Darling is Lady and Tramp's owner, Jim Dear's wife, and Jim Jr.'s mother in Disney's 1955 animated feature film Lady and the Tramp.
Background[]
Development[]
In pre-production, Jim Dear was known as Jim Brown, and Darling was named Elizabeth. These were dropped to highlight Lady's point of view. In a very early version, published as a short story in a 1944 Disney children's anthology, Lady refers to them as "Mister" and "Missis." To maintain a dog's perspective, Jim Dear and Darling's faces are rarely shown. The background artists made models of the interiors of Jim Dear and Darling's house and shot photos and film at a low perspective as a reference to maintain a dog's view.
The film's opening sequence, in which Darling unwraps a hat box on Christmas morning and finds Lady inside, is based upon an actual incident in Walt Disney's life when he presented his wife, Lillian, with a Cocker Spaniel puppy as a gift in a hatbox.
Personality[]
Jim Dear and Darling are very loving people, to both each other and to their pets. At first, Jim Dear attempts to be firm with their new puppy, Lady, but he later gives in and allows her to sleep with them after Darling requests it. They appear to be dog-lovers, having adopted two: Tramp and Angel, besides having Lady and Lady and Tramp's puppies.
Appearances[]
Lady and the Tramp[]
In the first film, Jim Dear and Darling are introduced as a young married couple. At Christmas, he presents her with the gift of a Cocker Spaniel puppy, whom she names Lady. That night, they make a bed in the laundry room for her, but she becomes lonely. Darling wishes for her to sleep with them, but Jim Dear remains firm. He finally gives in, though he states that it is just for that night.
A few months later, when Lady is six months old, it is revealed that she now sleeps with Jim Dear and Darling regularly. Realizing that she has grown up, they present her with a collar and license. Later on, it is shown that they have been unintentionally been treating her somewhat coldly. However, she soon learns that they're expecting a baby. After Jim Jr. is born, Jim Dear and Darling introduce Lady to him. Soon after, they leave for a short trip, leaving Lady and Jim Jr. in the care of Aunt Sarah.
They return near the end of the film. Aunt Sarah reveals that a stray dog had been in Jim Jr.'s room and that she had the dogcatcher take him to the pound. After hearing Lady barking, they release her from the cellar, where Aunt Sarah had locked her up. Jim Dear realizes that she is attempting to tell them something, and so he, Darling, and Aunt Sarah follow her to Jim Jr.'s room. There, they're able to find a dead rat. They realize that Tramp had been trying to protect Jim Jr. from it.
Darling, along with Jim Dear and Lady, follows the dogcatcher and retrieves Tramp. She and Jim Dear adopt Tramp, and the following Christmas reveals that he and Lady have a litter of four puppies.
Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure[]
Jim Dear and Darling reappear as the owners of Lady, Tramp, and their puppies. After one of them, Scamp, makes a mess in the house, they are forced to chain him to a doghouse outside. Later on, they take the dogs out on a family picnic, during which Scamp steals a chicken to take to the junkyard dogs. At the end of the film, Jim Dear and Darling adopt his girlfriend, Angel, whom he had met on the streets.
Live-action appearances[]
Lady and the Tramp (2019)[]
Darling appears in the 2019 live-action remake, played by Kiersey Clemons.
During Christmas Day, Darling receives a puppy whom her husband Jim Dear names "Lady" as a Christmas gift from her husband which his wife feels excited about the gift she received for Christmas just before going to bed with her husband. Suddenly, Lady feels very lonely trying to get her owners' attention so that she can sleep with her owners; Darling happily reacts to Lady who gets to her owners' bed while Jim instead gives Lady her own pillow, but to Darling's request, she tells him to allow their puppy to sleep with their owners but for one night only. The next day, Darling and her husband get their dog ready for the next day while singing "La La Lu", just as Lady receives her collar before exiting the house. When Lady returns home, she spends her new life living with Darling and Jim Dear.
The next day during a party, Lady approaches Darling receiving a Majolica from Aunt Sarah who is curious to know if the new baby will love it. As Lady leaps onto Sarah's lap, she reacts in shock, fearing that Darling might drop the gift just as she defends her niece, telling her that the gift is priceless as she suggests Darling to have this dog trained, which she replies to her aunt that she normally has good intentions.
That night when Jim returns home, he tells his wife about the exciting news that he is going to have a baby. The next day, Darling holds her baby daughter while singing a lullaby to her while her husband sits on a rocking chair staring at his baby daughter. Later, Darling, who is holding her baby, approaches Aunt Sarah, thanking her for watching over Lady just before her owners leave. Later, Elliot releases Lady from the dog pound to reunite her with Darling and Jim Dear, who take her back him, just as they are very happy to see Lady back, followed by Aunt Sarah approaching Lady's owners just before leaving to attend a very important engagement. When Sarah boasts her thoughts about letting Lady get close to Lulu and Jim becomes a bit upset about her for not getting along with dogs well, Darling tells Lady that Aunt Sarah has a point in letting Lady get close to their baby.
After Aunt Sarah leaves, Darling and her husband Jim Dear introduce Lady to their baby daughter Lulu who is part of their family just as Lady gently interacts with Lulu, followed by Lady spending time with her owners with their baby after reuniting with them. Later that night, Darling goes into a discussion with Elliot about the problem on finding Tramp and capturing him just as Tramp enters the house to kill the rat, which Tramp does so. Darling enters Lulu's nursery to calm her baby just as Elliot catches Tramp, sending him to the dog pound. Furthermore when Lady returns home, she holds back the broken curtain revealing the rat that Tramp killed to show Darling and Jim Dear, much to their shock. As Darling and Jim Dear ride on their car, they attempt to get Lady back home to protect her from Tramp. Suddenly after Tramp was rescued, Jim Dear and his wife approach Lady who was safe after all, just as Darling urges Elliot to release Tramp who helped protect the baby which he refuses to and after Jim and Darling explain that Tramp has a home, Elliot clears out his bad reputation, allowing them to have Tramp.
During Christmas, Darling spends Christmas together with her husband with Tramp welcomed to the family. She then sings "Peace On Earth" to Lulu throughout the day.
Trivia[]
- Darling shares the surname as the Darling family from Disney's Peter Pan.
- It is possible Darling is a housewife as it is stated she usually takes Lady on afternoon walks.
Gallery[]
