Disney is opening up its vault once again! Just in time for Valentine’s Day comes the animated love story Lady and the Tramp. Now I’m not sure what warrants a 3D theatrical release for some Disney movies, but just a rerelease on DVD for others, but I’m glad to see some of the classics coming back. Last year, I worked in the Disney store in Times Square and couldn’t go one day without someone asking me about a particular movie, praying that it was no longer kept hidden from the public in a big silver Disney vault we all imagine. I normally had to be the bearer of bad news, but from the looks of the pamphlet in this DVD case, the timeless classics such as this film along with Beauty and the Beast and Bambi are available until April 30th. Then they’ll be locked away again. Although Beauty and the Beast was just released in theaters in 3D, it still has a Diamond Edition combo pack similar to this copy of Lady and the Tramp. Anything to make a buck over at Disney, I guess. But you can’t get too mad at those guys or the legend Walt who made it all happen. You can experience some of the ol’ magic he was involved in around the time of Disneyland’s construction in the 50s with this beloved classic.

I’m sure most of you reading this have already seen the movie and know the story, but let me refresh your memory just in case. The film follows a female American Cocker Spaniel named Lady (voiced by Barbara Luddy) who lives with a wealthy family and enjoys her safe life in a lovely home in the early 1900s. She is friends with two other dogs in the upper middle-class neighborhood named Jock (Bill Thompson) and Trusty (Bill Baucom). One day, she notices that her owners are acting weird and she eventually finds out that they are expecting a baby. Lady has no idea what a baby is, but comes to love the little boy and will do anything to protect him. When the parents go away, however, Lady is forbidden to go near the child due to the demands of Aunt Sarah (Verna Felton). Soon she finds herself out in the streets with a muzzle being chased by angry dogs, only to be rescued by the Tramp (voiced by Larry Roberts). As all love stories go, these two pups fall in love. But this is certainly no formulaic romantic movie because for one, it’s a cartoon, and this classic has the unforgettable spaghetti scene.

While watching this for the first time since childhood, I noticed a lot of things I never had before and came to appreciate this as more than just a movie for kids. I laughed at the fact that Lady calls her owners Jim Dear

and Darling because of what she hears them call each other most. I started to really think about what a dog must feel when going from a test run for future parents to a sort of protector of this strange new creature they soon come to understand as a baby. Then there’s the wonderful soundtrack. Walt Disney certainly knew what he was doing and could really make the magic happen.

As I said, this is no standard DVD package. This has the Blu-ray version that features “Disney enhanced high definition picture and sound” as well as the regular DVD copy. And this has bonus content galore. It has one feature that seems to be getting more and more popular which is the Second Screen application that allows you to sync your laptop or iPad with the Blu-ray and partake in all sorts of activities including: becoming an artist, exploring Walt’s Disneyland apartment, and hearing the legend’s story meetings. There’s a separate feature in which Walt’s daughter, Diane Disney Miller reminisces about her time in the apartment that her father worked in at the time of Lady and the Tramp’s production and Disneyland’s construction. There are never-before-seen deleted scenes and a song and one feature that’ll have dog lovers drooling. “Puppypedia: Going to the Dogs,” featuring Fred Willard, explores the characters’ real-life breeds. The list of wonderful bonus material goes on and on.

Lady and the Tramp has never been one of my favorite Disney films, but it’s a classic nonetheless and I’ve grown to love it with time. I’m still a huge fan of everything Pixar has done (besides Cars 2 of course) but it’s really nice to look back at the films that started it all. What began as the first animated motion picture filmed in the CinemaScope widescreen process is now on Blu-ray High Definition. Lady and the Tramp will continue to captivate audiences and bring families together for generations to come.