UPDATED 5/5: He's a Tramp (But She Loves Him): "Lady and the Tramp" Comes To Disney's Legacy Collection

UPDATED FROM ORIGINAL POST OF 4/28/15 [UPDATES IN BOLD]: Monday was a bella notte as Intrada began accepting orders for the long-awaited Legacy Collection reissue of the soundtrack to Walt Disney's Lady and the Tramp. The 1955 film, featuring an orchestral score by Oliver Wallace and songs by Sonny Burke and Peggy Lee (who also portrays Peg and other roles in the film), has been expanded to two CDs as the latest release in Walt Disney Records' series of deluxe soundtracks.

Inspired by Ward Greene's short story "Happy Dan, the Whistling Dog," Lady and the Tramp told the story of the two titular canines who find love while fending off the machinations of Lady's villainous temporary caretaker, Aunt Sarah. Disney's first animated feature in the widescreen CinemaScope process, Lady and the Tramp was an instant success for the studio, taking in more money than any of its films since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Much of its success was due to the universal story of romance, and the iconic sequences including animator Frank Thomas' now-classic scene of Lady and the Tramp sharing a plate of spaghetti. That scene, of course, was set to the Peggy Lee/Sonny Burke song "Bella Notte," one of the memorable melodies penned by the team. Though Lee didn't sing "Bella Notte," the legendary chanteuse did perform the sultry "He's a Tramp" and the delightfully catchy "Siamese Cat Song," as well as "What is a Baby" and "La La Lu." Her original soundtrack recordings are preserved here. (She also recorded her songs for her own label at the time, Decca.) Other voices featured in the film include Stan Freberg, Bill Thompson, Verna Felton, Mel Blanc, and Thurl Ravenscroft.

Intrada explains, "As [the] new [CinemaScope] process proved challenging for animation as well as theater presentation, Disney prepared both widescreen versions, [and] 'standard' versions with optical sound. This new 2-CD set is "presented from flawless original optical mono scoring session elements (as originally recorded), plus stereo imaging of vocals (also as originally presented)." In the album's notes, producer Randy Thornton explains: "Though the entire production was a monophonic recording...[some] separated elements allowed me to create a stereo effect on three songs: 'The Siamese Cat Song,' in which I was able to separate the cats; the chorus in 'Bella Notte' for which we had two lead vocal tracks, one music track, and two background chorus tracks; and the 'Finale,' which had five vocal tracks and one music track."

He then addresses the contention that some fans have had since his restoration premiered in 1997 that the recording must have been in stereo because the film was made in CinemaScope: "Dialog and sound effects are stereo. However, we believe the score was recorded in mono. We came to this conclusion when I realized that the sources I used were the complete recording sessions (false starts and all). If it was recorded in stereo, only the selected takes would be mixed down to mono (it was common practice to create a mono mix for theaters with only mono playback.) Magnetic film (the recording medium) was expensive, and the studio has always been frugal so they wouldn't have wasted the film on material that wasn't going to be used. Adding to this evidence was the fact that 1961's release of 101 Dalmatians was also recorded mono."

The first disc offers the score and songs from the soundtrack as originally restored by Thornton in 1997, while the second disc premieres much of the Disneyland Records studio cast recording of the film's songs on CD plus three tracks from Disney's Lost Chords series. Eliot Daniel and Ray Gilbert, of Disney's music department, took a stab at musicalizing Tramp's carefree philosophy before Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke came on board the movie. Their original demo of "I'm Free as the Breeze" is included here along with Jeff Gunn's modern-day recording. When Lee and Burke joined the team, they wrote a song for the very same moment. Gunn premieres Lee and Burke's "I'm Singin' ('Cause I Want to Sing)," as well.

Also note that "Home Sweet Home," as sung by the Mellomen, was the only original soundtrack recording included on the 1962 studio cast album; hence it's found on Disc One here. The instrumental track "Lady" from the studio cast album has, alas, not been included at all. As with all previous Legacy Collection titles, the packaging is a hardcover book-style format with full color illustrations, concept art, liner notes and more.

The Legacy Collection: Lady and the Tramp is available exclusively through Intrada, and Intrada's Amazon-fulfilled store, until August 2015 at which point it will be released to general retail. You can peruse the upcoming Legacy Collection titles here, and you can order Lady and the Tramp at the links below!

The Legacy Collection: Lady and the Tramp (Walt Disney Records/Intrada, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. TBD / Intrada)

CD 1: Original Soundtrack

"Main Title (Bella Notte) / The Wag of a Dog's Tail" 2:03
"Peace on Earth (Silent Night)" 1:01
"It Has a Ribbon / Lady to Bed / A Few Mornings Later" 3:53
"Sunday / The Rat / Morning Paper" 1:44
"A New Blue Collar / Lady Talks To Jock & Trusty / It's Jim Dear" 3:17
"What a Day! / Breakfast at Tony's" 1:05
"Warning / Breakout / Snob Hill / A Wee Bairn" 2:44
"Countdown to B-Day" 2:05
"Baby's First Morning / What Is a Baby / La La Lu" 3:11
"Going Away / Aunt Sarah" 1:51
"The Siamese Cat Song / What's Going on Down There?" 2:35
"The Muzzle / Wrong Side of the Tracks" 1:54
"You Poor Kid / He's Not My Dog" 1:23
"Through the Zoo / A Log Puller" 1:59
"Footloose and Collar-Free / A Night at the Restaurant / Bella Notte" 4:22
"It's Morning / Ever Chase Chickens / Caught" 2:51
"Home Sweet Home" 1:30
"The Pound" 1:27
"What a Dog / He's a Tramp" 2:24
"In the Doghouse / The Rat Returns / Falsely Accused / We've Got to Stop That Wagon / Trusty's Sacrifice" 6:05
"Watch the Birdie / Visitors" 2:05
"Finale (Peace on Earth)" 0:31