Project: Whirlwind (Pitch)
So Ive kind of been on a Lady and the Tramp fixation lately, with me writing one fanfiction project and starting two others. And if this does end up going anywhere, this will be a fourth one XD In this one's defense, the idea of this is something I came up with last year, and even started writing a screenplay of it. Since Im juggling so many stuff at once, I am aware I wont be able to get to everything Im working and this includes this one, but if anyone does show interest or asks questions, I will consider going ahead with this project when I have the time.
The project's name is... Whirlwind.
What is 'Whirlwind'?
'Whirlwind' to put it simply is a revisioned version of Lady and the Tramp 2 Scamp's Adventure, released by Walt Disney Television Animation in Feburary 2001. The general plot of the Whirlwind will essentially stay the same as the original movie; Scamp feels pent up in his home life and wants to be wild and free, he runs away from home before realizing how much his family misses him, and eventually learns to be greatful of the things he has and returns home a changed dog, but with some tweaks and changes that will enhance the story and its potential.
I would like to preface this by saying that this is not being made in the same mindsight as other remakes, where the people behind it look down on the original story theyre adapting and view their new version as the fixed 'better' version. While Im not a big Lady and the Tramp 2 super fan, I do hold a level of respect for the movie because of how much its had an effect on my life over the past decade. I can see the potential of what the people behind it were trying to do while also recognizing where the film stumbles. Its not a perfect sequel, or even a standalone movie; its got a lot of flaws but not enough to be called terrible. But there aspects of the movie I found interesting and the entire goal of this project is to not only address the problems the story has but also amply the good aspects in a way the writers couldnt with how crunched for time they were when it came to making the direct to video sequels.
Goals with this Re Imaginging
There are some things Id like to do with Whirlwind that'll elevate it above it being a simple rewrite. There are angles I want to attack this story at that the original film makers didnt think too much about. But the big ones will be listed below
Scamp
Scamp's personality and character arc will remain largely the same but with some minor tweaks here and there. One of the biggest problems people have with Lady and the Tramp 2 is Scamp as a character how unlikely he is, being very bratty and selfish. Which is true and I think that was intentional on the writers part, so that he could undogo a character arc where he ends the movie with a much different outlook on how he treats his home life. The issue is that I dont think the writters wanted the audience to hate Scamp, and I dont think they did a good enough job of making him likeable enough for the audience to cheer for him. Thats not say Im going to make Scamp a good tooshoos, but I dont want to explore more of his good side while also making his plight at home more understandable from his perspective. Like how the first episode of Yu Yu Hakusho handled Yusuke's characterization. We see him being a punk at school but we also see that he has a kind side when he entertains a small boy and when he saves said small boy from being hit by a car. This perfectly sells his likeablity to us, the viewer, thus making us root for him and sell us on the fact that his family and friends do want him back. Now Im gonna kill Scamp off, bring him back, and make him a spirit detective obviously, but I would like to make him as a character a bit more likable from the start so that we dont just focus on his negative traits.
As for his desries to be wild and free, unlike in the original, I dont want him to entirely forgo that at the end of the story, which will tie in to the different ending I have for 'Whirlwind'. Scamp will return home to his family with Angel, like he did in the original movie, but as time goes on and he fully mutures into an adult, he comes to realize that his desire to be wild and free didnt go away. Even though he realized how much his family loved him and how much he loved them, he still wont feel satisfied with the life of a house pet. This will lead to him leaving his home again, but this time with the promise he'll return to visit. Angel will, obviously accompany him and maybe have an omage to the 'beyond those distant hills' speech Tramp has in the first movie as the final scene of the story. This will mean that his desire to be "wild and free" wont be treated more neutrally than something thats negative; basically going for more nuiance here. This will also mean I'll need to tweak Angel's character a bit, where she learns that the concept of a family doesnt have to be this one specific but can be anything, even if its with the person you love so much.
Romance
I will retain Scamp's and Angel's romance in Whirlwind (not just for OTP reasons), but I do want to have their relationship be more central to the story than it was originally. As much as I hate to say it, I do feel like the romantic subplot in the movie was not handled too well and felt shoved in to meet a quota that I feel like a lot of kids movies at the time had, where the main character has to have a love interest just because. Now, I understand this is a Lady and the Tramp movie, so of course, but I feel the romance in the first movie was woven in much better than it was in the 2nd movie and with Whirlwind, I want to correct that by having their relationship more important to the narative. In order to do this, Angel will be much more of a main character than she was in the original, and I'd have more scenes with them together and overall, have Scamp's change be because of Angel, much like how Tramp's change in the original was because of Lady.
Father, Son and Legacy
This ones going to be a little more complicated to explain but I'll try my best.
An interpretation Ive had of Lady and the Tramp 2 is how at the end of the day, its the story of a son who wants to (unknowlingly) follow in the steps of his father, and the story of a father who doesnt want his son to follow in his steps. One thing I wanna do with Whirlwind is hone on that idea with the story also focusing on Tramp as equally as it will with Scamp. We'd delve more into his backstory, his reasonings for being so hard on Scamp, and have him go through a change of his own; understanding that he cant control his son forever and accepting that Scamp being like him doesnt have to be a bad thing. I feel like this would make the story more of a true continuation rather than feeling like a spin off; with us developing one of the main characters from the first movie.
Now when it comes to legacy, I mean it in how Scamp mirrors his father, or at least how Tramp was in the 1st movie; priortizing freedom over everything else. And this comes out more when he joins the junkyard dog, even using his father's nickname as a title, much like Tramp's name was. This is admittidly more of a unique angle to the story but I feel like it would be an interesting take that I dont think Ive seen anywhere else.
If you guys havent read this
