AMERICA at the turn of the last century was a charming, promising and bright world. Half a century later one of the most original and vibrant stories ever produced by Walt Disney still shares all of the qualities of the time and place in which it is set. If only the proverbial Main Street of America could be as beautifully restored as this classic film.

In a two week lead-up to Valentine’s Day, The El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood is hosting a special engagement of “Lady & the Tramp�? from now through February 14, primarily to promote the re-release of the film to DVD, this time around in a carefully digitally restored edition. Frankly, the old girl and her beau could have been covered in scratch marks, dust and grime and they would still have outshined any of the animated features that got the Oscar nod this week. It’s more than just the charm of the period settings and the oddly nostalgic effect of seeing hand-drawn animation projected on the screen at the El Cap that made audiences sit up and take notice last night. Maybe it was the shock of finely acted, character specific animated performances in an uncomplicated and enormously engaging story. Mind you, there’s no trendy dialogue to date the film – not that 1955 didn’t have its share of trends and youth-driven lexicography to draw from, but I guess film makers back then didn’t see how infusing the early 1900’s with hipster wisecracks made any sense. Nor is there an over-complicated plot fueled by dizzying editing and machine-gun pacing. How dated can a date movie get? Still, there was not a fidget or a fuss or a distracted wormy whine in the theatre. The children were equally as well behaved and fully engrossed. It was almost as if the cinema gods were hinting that it would have been wiser to release the new and upcoming “The Wild�? directly to DVD and sick the old dogs on one thousand screens instead of just one.