Toon Talk: Lady and the Tramp 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition
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(c) Disney

Or course, such potentially scandalous elements as this one are handled with the utmost of subtlety; I'm sure most viewers throughout the years have not noticed or, if they did, cared. What they have recognized in this beautifully rendered Victorian setting is the rich characterizations that fill the film, from the sneaky Siamese twins to the pathos-stricken mutts to a lisping beaver. And, albeit not a musical in the traditional sense, the songs of Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke and score by Oliver Wallace add immeasurably to the timeless charms of our Lady.

Although disc one offers next to no bonus features (save for a superfluous Preview of Disc Two and "Fast Play"), it does present two viewing options for the main feature itself: its original Cinemascope widescreen presentation, as well as a full screen version. There are two audio options as well, with the new Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix along with the Restored Original Theatrical Soundtrack. As would be expected for such a high profile release, the film looks and sounds spectacular in any combination, and the restoration teams (who are listed in additional credits at the end of the main program) have done a superlative job in cleaning up the film's images and sounds.

(c) Disney

You may have noticed that I did not mention an audio commentary on disc one; yep, for the first time with a Platinum Edition, Disney has not included an audio commentary or similar feature (such as the innovative "Inside Walt's Story Meetings" on last year's Bambi). As I'm sure many will balk at this exclusion, I would have to say that, at least in this set, it is not really missed. As previously mentioned, the comprehensive "making of" that is included covers a lot of ground here, information that would most likely have been repeated in an audio commentary. One can assume that Disney realized this, and thus decided against such redundancy.