Scamp (comics)

Scamp is a canine Disney comics character, the son of Lady and Tramp, all of whom appear in the 1955 animated film Lady and the Tramp. In the final scene of the film, the dogs have a litter of puppies, including three girl pups who look like Lady, and a mischievous, restless boy pup who resembles Tramp. The puppies are unnamed in the film and only appear in one scene, but the little boy puppy made an impression, and King Features Syndicate launched a comic strip a few months after the film's release.

Scamp's comic strip ran for more than 30 years, from October 31, 1955 to June 25, 1988. He first appeared in a comic book in Dell Comics' Four Color #703 (May 1956); this turned into a regular comic book series which reached issue #16 (Dec 1960). A second series was launched by Gold Key Comics in 1967; this ran for 45 issues, ending in January 1979. In 2001, Scamp was animated for the first time since his brief appearance in Lady and the Tramp, being the protagonist in a direct-to-video film by Walt Disney Television Animation, Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure.

The first daily strip featuring Scamp as the main character was published on October 31, 1955, four months after the movie opened. A Sunday strip was added a few months later, on January 15, 1956. The final Scamp comic strip was published June 25, 1988.

For the first eight months, Scamp had continuity and was written by Ward Greene, the King Features Syndicate editor whose 1945 short story Happy Dan, the Cynical Dog contributed to the development of the storyline for Lady and the Tramp. Advance publicity for the strip noted Greene's participation and the strip carried the byline "By Ward Greene". Disney historian Jim Fanning notes Scamp likely is "the only strip written by the original author of the work from which it sprang". Greene and artist Dick Moores wrote the strip with a continuing storyline, but less than a year later, new creative personnel were doing it in a gag-a-day format.

In the strip, Scamp lives in the backyard of Jim Dear and Darling's house with his mother Lady, father Tramp, and three siblings: two sisters named Fluffy and Ruffy, and a brother, Scooter (this is contradicted in Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure, where he has three sisters named Annette, Collette and Danielle). The family is often visited by their canine friends, Jock the Scottish Terrier, Trusty the bloodhound, Boris, Bull, Pedro the Chihuahua and Peg. In the early sequences, humans appeared in the strip, but when the gag-a-day format began, the only human to appear regularly was Albert, a little boy who was considered Scamp's master. Other animals who appear in the strip include Squeeky the mouse, Tiny the dachsund, Cheeps the bluejay, Shakey the chipmunk, Quacky the duck and Bloopy the bulldog.

The first story ran for four weeks, from October to November 1955. Scamp is a bold, playful puppy who does not like to do as he is told. He decides to dig a hole under the backyard fence and seek adventure. He rolls in grass, chases birds, steals a bone from another dog and generally enjoys himself. As night falls, he realizes that he does not know how to return home. Worried, Lady tells Tramp to go and find their son. Tramp meets with the bloodhound Trusty, but they cannot find Scamp until they hear the sound of a scuffle, which is a huge angry dog, fighting with Scamp. Tramp bites the large dog and chases him away, and Scamp wags his tail, claiming, "I guess I fixed his wagon, didn't I?" Exhausted, Scamp falls asleep, and Tramp and Trusty carry him home.

In the next four-week story (November to December 1955), Tramp goes out for a walk, promising to "bring home the bacon" for his family. He eats some scraps and talks with old friends, until it's late and he realizes the family is waiting for him. He finds an unfriendly dog with a big bone, and tricks the mutt into dropping it. The next day, the puppies all happily chew on the bone.

This was followed by a one-week story about Scamp meeting an owl, and then another four-week story (December 1955 to January 1956) in which Scamp's siblings are named. One sister, who is ladylike, is named Fluffy, and Tramp calls the tomboy sister Ruffy. That leaves the baby brother without a name. The family is playing in the snow, and the baby slides down the hill toward a frozen lake with a huge hole in the ice. Scamp and Ruffy fall into the water and are rescued by Tramp, but the baby boy says that he did not fall in the water, he just "scooted" over it. Tramp and Lady decide to call him Scooter.