Lady was the ideal Christmas present for Darling.
The Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters: From Mickey Mouse to Hercules by
John Grant
Walt Disney Character Description of Lady from "Lady and the Tramp" (1955)
The opening sequence in the movie, when Darling opens up a hatbox to discover that the gift which Jim Dear has given her for Christmas is a puppy, Lady, had its origins in an incident in Walt's own life. Many years before he had forgotten about a dinner date with his wife, and some sort of gift by way of a peace-offering was definitely called for - something really special. His solution was to give her a puppy in a hatbox....
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