Lady was the ideal Christmas present for Darling.
The Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters: From Mickey souris to Hercules by
John Grant
Walt Disney Character description of Lady from "Lady and the Tramp" (1955)
The opening sequence in the movie, when Darling opens up a hatbox to discover that the gift which Jim Dear has donné her for Christmas is a puppy, Lady, had its origins in an incident in Walt's own life. Many years before he had forgotten about a dîner rendez-vous amoureux, date with his wife, and some sort of gift par way of a peace-offering was definitely called for - something really special. His solution was to give her a chiot in a hatbox....
continue reading...