Shelter Dog Gets Lead Role in Re-make of Disney’s ‘Lady and the Tramp’

Another animal-centric Disney movie is getting a live-action remake. 1955 classic “Lady and the Tramp” will follow 2019’s “The Lion King” as the next film using live animals. And staying true to the story, Tramp will be portrayed by a mixed-breed shelter dog.

HALO Animal Rescue announced the news on Twitter that one of its former shelter residents landed the major role.

Lady and the Tramp

“Celebrity dog in our midst! Monte was adopted last year from HALO & originally came from Las Cruces, NM. Monte will be starring as “Tramp” in the new live action Disney movie…” they gushed.

Choosing the right dog.

After the amazing remakes of “The Jungle Book” and “The Lion King” it’s great that Disney is finally bringing the animals many of us have at home to the big screen.

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Of course, Disney has quite the project getting the right dogs to match their cartoon counterpart.

As with all Disney cartoon feature films, Walt Disney focused with painstaking detail on getting the animals right. After all, the town Rose, Tramp’s cocker spaniel lady love, and the other dogs live in was based on Walt Disney’s hometown of Marceline, Missouri.

“[The setting of “Lady and the Tramp”] was the world Walt grew up in,” Disney historian Christopher Finch says.

The dogs assembled in the movie range from Trusty the bloodhound Jock the Scottish terrier, a Pekinese named Peg, and Bull the bulldog.

That the Walt Disney Company found a mixed-breed shelter dog to play Tramp shows they are still living up to their founder’s standards.

Clear the shelters

According to the ASPCA, roughly 3.3 million dogs (and 3.2 million cats) spend time in American animal welfare shelters each year.

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These days, pets who stay at shelters receive medical attention, including their shots and getting spayed or neutered. Because the animals get the care and attention they need, the result is that adopting a shelter pet isn’t an inexpensive undertaking anymore.

Recognizing this fact, animal interest groups have come together in recent years to promote shelter pet adoptions. Every August since 2015, Clear the Shelters occurs one Saturday a year where shelters waive their adoption fees.

As a result, close to 400,000 pets have found forever homes in the last four years. One can only wonder how many kids (and adults) will want to get a dog after seeing the new “Lady and the Tramp.”

The Aristocats

It’s not surprising The Walt Disney Company decided to remake a movie about dogs first. Drawing by hand the dozens of cats in the 1970 Disney film “The Aristocats,” it’s likely an easier endeavor than getting cats to perform for a camera crew.

I’m sure, eventually, they’ll take on the task and cats will get their due. In the meantime, seeing the live-action “Lady and the Tramp” is definitely on my family’s list.