasia, although Lady’s canine friends go to the rescue.

Overall, Lady and the Tramp is easily one of Walt Disney’s hallmark films, with its music being notable and giving good character to the scenes. The opening credits theme, “Bella Notte,” recurs during the iconic scene at an Italian restaurant where Lady and Tramp share a spaghetti dinner, which Disney initially didn’t want in the film but is one of its highlights. However, the dog-howling rendition of “Home! Sweet Home!” at the pound (see below) feels like a case of Leave the Camera Running since it doesn’t add much to the film. Mileage will vary regarding ethnic stereotypes like the feline Si and Am’s musical self-introduction. Regardless, I found it a fun watch and would easily recommend it to those not of the modern “woke” crowd.

Disney's second adaptation of the old folktale (the first animated wartime short oddly not available on Disney+ from what I’ve seen) follows the eponymous avian as he attempts to redeem himself after causing a scare in his town from the sky allegedly "falling", which actually may bear some semblance of truth. It actually beats Zootopia by a decade having a fully-anthropomorphic character roster populated by both mammals and nonmammals alike (with maybe one or two exceptions). Some of the characters like the tomboyish Foxy Loxy are genuinely adorable, and while the film is a bit of an Unintentional Period Piece given some of its music (which is otherwise good), I definitely enjoyed it, and its total avoidance of toilet humor (excepting one urinary reference) definitely helps.

Thought this would be a good film to watch on Disney+ on the days until Mardi Gras. Disney's last (so far) 2-D animated film, it takes place in 1920s New Orleans and focuses on Tiana, who kisses a frog claiming to be a prince and turns into a frog herself, with the two struggling to become human again. Sort of sugarcoats the South at the time (though I don't think America's War Between the States really did a whole lot of good when it came to Northern/Southern and white/nonwhite relations, despite the head Lincoln gets from biased historians), but it had some good music and endearing characters like Louis the alligator.

I got the idea to watch this from the lead analyst on the traffic team, who said it was a Halloween tradition, and I definitely appreciate it, as it was as good as when I first saw it long ago.

  

Disney's iconic adaptation of the Carlo Collodi story about woodcarver Geppetto being granted his wish of his puppet Pinocchio becoming animate and dealing with several unsavory characters on his journey to boyhood. There are some dangling threads such as what happens with Honest John and Gideon, who were probably my favorite characters, but it's definitely worth a watch.

  

I watched this on Disney+ to sort of celebrate Brazilian Independence Day tomorrow, and it has a warning about ethnic stereotypes, though I don't think they were too severe, with four animated shorts interspersed among the live-action sequences of Disney animators visiting South America. Was generally enjoyable, and had the first appearance of Brazilian parrot José Carioca (with the j of his first name pronounced like a normal english j as in the Portuguese language), who is definitely a debonair character.

 

 

Though released after Stitch! The Movie and the animated series, this is actually a more-direct continuation of the first film, with Lilo preparing for a hula dancing contest, although Stitch is showing signs of regressing to his alien form and personality, and something naturally has to be done. Definitely cute and funny at times (and there's even a reference to the film Patton), even if it reflects the "power of friendship" cliché, but given its basis on an original property, it's one of the better direct-to-video Disney sequels.