For Valentine’s Day, my husband and I traditionally enjoy viewing “Lady and the Tramp” and with Valentine’s Day weekend being also the first weekend of the Chinese New Year (16 February 2018), the Disney animated feature takes on more significance for our household of three blue merle collies.
This year, “Lady and the Tramp” joins the Walt Disney Signature Collection, the DVD, Blu-ray and Digital HD video releases. Even if you haven’t seen or can’t remember the full movie, you’ve probably know that sweet pooch smooch, when Lady and the Tramp come muzzle to muzzle while eating a single strand of spaghetti.
My high school Spanish teacher warned us never to order spaghetti on a date. It’s almost impossible to eat gracefully, she explained. Nothing looks worse than a red stain dripping down your chin, but her lecture was long before incredibly sexy vampires inspired a Twilight craze. According to the extras, Walt Disney wasn’t totally convinced that the meatball scene would work, luckily animator Frank Thomas went ahead and animated the scene and convinced Disney otherwise.
YouTube proves a noodle smooch is possible. Dogs can slurp noodles and a mouth-to-mouth encounter could result, although this one is more like boy versus dog for the noodle. Chinese noodles may be better for this purpose than the usual spaghetti.
The DVD/Blu-ray also features YouTube teen cook Amber Kelley demonstrating how to make meatballs in red sauce with noodles. This extra could inspire future kid cooks, but these meatballs aren’t something you’ll want to feed your pooches. This recipe includes garlic, onions, red pepper flakes–all of which are bad for your dog.
As part of a promotional celebration of the release of “Lady and the Tramp” as a Signature Collection, Disney teamed together with a local dog restaurant chain, Just Food for Dogs and a people food place, Squirl LA. On the dog menus was spaghetti and meatballs, of course, (lean ground beef, bread crumbs, egg and tomatoes) and venison and squash (butternut squash, sweet potato, Brussels sprouts and cranberries). There was no noodle slurping. Kaminari ate off the table. Kirisame gingerly took each meatball and put it on the floor between his paws. We loved what we think were mushroom meatballs.
The night included some pawprint impression making and live accordion music worth tangoing to. Not a bad way to welcome in the Year of the Dog. The Year of the Earth Dog (戌 for the astrological sign but 狗 for the animal) begins officially on 16 February 2018, and ends 4 February 2019, it precedes the Year of the Fire Rooster and is followed by the Year of the Earth Pig. Earth is one of the five elements in Chinese astrology (wood, water, fire and metal). Earth is the natural element of the Dog.
People born in the Year of the Dog include Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Winston Churchill, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Ellen DeGeneres, and Prince William.
The Year of the Brown Earth Dog is a good year for finances but not so good for one’s health. Start eating better and exercising more. Those are good things to consider any year. The Year of the Dog should be a time to celebrate the straight forwardness, the loyalty and bravery of humankind’s best friend and what better way than watching movie?
Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel did talk about “Lady and the Tramp.” Siskel even enjoyed the “mushy” part, maybe because he had a cocker spaniel. Ebert loved the first 10 minutes which is almost without dialogue.
Good one!
I don’t usually participate in these but for ♥️ of DOGS … Instead of favorite dog films, this is more like a confession.
As an owner of the world’s cutest West Highland terrier, I now truly appreciate the song Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy perform in “Best of Show.” I covered that film for USA TODAY and Christopher Guest, always a contrarian at heart, insisted that it wasn’t a movie about dogs but about people. Me, I rather watch dogs as I did this year, choosing The Puppy Bowl over that thing the NFL put on.
I like “My Dog Skip” and “The Mask,” a time when Jack Russells were in vogue.
And has anyone ever seen the oldie but goodie, “The Biscuit Eater,” from 1940?
But I have to go with Toto as my favorite. Up until they brought out a 3-D big-screen version of “The Wizard of Oz” for its 75th anniversary in 2014, I never paid a great deal of attention to Dorothy’s beloved canine given that I had only previously seen it on the small screen. But viewing it in all its theatrical glory made me realize how great an actress Terry the Cairn terrier was – yes, a she played a he. Here is what I wrote at the time:
“Whether sitting enraptured and gently gesturing with a raised paw during “Over the Rainbow,” fearlessly escaping from Miss Gulch’s bike basket or leading the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion uphill to the Wicked Witch’s castle so they can rescue Dorothy, Toto clearly possesses most of the brains, heart and courage on display in the film. He even prevents his owner from flying off in the hot-air balloon with the Wizard, clearly a pompous windbag who is ultimately not to be trusted.”
Oh, and here are the lyrics to the terrier song and a link to the “Best in Show” rendition:
“God loves a terrier
yes he does
God loves a terrier
that’s because
brown sturdy bright and true
they give their hearts to you
God didn’t miss a stitch
be it dog or be it bitch
when he made the Norwich merrier
with his cute little ‘derrier’
yes God loves a terrier!”
JANA MONJI:
I’ve taken some of those “What kind of dog are you tests” and I always end up a terrier (usually a Yorkie)! Westies are cute. One of my favorite memories from covering the AIDS Walk LA was a cartload of Westies brightening everyone’s day as their owners pulled the wagon by.
DONALD LIEBENSON:
I’m going back now to the days of Saturday afternoon matinees at the Alycon Theatre in Highland Park, Illinois (fellow native William Goldman’s favorite movie theatre, by the way), and a film called “The Littlest Hobo.” It’s “The Defiant Ones,” but with a German Shepherd and a lamb.
SUSAN WLOSZCZYNA:
I used to watch “The Littlest Hobo” TV show on Canadian TV. I don’t think the lamb made the cut, though. It had a great theme song, full of yearning to hit the road.
SHEILA O’MALLEY:
“Megan Leavey.” I reviewed it for the site last year and I was turned into a PUDDLE.
I also love Asta, so much a part of the hijinx in 1930s screwball. Asta is the key role in “Awful Truth”! Without Asta, Cary Grant and Irene Dunne might have gone their separate ways. But the custody fight over the dog kept them tied together.
WAEL KHAIRY:
Some of my favorites in no particular order:
“Old Yeller”
“Hachi: A Dog’s Tale”
“The Fox and the Hound”
“White Fang”
“Shiloh”
“Umberto D”
“Snatch”
“The Sandlot”
STEVEN BOONE:
THE PLAGUE DOGS (1982) gets me every time, so sad and sweet. And I’d be surprised if Wes Anderson doesn’t reference it somewhere in ISLE OF DOGS.
MATT FAGERHOLM:
As a young moviegoer, few things reduced me to tears as swiftly as an endangered dog. I couldn’t even finish “Benji The Hunted” because it was too traumatizing. “Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey” and “Air Bud” have scenes guaranteed to turn animals lovers of all ages into Sheila’s aforementioned puddle. Max, the Jack Russell terrier that portrayed Milo in “The Mask,” gives one of the best-directed canine performances in cinema. And since we’re championing Christopher Guest’s “Best in Show,” one of the greatest comedies ever made, I must give a shout-out to Fred Willard’s Oscar-worthy portrayal of the clueless commentator, whose uproarious observations never fail to make me howl…
PETER SOBCZYNSKI:
“A Fish Called Wanda”
OMER MOZAFFAR:
I’m permanently scarred from “Devil Dog Hound of Hell.” But I did love the ABC Saturday morning special, “Scruffy.”
SUSAN WLOSZCZYNA:
That reminds me – Puffy the Border terrier in “There’s Something About Mary.” I kept a plush replica of her in a full-body cast on my desk at USA TODAY for years.
CHO SEONGYONG:
JANA MONJI:
恭禧發財 (Gōngxǐ fācái)
The Dragon Lady Files 