The Rat is a rodent that appeared in the Disney animated film Lady and the Tramp. Its sounds were provided by uncredited Mel Blanc.
Appearances[]
Lady and the Tramp[]
Lady first encounters the rat while she is running happily in the backyard. She sees the rat, growls, and chases after it, causing the rodent to scatter through a hole in the fence.
The rat has a bigger role in the climax of the film when it comes back to Jim Dear and Darling's house through the fence hole, while Lady is tied to her doghouse on a rainy night. While Lady barks at the rat, Aunt Sarah tells her to shush, and the rat takes advantage of the situation to sneak in the baby's room through the window. Tramp hears Lady's barks and she tells him that there's a rat in the house. Tramp follows the rat to the baby's room just in time before it can harm the infant. The two engage in a violent fight until at one point, the rat climbs to the top of the baby's crib, about to kill the infant. Tramp chases the rat off the crib while overturning it by accident, causing the baby to cry. Finally, Tramp manages to corner the rat behind the couch and kill it, getting injured, however, in the process.
Having been alerted by the commotion, Aunt Sarah arrives and, not seeing the rat, mistakenly believes that Lady and Tramp had attempted to harm the baby, promptly locking Lady in the basement and sending Tramp off to the pound. However, as soon as Jim Dear and Darling return, Lady shows them the body of the dead rat, clearing Tramp's name.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- According to an early script, the Rat's name was Herman. Also, Lady fought it instead of Tramp.
- The Rat is the only antagonist in the film that doesn't make any sound whatsoever other than a few squeaks, while it was being attacked by Tramp.
- It is never outright stated that the Rat wants to harm the baby. However, it is implied as it sneaks into the baby's room and, at one point, jumps into the baby's crib, but is thrown out by Tramp at the last second. This could be due to resentment against Lady for their previous encounters.
- The Rat was the only villain to die at the end.
- The Rat was animated by Wolfgang Reitherman, who also animated Monstro, the whale that appeared in Pinocchio.
- The Rat is somewhat similar to Timber Wolf from Benji the Hunted. Both wanted to kill children (The Rat wants to kill the baby; Timber Wolf wants to kill the Cougar cubs). Both died in the end (The Rat is killed by Tramp; Timber Wolf falls off a cliff).