Aunt Sarah is a supporting character in Disney's 1955 animated feature film Lady and the Tramp. She is Jim Dear's aunt and Jim Jr.'s great aunt.
Background[]
Development[]
In earlier drafts of the first film, Aunt Sarah was written as an overbearing, meddling aunt-in-law, and showed antagonistic feelings towards Jim Dear. She came to the house to see Jim Jr. while Jim Dear and Darling were still at home, and pushed for them to kick Lady out, as she was constantly found guilty of mischief committed by her two cats, Si and Am. Near the end, when Lady was found to be innocent of attacking Jim Jr., Aunt Sarah angrily left after Jim Dear accused Si and Am of being cowards, and was not shown to have redemption in the end.
Conversely in the novelization and comic adaptation by Ward Greene, Aunt Sarah is very remorseful upon finding out that Tramp was protecting the baby and personally drives her nephew to the pound to retrieve the dog.
Personality[]
Having such a deep appreciation for cats, Aunt Sarah rather dislikes dogs, and is very antagonistic towards them, being quick to blame them for any incidents that occur. However, by the ending of the original movie, she proceeded to apologize to Lady and Tramp and offer them some dog biscuits as a consolation gift, implying that she at least developed some respect for dogs, with her in the sequel having a less antagonistic relationship with them.
In the novel by Ward Greene and comic adaptation, Sarah is guilt-ridden upon finding the rat's body, and drives her nephew to the pound, even vowing to break every speed limit if it means saving Tramp. [1]
Physical Appearance[]
Aunt Sarah is a tall, elderly woman with a stout physique. She has white hair, fair skin, and black eyes. She wears a dark green trench coat over a lavender dress and a white petticoat, and black high-heeled shoes. At night, she wears a light pink nightgown dress, a white nightcap, and dark pink socks.
Appearances[]
Lady and the Tramp[]
In the film, when Jim Dear and Darling go on vacation, Aunt Sarah is put in charge of Jim Jr. and Lady, to whom she takes an immediate dislike and sends her out of the baby's room when she (Lady) tries to see him. While she is upstairs, her two cats, Si and Am, cause mischief downstairs and wreck the house, claiming it as their own. Although they caused all the trouble, Lady gains all the blame when they pretend that she attacked them and ends up getting muzzled by Aunt Sarah. Luckily, she is able to wriggle out of Aunt Sarah's arms and run away, knowing that she will be safe.
After being transported to the dog pound, Lady is picked up by a guard, who returns her home to Aunt Sarah, who then ties her to her doghouse as punishment for running away. She suddenly spots a rat climbing through a hole in the fence. While she barks at it, Aunt Sarah tells her to be quiet. Tramp hears her barking, and she tells him that there's a rat in the house. He follows it to Jim Jr.'s room and kills it before it can harm him. The loud commotion alerts Aunt Sarah, who notices Lady and Tramp. Believing they want to harm Jim Jr., she locks Lady in the cellar and forces Tramp into a closet. She then calls the pound and has Tramp taken away by the dogcatcher.
When Jim Dear and Darling return home, Aunt Sarah reveals that a stray dog (Tramp) had been in Jim Jr.'s room and that she had him taken to the pound. After hearing Lady barking, they release her from the cellar despite Aunt Sarah warning them to keep Lady away from the baby. Jim Dear realizes that she is attempting to tell them something, and so he and Darling follow her to Jim Jr.'s room, where they find the dead rat. They realize that Tramp had been trying to protect him from it which Jock and Trusty heard and goes to rescue Tramp.
Aunt Sarah is not seen again afterward in the film but is mentioned in the ending as having sent Lady and Tramp and their puppies some dog biscuits as an apology.
Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure[]
Aunt Sarah returns in the 2001 sequel. She is first seen in the opening of the film while Jim Dear and Darling are taking a stroll in town, where they meet up with her. She claims she will be attending their Fourth of July picnic, as Si and Am love that holiday. She is later seen at it. Scamp disrupts it by scaring Si and Am (who were hiding in the picnic basket, about to steal the family's chicken) into her arms. He then steals the chicken, determined to prove to Buster that he is a junkyard dog. She then watches in horror as the other Junkyard Dogs ruin the picnic. Afterward, she makes no further appearances in the film.
Other appearances[]
Comics[]
Sarah appears in various comics set after the film. In these stories, she generally gets along better with Lady, but can have trouble with the more mischievous Scamp. Nevertheless, in one story, she rewarded Scamp with dog treats for helping protecting Si and Am.
House of Mouse[]
Aunt Sarah makes a cameo appearance in the House of Mouse episode "Rent Day", where she is seen sitting at a table with Si and Am in a crowd shot.
Live-action appearances[]
Lady and the Tramp (2019)[]
Aunt Sarah appears in the 2019 film remake, played by Yvette Nicole Brown as the main antagonist.
In this version, her portrayal is more closer to the earlier drafts of the original movie. She is also Darling's aunt instead and has antagonistic feelings toward Jim Dear. Much to her surprise, she is also hired to look after Lady while Jim Dear and Darling take their new baby daughter, Lulu, on a trip to see a relative. After they pick Lady up from the pound and return home, they both tell Aunt Sarah how very unsatisfied they were with how she took care of Lady, and she is sent packing immediately. She is also not redeemed at the end and still shows a huge dislike for Lady and dogs in general.
Aunt Sarah enters Jim Dear and Darling's house where she approaches her niece Darling where she gives her a gift - an expensive Majolica, which she thinks that Darling's new baby will love this decoration. Lady leaps onto her lap, which Sarah tells her niece that the decoration is priceless, telling her to give Lady some training. Darling replies to her that Lady has good intentions, but Sarah thinks Darling is talking about cats. The next day, Sarah approaches Jim Dear and Darling, who approach her and thank her for watching over Lady just before Lady's owners leave.
As Lady's owners leave, Aunt Sarah returns upstairs, complaining about watching over Lady. Sarah then goes upstairs listening to opera music on her phonograph. However, when Aunt Sarah's pet cats, Devon and Rex cause Lady to get in trouble throughout the song "What a Shame", which Lady finds in the basket Sarah placed. Sarah notices the commotion and tells Lady to to be quiet while trying to stop Sarah's pet cats from causing too many messes across the house. She then accuses Lady for causing a mess, much to Devon and Rex being troublesome to her. Sarah then takes Lady to the pet store so that she can buy a muzzle to keep her from terrorizing her family any longer, which the pet store owner removes Lady's collar and places a muzzle on her mouth. However, Lady escapes from Sarah, still with her muzzle, although she manages to get rid of her muzzle by using a beaver statue at a park to pull it out of her, thanks to Tramp's help.
Sarah then approaches Jim Dear and Darling, just as Darling tells Lady that what Aunt Sarah meant to say was that she is sorry for her; Sarah then plans to leave the house for a very important engagement to attend. When Sarah boasts her thoughts about letting Lady get close to Lulu, Jim becomes a bit upset about her for not getting along with dogs well. She does not appear again afterwards.
Gallery[]
Concept art[]
.jpg "AuntSarahJoeRinaldi (2).jpg (57 KB)")
.jpg "Aunt Sarah Storyboard (1).jpg (257 KB)")
.jpg "Si and Am Aunt Sarah Sketch (2).jpg (359 KB)")
.jpg "Aunt Sarah Storyboard (2).jpg (177 KB)")
Screenshots[]
Miscellaneous[]
Trivia[]
- Verna Felton, who voiced Aunt Sarah in Lady and the Tramp, was the mother of actor Lee Millar, who provided the voice of Jim Dear in the movie.
- Verna Felton and Barbara Luddy, who voiced Lady, both voiced Flora and Merryweather in the 1959 movie Sleeping Beauty. Lady and the Tramp was the first Disney movie in which they costarred.
Variants[]
- Aunt Sarah (Lady and the Tramp 2019)
References[]
