Lady and the Tramp (1955)

image for Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Short takes

Not suitable under 5; parental guidance to 7 (violence, themes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Lady and the Tramp (1955)
  • a review of Lady and the Tramp (1955) completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 26 August 2025.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 5 Not suitable due to themes and violence.
Children aged 5–7 Parental guidance recommended due to themes.
Children aged 8 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Lady and the Tramp (1955)
Classification: G
Consumer advice lines: The content is very mild in impact
Length: 76 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Lady (voiced by Barbara Luddy), a pampered Cocker Spaniel, has known only a life of luxury with her owners Jim Dear (voiced by Lee Millar) and Darling (voiced by Peggy Lee) – until they have a baby and she starts to feel distant from them. This distance is further felt when the couple go on a trip and Lady is watched by Aunt Sarah (voiced by Verna Felton) and her twin Siamese cats (both voiced by Peggy Lee). After being muzzled by the Aunt and then escaping, Lady meets a stray street dog named Tramp. Lady’s life changes through eye-opening adventures beyond the picket fence, with many hurdles that threaten to keep these blossoming lovers apart.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Family breakdown; Animal Distress; Stereotypical prejudice and Racism.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Tramp is characterised by his heroic drive and protectiveness over Lady and her family. There are many instances where he is able to prove his heroism; perpetrating male strength at the inducement of female vulnerability and ‘weakness’.
  • In another attempt to protect the family that Lady cares for, when a rat breaks into the home and there is a threat to hurt the owner’s baby, Tramp kills the rat in an attempt to save the child.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • Whilst not bloody or visually gruesome, the dead rat scene, with direct visuals of how the animal died, through intent by Tramp, and the nature of seeing a dead animal, is likely to be disturbing for some children in this age group.
  • The visual characterisation of the rat is intimidating, with beady, creepy eyes that are menacing or threatening, and likely to scare or disturb younger viewers.
  • Throughout the film, there are multiple instances of trying to flee from danger, with many escape or chase scenes involving dangerous-looking dogs, or humans chasing the main characters with capturing gear that are intentionally designed to look intimidating.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • Aunt Sarah is portrayed as stoic and cold. This is most evident in the scene where, after the death of the rat, she finds the dogs standing over the distressed baby and immediately assumes it is the fault of Tramp and Lady. She locks Lady in the basement and Tramp into a closet, which may frighten children due to the mistreatment of animals.
  • Within the final, climactic chase scene, a secondary dog character appears to be dead following a fight. There is a moment of disbelief and grief from the main characters but, shortly thereafter, the dog appears to be fine and at the end of the movie he is smiling goodbye to Tramp and Lady.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

While there are no explicit sexual references in this movie, there are insinuations of relationships between main characters, such as the following:

  • The infamous scene of sharing spaghetti between the two main characters leads to an unexpected but heartfelt kiss. This romantic setting and intimate moment is light and short but may be uncomfortable for some viewers.
  • Tramp is presented as a brave and heroic character with a jaded and promiscuous past, which is further emphasised during a confrontation between our two leads. Lady, after being captured at the pound, finds out that Tramp has had several girlfriends.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • While not explicitly sexual, the movie’s biggest reference to intimacy comes from the wholesome ending of the two dogs raising puppies together, which, to younger audiences, may spark the conversation of how they began to raise a family together.

Use of substances

  • None noted.

Coarse language

  • None noted.

In a nutshell

This Lady and the Tramp is Disney’s original, 1955, classic animated version. The film is a light-hearted adventure, featuring early animations and key messages about the importance of community and of belonging. It is best suited to audiences over the age of five.

The main messages from this movie are the importance of loyal companionship and the correct treatment of those around you; especially that of animals and of family. Other important messages relate to protecting the vulnerable; standing up for what is right; and being respectful of others with different backgrounds.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Protectiveness
  • Loyalty
  • Helpfulness
  • Belonging.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • Consideration of harmful stereotypes such as Asian prejudices in the portrayal of characters in media. While the main message of the movie encourages breaking down preconceived notions of unfamiliar groups (for example: Lady and Tramp coming from different social/economic backgrounds), there is a very clear racist caricature of those with Asian heritage found in the portrayal of the Siamese twin cats who are animated with slanted eyes and teeth, coupled with a broken, accented singing voice. This racist undertone continues in the scene at the pound where Lady is captured with heavily accented dogs, stereotypically acting and speaking where they are natively from. Examples include the Mexican Chihuahua “Pedro” and “Boris” the Russian Borzoi.
  • The impacts of animal cruelty or neglect.