Continuing my countdown of favorite Disney Animation movies following my marathon viewing of all 64…

My Top Ten Disney Animation Movies
#6 – Lady and the Tramp (1955)

After several films from the modern era, we jump back four decades to Disney’s first golden age for my #6 pick. If the 90s are considered the studio’s strongest decade overall, the 50s are a close second.

I certainly prefer the animation style of those early years to anything the studio produced later. As much as I love the complexity and photorealistic detail of recent films, nothing tops the painterly work of the hand-drawn era.

And Lady and the Tramp is one of the most beautiful examples. From its opening shot of a small town full of snow-covered houses, every moment is frame-worthy. The movie looks like what it must feel like for a beloved family pet to curl up in front of a warm fire.

The film is also a triumph of character development, with the titular canine pair anchoring an opposites attract romcom premise that few live-action films would ever execute as well.

Just watch the ‘Bella Notte’ spaghetti scene and tell me if you can name a more iconic duo.

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The one knock on Lady and the Tramp is the racist Asian caricature embodied by the villainous Siamese cats. Of course, this film is not alone in Disney’s catalog in including cringe-worthy depictions of non-white characters. One of the eye-opening aspects of my marathon was how many movies Disney Plus kicked off with a disclaimer about problematic content.

To acknowledge that unfortunate aspect of an otherwise beloved studio, here are my top five non-Lady and the Tramp examples:

Disney Animation – Most Problematic

5. In Jungle Book, making the obviously (and sometimes negatively) African-American coded King Louie an ape is not a good look. Great singer, though.
4. I was very upset when Epcot added The Three Caballeros to their previously excellent Mexico ride. Watching the 1944 film that introduced the trio (Donald Duck, José Carioca, and Panchito Pistoles), I realized the offensive Hispanic caricature started 50 years earlier.
3. A cousin to the Lady and the Tramp Siamese cats that is somehow more offensive, Shun Gon in The Aristocats is a yellow-skinned Siamese who plays the piano with chopsticks.
2. Peter Pan‘s embarrassing treatment of its Native American characters runs wide and deep. The movie actually features a song titled ‘What Made the Red Man Red?’
1. Dumbo‘s only human Black characters are faceless laborers, but the more offensive caricature comes in the form of a group of black crows — one of whom is named Jim Crow and speaks in an exaggerated regional dialect (imitated by a white actor).