June 22, 1955: The musical romance animated film Lady and the Tramp was released in American theaters in 1955, but it was also rereleased in 1962, 1972, 1980, and 1986. The film was first made available for home theaters in 1987 when it was made available on VHS and laserdisc.
Lady and the Tramp
Release
Lady and the Tramp was originally released to theaters on June 22, 1955. An episode of Disneyland called “A Story of Dogs” aired before the film’s release.[14] The film was also reissued to theaters in 1962, 1972, 1980, and 1986.[15] Lady and the Tramp also played a limited engagement in select Cinemark Theatres from February 16–18, 2013.[16]
Home media
Lady and the Tramp was first released on North American VHS cassette and Laserdisc in 1987 as part of the Walt Disney Classics video series and in the United Kingdom in 1990. At the end of its initial home video release, it was reported to have sold more than three million copies, becoming the best-selling videocassette at the time.[17] It went into moratorium on March 31, 1988.[18] The video cassette had grossed $100 million in sales by 1988. Peggy Lee was asked to help promote the release, for which she was paid $500.[19] After its release on videotape, she sought performance and song royalties on the video sales. Disney CEO Michael Eisner refused, thus she filed suit in 1988. Eventually in 1992, the California Court of Appeals order Disney to pay Lee $3.2 million in compensation or about 4% of the video sales.[11]
It was released on VHS again in 1998 as part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection video series. A Disney Limited Issue series DVD of the film was released on November 23, 1999 for a limited sixty-day time period.[20]
Lady and the Tramp was remastered and restored for DVD on February 28, 2006, as the seventh installment of Disney’s Platinum Editions series.[21] On its first day, one million copies of the Platinum Edition were sold.[22] The Platinum Edition DVD went on moratorium on January 31, 2007, along with the 2006 DVD re-issue of the film’s sequel Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure.[23]
Lady and the Tramp was released on Blu-ray on February 7, 2012 as a part of Disney’s Diamond Editions series.[24] A standalone 1-disc DVD edition was released on March 20, 2012.[25][26]
Lady and the Tramp was re-released on Digital HD on February 20, 2018, and on Blu-ray February 27, 2018, as part of the Walt Disney Signature Collection line.[27]