Disney+ Original Movies at Launch: Lady & the Tramp and Noelle

Here I will be discussing the two original movies that were released on Disney+ launch day: Lady and the Tramp and Noelle. Don't worry, there will be no spoilers in this discussion in case you haven't watched them yet.

LADY AND THE TRAMP

I liked the movie. I think it has the same problems as all of the other remakes--I don't think it needed to be remade. There isn't really any value that's added by redoing it. The only value added is related to the Siamese cats (which I will be discussing further below). Everything else (in my opinon) is either on par with the original or of poorer quality than the original.

My points are pretty scattered, so I'll just be pointing out things I liked and didn't like. I liked the jazz music in the beginning. It wasn't very consistent throughout the film though. It was mostly in the beginning which was disappointing. The two main humans in the film were way too young to be playing an established couple (the actors are 26 and 28). I think they did a good job, but it was a little distracting how they didn't seem to fit the role accurately. The CGI dog talking bugged me a little bit in the beginning but I got used to it after awhile.

I didn't like the new "twin" cat song. But I definitely agree with the decision to cut the old, outdated Siamese cat song. In my opinion, it's still worthwhile for the song to be replaced even with a song that might not be good, because now at least the Siamese cats and their song isn't there to offend people for cheap laughs. The Siamese cat song and characters were offensive, and I'm sure to the people of color who were previously targeted with those cheap caricatures, remaking the movie was worth it now that they can watch the movie without cringing, feeling uncomfortable or feeling outright mad.

This movie's animation style does have a lot of the same problems that The Lion King had. Because the animation is so photo-realistic, it's hard for the dogs to express emotion and for us to interpret it correctly. One scene in particular where I noticed this was in the Bella Notte scene. I've memorized the animated version so well and I was excited to see the new version. I could tell they were going for a shot by shot remake of this scene so I was expecting, "now they'll do this, and now they'll do this, and they'll look like this etc." But the iconic part where they both slurp up the spaghetti and then kiss and then touch noses and Lady looks away and kinda blushes? Yeah that emotion wasn't there at all. They still slurped up the spaghetti and touched noses and Lady looked away, but she looked kinda sad about it? And I can't even tell what the Tramp is thinking at all. He looks kinda guilty? Without seeing the original, you wouldn't get any sense of the feelings that they're experiencing in that moment. You wouldn't get the sense that they're falling in doggy love with each other, other than the context clues that are provided (the restaurant workers are signing a romantic song to them under the stars). Without being able to see their emotions and the impact events have on them as characters, it's harder to become emotionally invested in what happens to them.

Lady and the Tramp, Disney, 1955. Lady and the Tramp, Disney, 2019.

However my attention was captured in the climactic end sequence and I did get the emotional payoff I like to get while experiencing a movie. The end sequence was sad and exciting and heartwarming. I did enjoy the movie, but as mentioned above I don't know if it really needed to be remade. And I'm not sure whether it's worth it to watch the remake instead of the better, classic version. I'll let you decide that for yourself.

NOELLE

First off I just want to start by saying... has anyone else even seen this movie? Because I've heard absolutely no buzz about it. I've heard people talking about Lady and the Tramp, but I haven't heard anyone talk about Noelle. And I don't know why no one's talking about it, because I thought it was so good! It deserves a lot more attention than it's getting right now. Maybe no one's watching it yet because it's a little early to start watching Christmas movies?

I really liked this movie! I think the biggest reason why I liked the movie was because of the cast. I thought the cast was perfect! I really like Anna Kendrick, Bill Hader and Billy Eichner. They're all perfect. I would have liked to see Bill Hader and Billy Eichner more because I think they're both hilarious, but I understand that it was a movie all about Noelle so it wasn't really important to have the boys in it as much. I thought it had funny moments and I definitely teared up a few times. It definitely gives you those cheesy, heartwarming, Christmas feeling that you need to have in a Christmas movie. I really think this will be a new classic to watch every year for Christmas. In my opinion, I'd say this is probably the best Christmas movie that has came out since Elf! I think it had a good feminist message without being too overbearing or preachy to people who don't like political themes. I thought the plot was original; I haven't really seen anything too similar to it. And it had a cute little reindeer named Snowcone! What else do you need? It was just so enjoyable the whole time! I would really encourage people to go watch it! Go give Noelle the love it deserves!

Have you seen either of these movies? What did you think? Which did you like better? Let me know down below!