Janelle Monae Is ‘Reinventing’ A Controversial Song For Disney’s ‘Lady And The Tramp’ Remake

From the moment Disney announced that a live-action remake of Lady and the Tramp would be coming to its streaming service, people (me) wondered: what about “The Siamese Cat Song”? There’s no way that tune, the one that goes “we are Siamese if you please / We are Siamese if you don’t please” (as sung by Peggy Lee, who looks like this), could possibly be in the film, right? Well…

Janelle Monae’s artist collective Wondaland is “reinventing” the Siamese cat’s song to (presumably) be less problematic. “Wondaland contributors Nate ‘Rocket’ Wonder and Roman GianArthur are working on a different take for the pair, who in the new film are not Siamese cats,” according to Variety. Not depicting the cats as Asian caricatures with slanted eyes is a good start. The film, which is set in 1910, has a “blues-ragtime vibe,” but the “personal sound” of Monae, who will also perform two original songs, will be represented. Hopefully Tessa Thompson, who’s voicing Lady to Justin Theroux’s Tramp, gets to reprise her as the lower-half of vagina pants from the “Pynk” music video:

A retooling of the cat song would not be the first upgrade Disney has given to an animated classic seeing live-action translation. [There’s] the “exclusively gay” moment director Bill Condon added to Emma Watson’s Beauty and the Beast — in service of Josh Gad’s character Le Fou, who in that original animation pined for the beefy alpha male Gaston with no clear motivation. Upcoming live-action takes like Aladdin and Mulan will also accurately represent the racial makeup of their respective characters. (Via)

Disney+ will also lack Song of the South, the “When I See an Elephant Fly” number from Dumbo, and, although it hasn’t been confirmed, most likely the “What Made the Red Man Red?” song from Peter Pan.

Lady and the Tramp (with real dogs!) will be released on November 12.

(Via Variety)