Shout-out to Simon G for recommending today’s topic!

The sign of a good story is that it will outlive us all. The classics that we all know and love were inspired by other classics from centuries past, each generation slightly tweaking the ideas that have come before, inspiring those that come after. Even when the original tellers are long gone, there’s still an opportunity to tell their story on top of what came before. In 2001, fans wouldn’t have to go far for a follow-up in Lady And The Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure.

A few years after the events of the first film, The Lady, and The Tramp are both happily married, and with a litter of four pups. Their daughters are polite and proper however their boy Scamp takes after his father in more ways than one. Longing to be a wild dog, he takes up a friendship with a pack of dogs aptly named The Junkyard Dogs. While the freedom from his family might be liberating, is this truly what Scamp is meant for?

Decades after the original film, The Lady and The Tramp II manages to get into the swing of things with little to no time wasted. If you were watching both films back to back, you’d hardly notice the 50-or-so-year gap between Lady and the Tramp and Scamp’s Adventure. Even though the film is set at the turn of the last century, some of the more controversial elements have been dialled back. So if ever Scamp’s Adventure gets a C.G.I. remake, as its forbearer got, there will be less to contend with. Ultimately, it’s another gateway for newer fans to taste the world and characters of the old film, before seeking out the classic.

Those who grew up with the original might get something out of the film, too. The animation looks cleaner with none of the grain of the old, I get that some might miss the feel that the grain brought, but the film has an almost watercolour-like drawing that permeates Scamp’s Adventure. The vocal cast is strong with familiar faces from animation history, None of the original actors make an appearance, but considering the time gap, this is more than understandable. Scott Wolf proves nominative determinism correct by playing Scamp, the wannabe wild dog with Alyssa Milano as Angel, a wild dog herself who may be envious of Scamp’s background. Familiar names also dot this cast including Jodi Benson, Jeff Bennet, Tress MacNeille and Mary Kay Bergman in what would unfortunately be her ultimate performance. They all do a fine job considering the talent before them in the last film.

Direct-to-video still carry a stigma, even though video has been declining and has long been replaced by streaming. Scamp’s Adventure sure lives up to its title with a fun tale suitable for the whole family. The film is a fun bonus in the lives of both The Lady and The Tramp, and it is nice that these stories can carry on. Only nowadays, you don’t even need to fork out for a D.V.D. unless you want to take a walk on the wild side.

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