Justin Theroux, currently starring as Drew in The Spy Who Dumped Me, will be providing the voice of the Tramp in the upcoming live-action reboot of the animated classic Lady and the Tramp.  Disney has announced that Theroux will be the voice of the happy-go-lucky mutt who is tamed by the love of a cocker spaniel.

Admit it. The minute you saw this picture you started humming "Bella Notte," didn't you?
The spaghetti dinner in “Lady and the Tramp” is considered one of the most romantic moments in the movie. {image via Disney}

SCIFI.radio fans may be more familiar with Justin Theroux as Kevin Garvey from the post-apocalyptic fantasy The Leftovers.  He co-starred with Christopher Eccleston, the Ninth Doctor, as Matt Jamison and Liv Tyler, Arwen from LOTR, as Meg Abbott in The Leftovers.  Theroux was the code break in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and the voice of the evil Garmadon in the Lego Ninjago Movie.  He’ll also be providing the voice of Dropkick in the new Transformers movie Bumblebee, due to be released December 21, 2018.

The part of Lady has not been cast yet, but her friend and mentor Jackie has been.  In the 1955 cartoon, Lady is friends with her two next door neighbors, Jock, a Scottish terrier, and Trusty, a bloodhound.  In the reboot, Jock is now Jackie, and she will be voiced by Ashley Jensen.  Mystery fans will recognize Jensen from her starring role in Agatha Raisin.  She is a veteran voice actress, having played Nanette the frog in Gnomeo and Juliet and Sherlock Gnomes, Bryony in Arthur Christmas, the Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate in The Pirates! Band of Misfits, and Phlegma the Fierce in How to Train Your Dragon.   She co-starred with Sir Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard, Professor Xavier) in Eleventh Hour.  

Ashley Jenson with Sir Patrick Stewart,
during the filming of Eleventh Hour

The live-action reboot of Lady and the Tramp, like the live-action reboot of the Jungle Book, will be supplemented with CGI.  The director will be Charlie Bean, who previously directed Justin Theroux in The Lego Ninjago Movie.  He also directed all eighteen episodes of Tron: Uprising.  Disney announced that screenwriter Andrew Bujalski and producer Brigham Taylor will be responsible for the film.  Bujalski wrote and directed Support the Girls, which will be released August 24, 2018.  Taylor has produced several movies for Disney, including the just released Christopher Robin, The Jungle Book, Tomorrowland, and three of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

The live-action Lady and the Tramp will start filming by the end of 2018.  It will not be released in theaters.  Instead it is destined for Disney‘s new streaming service, which is scheduled to begin operation sometime in 2019.  Disney has not yet announced whether the love story of a well-bred cocker spaniel and a mutt from the wrong side of the tracks will still be set at the turn of the century, or if they reset the story in modern times.

Susan Macdonald
Susan Macdonald

Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress ”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions,  Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.