Voices of Scott Wolf, Alyssa Milano, Jeff Bennett, and Chazz Palminteri
Directed by Darrell Rooney and Jeannine Roussell
Music by Melissa Manchester; Lyrics by Norman Gimbel
It's time to celebrate the 4th with friends, fireworks, and a reminder of how important our families are. This came out during the run of animated sequels Disney released on video from 1994 through 2008. Unlike most of these films, this one is not without precedence. Lady and Tramp's son Scamp and his three puppy siblings were familiar characters in comic books and strips from shortly after the release of the film in 1955 through 1988. This would be their first appearance in a movie since their brief cameos at the very end of the original film. How well do they work out in this story of how Scamp wants to break out and lead the wild life? Let's begin as the residents of their sleepy New England town welcome us to their homes and find out...
The Story: Scamp (Wolf) is tired of all the rules imposed on him by his parents and their owners, especially his worried father (Bennett). He wants to run wild with the stray dogs in town and have the same freedom they appear to. After he slips his chain, he falls in with a group of tough junkyard dogs. Their leader Buster (Palminteri) had once been Tramp's best friend, but he now resents him for having left his buddy for Lady. He gives Scamp a series of tests to prove he's worthy of being a junkyard dog. Scamp's delighted at first, until he falls for the gang's sole female member Angel (Milano) and his father confronts Buster, and he starts to wonder if freedom is really all it's cracked up to be.
The Animation: A major come-down. The characters move all right and have the same expressive faces as the original, but the backgrounds lack the detail that made the original so wonderful to look at. It looks more like the Mickey Mouse Works TV shorts of this time period than a feature-length animated film from the time. That's appropriate for its low-budget origins, but is disappointing compared to the exquisite animation of the original.
The Song and Dance: For all the familiar story, there are a few good things here. Milano makes a funny and charming Angel, while Bennett does well as the concerned Tramp. For all the cheap animation, they do manage to give it the same feel of elegance as the original, and it has a slightly slower and gentler pace that's actually rather charming. Angel's story - she's been adopted five times, only to be abandoned - is sweet and even sad. The music for the most part manages the appropriate period air, especially "Junkyard Society Rag."
Favorite Number: We open with the residents of the New England town where the characters live as they tell us about their lives and the big 4th of July picnic coming up in "Welcome Home." Scamp (dubbed by Roger Bart) sings about a "World Without Fences" after he ends up on the chain, imagining himself roaming free with the strays who pass his home. "Junkyard Society Rag" is for the strays as they sing about their supposedly free life with no masters.
"I Didn't Know I Could Feel That Way" is the big romantic duet for Scamp and Angel (dubbed by Susan Egan). They even end up eating spaghetti at Tony's like Lady and Tramp. "Always There" is the heartfelt trio for Angel, Scamp, and Tramp after Scamp ends up in the pound as Angel wishes she had a family, Tramp wishes he could talk to his son, and Scamp wishes he'd never left home. The movie finishes with a reprise of "Welcome Home" as Jim Dear (Nick Jameson) and Darling (Barbara Goodson) finally wash Scamp and Angel is officially welcomed into the family. "Belle Note" plays over the credits.
What I Don't Like: My biggest beef with this, other than it more-or-less being a gender-reversed rehash of the original, is the finale. We do get a good action sequence with Tramp breaking Scamp out of the pound, but...nothing really happens after that. They barely confront Buster in the end, and I think he could have gotten into a lot more trouble than just his gang walking out on him.
There's also the ridiculous dogcatcher who keeps chasing the strays. He's drawn to look like - and Bennett makes him sound like - Don Knotts. Hardly the intimidating dog catchers just barely glimpsed in the original. His antics are annoying and are basically filler. "Didn't Know I Could Feel That Way" stands out as an out-of-place late 90's power ballad amid the relatively period numbers, and none of the songs are especially interesting or memorable. And what age are Scamp and Angel supposed to be again? They're small like puppies, but Wolf and Milano make them sound like adults, and the falling in love thing doesn't help there either.
The Big Finale: While not great, the heartfelt story and some decent characters help make this one of the more tolerable of the Disney direct-to-home-media sequels from the 90's and 2000's. Worth a look before your own 4th of July picnic for fans of the original or kids who love animal stories.
Home Media: While it is on DVD and Blu-Ray, your best bet will likely be Disney Plus if you have a subscription.
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