On November 12, Disney+ will premiere the new live-action remake “Lady and the Tramp.” This new movie is a timeless retelling of the 1955 animated classic, about a pampered house dog and a tough but lovable stray dog. Despite their differences, the dogs grow closer and come to understand the value of a home. Life is good for Lady, who is a cute and loveable American Cocker Spaniel who resides in an upscale neighborhood. Her owners, Jim Dear and Darling, spoil her daily and her neighbors, Jock, an outspoken Scottish Terrier and Trusty, a world-weary Bloodhound, are always within barking distance. But when a baby enters the picture, Lady is no longer the center of attention, and the arrival of cat-loving Aunt Sarah only complicates matters.
Check-out this Exclusive Flim Clip when Lady becomes part of the family:
Lady soon finds herself alone on the streets in a bad part of town and that’s when she meets Tramp who is a streetwise mongrel and teaches her the ways of the world. Before long, the two are enjoying moonlight strolls in the park and romantic spaghetti dinners by candlelight (we all remember that famous scene from the original animated film). This family movie is a heartwarming romantic comedy that seamlessly combines live-action and photorealistic animation, you will believe that dogs can really talk.
Chip and Co. had the opportunity to visit the set and chat with the Cast and Crew of Disney’s live-action “Lady and The Tramp,” in Savannah, Georgia a little town right outside of Atlanta, back in November 2018. Directed by Charlie Bean, Produced by Brigham Taylor and starring Tessa Thompson as the voice of Lady and Justin Theroux as the voice of Tramp. The movie also stars Kiersey Clemons as Darling, Thomas Mann as Jim Dear, Janelle Monáe as the voice of Peg, the funny and talented Yvette Nicole Brown as Aunt Sarah and of course Sam Elliott as the voice of Trusty.
Producer Brigham Taylor explained the reason why the film was shot on location in GA. He continued to say that Savannah is a gorgeous well-preserved city and so our movie takes place over a hundred years ago and it got its beauty and is mapped out with all these parks and squares, very well preserved, most of the structures you look at in downtown are hundred of years old. So we could point our cameras anywhere and feel like it’s our own backlot. And Georgia is a very welcoming state for film production.
The film is based on an unnamed, any town USA, obviously, with a little bit of a Southern flavor. You see the Spanish Moss, and don’t attempt to hide that, but also trying to be kind of generic turn of the century. The team wanted to maintain that sort of timeless story and the original film has been a guidepost all the way throughout.
When asked what it was like working with live animals, Taylor mentioned that it’s a pleasure. It’s an unexpected sort of treat every day. You come to work, I feel like we’re all very fortunate to work in this industry It’s a lot of fun and you work with tremendously creative and talented people, but it’s just an added bonus that you have these wonderful dogs that are so well trained, but when they’re not hitting their marks, they’re just being dogs. And they’ll come up to give you some love and you can nuzzle and you can just feel, you know, rejuvenated with your little interactions with these amazing animals. We’ve had babies, we’ve had puppies. You’ve had all kinds of little things that give you a little added boost in your day.
The idea for the movie came because it was in the library. Something that thought, might be interesting. Taylor also mentioned that he worked on a few films that had been adapted and utilize sort of digital tools to bring animals to life, and why wouldn’t we want to see this movie again with real dogs because we all have such amazing attachment to our animals. That’s what inspired the original film with Walt Disney everyone else’s sort of affection for their own pets.
Head Animal Trainer Mark Forbes spoke to us about the dogs and how long it took to train them. He mentioned that each character is made up of a team of dogs, sometimes two, sometimes three or four. And each of those teams has two trainers because most of the behaviors that are needed to do on set require two trainers. Even if they’re just walking into the house there is a trainer outside sending them in and there’s a trainer inside that’s bringing them in and stopping them. Forbes also stated that it took about 16 weeks, so four months before filming, to train the dogs which is pretty standard. You can train a team of dogs in about that time to do a specific movie.
What happens to the Dogs after the movie wraps? Forbes explained that some will live with the trainers and some of them will be adopted out to some of the crew. Even if we adopt them out, the production is still on the chip. If for some reason they ever ended up running away or end up in a shelter and they scan the chip, we would get the call. So, they live with us or we find a really great home for them. When asked if the Dogs would be used in another Disney movie, he said, not that it can’t happen. But for now they usually just get to go home and be a dog.
“Lady and The Tramp” isn’t trying to be a carbon copy of the cartoon and does a great job at setting itself apart from more than some of the other live-action films of late. This is an endearing and quality film for dog lovers, for classic Disney movie lovers, and even new fans this is a movie that is going to captivate hearts with a classic tale all over again. And of course who would resist a photo with the stars and on set with these amazing animals. Don’t miss “Lady and the Tramp” streaming on Disney+ starting Nov. 12. Have you signed up yet? Click here to be in the founder’s circle.
