Let This Dance Last Forever

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by Folwilliar

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This month marked the 61st anniversary of the release of “Lady and the Tramp.”

This is probably my favorite animated film, near to perfection in my opinion. The characters, story, background art, music, dialog all just captured me and pulled me in. I love the film's pacing. We get to see life in this world, and the protagonists don't fall in love at first sight. Their relationship builds and grows, and we get to know them both and grow attached along the way. From the gentile Lady with a spark in her heart, to the devilish Tramp who seems so carefree yet still puts others before him. Artisticly, the film is just beautiful. I'm a big fan of Americana, and this film celebrates that time period before the first world war in all it's glory.

It's also a rather adult film in nature. The whole tone of the film is more serious and less fantastical then other Disney releases at the time. The dialog is rather mature, there are no song and dance numbers with random singing in the streets (I don't count Peg's number. As she is implied to be a singer by trade), and there are some dark situations. Between the dog pound where death is shown in all it's shadowy glory, to Lady being chained outside in the rain. It could be argued that this movie, while for the family in general, is more aimed at adults than children. A subtle plot point being Lady and Tramp having a night of passion on the moonlit hill and a touch on an extramarital pregnancy. A subject that given both the time the film is set, and the time it was released was touchy.

Not gonna say the movie is flawless. As everything has it's flaws. Still, the romance, the world, and the characters all work in such a way that it becomes a flowing dance of a story. A fantastic piece of classic Disney, and classic Americana.

Anyway, I felt it appropriate to cast these two together, and a loving waltz seemed the perfect opportunity to do so. For the dirty minded folks among us, I do have something a but more smutty in the books for later. But for now, lets let these two lovebirds enjoy just spending time together.

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