Lady and the Tramp II - Buster's story

Author's notes

I rewatched one of my favourite childhoodmovies recently, Lady and the Tramp II. Now that I'm older, I was really annoyed with the portrayal of the main villian in this film, Buster the doberman. I want to give him a proper backstory and motivation, and a character arc too. I'll first explain what frustrates me about Buster's character and what I think would be a good way to fix this movie's mistakes. I understand if you don't get the point of this. "Sas, it's just a kid's movie. Why are you analysing and critisizing it?". To you I say, it is because above all, I love analysing and critisizing stories. Speculating about and rewriting stories is what helps me become a better storyteller. Secondly, I love dobermans and I think casting one as a villian just because they look scary is shallow and won't help change the stigma that these amazing dogs have to face. Thirdly, this was one of my favourite childhood films. I want it to be as good as I thought it was back when I was little, which is why I'm rewriting part of it so my inner filmtheorist and storyteller can be satisfied with a proper explanation to Buster's actions. Remember, the best villians are the ones you can sympathise with.

First of all, let's talk about Buster's character. Buster is a proud streetdog, leader of the junkjarddogpack, and he is bitter towards housedogs. That is because Tramp, his former best friend and idol and "betrayed" him by falling in love with Lady and moving in with her to become a housedog. I will explain later why I don't find this a satisfying backstory, but I first want to shed some light on the key traits that dobermans often possess.

These dogs were bred specifically for human protection. They were NOT bred to be aggressive. Dobermans are extremely loyal to their owners and want to be near them at all times. They are the most clingy dogs I've ever heard of. Dobermans are workingdogs, they need a job to do, or else they'll get bored, preferably protecting a human. Dobermans have a need to be around humans. They do not like being alone at all. This is why I love these dogs to much! Aren't they the best? Whaa!

Okay now back to Buster. Do you see these inconsistencies? If you don't, you must be blind, because Buster's character is defying every. key. trait. dobermans. are. known. to. have. Oh God, I wish the makers of that film had looked a bit further into the breeds they picked for the characters!! If they would've made Buster a German shepherd, I would have NOTHING to complain about here. Those dogs are known to return to a wild state when they're seperated from humans for extended periods of time. Dobermans are known to return to humans, even if those humans weren't their previous owners. That's how much they want to be with us.

Overall, very shallow casting. The doberman was picked because they look scary. And yeah, again you might say that this is just a children's movie and that it doesn't matter that much because a child won't know all these things about dobermans and they just needed a scary villian, and that is true, but it's not as if dobermans are the only scary dogs out there. German shepherds can be just as frightning. And don't get me wrong, I love German shepherds too! I think they're great dogs, but I also think Buster's character would've made much more sense if he was a German shepherd.

So making Buster a German shepherd is one way to fix this problem, but that isn't a fun writing exercise and honestly, I would much rather see a doberman character done right because these dogs are so often portrayed as coldblooded killers, which is just not true. Dobermans, as any other dog, are as agressive as you make them.

Now I will explain my theories about Buster and my motivations for the backstory I've chosen for him.

The first thing I want to establish is that Buster hasn't always been a wild dog. You heard me. He once lived with humans. How do I know? Look at his ears. They're standing up. Doberman ears have to be cropped by humans to accieve that look; they don't do that on their own. Fluke? Check again. His tail is also cropped, and again that is something humans do to their dogs. Dobermans are born with hanging ears and longer tails. The fact that Buster's have been cropped tells us that he's lived with humans for an extended period of time (because the cropping of ears takes a while).

So, this begs the question. What happened? How did he become a junkyarddog? Why does he hate housedogs so much? Ladies and tramps, I present to you, jealousy. I think Buster is jealous of the housedogs, but won't admit it to anyone, not even himself. It draws a nice paralel to Angel too. They both want to be a housedog, but they handle it differently. He was once a part of a family. He was happy there, but eventually he was thrown out for some reason. He was so hurt that from that point on, he convinced himself he didn't care about humans anymore and that he never wanted to be part of a family again. He was afraid of getting hurt. But deep down inside, he feels restless because he needs humans, whether he wants to admit it or not, which plays in nicely to the nature of the doberman. He is insecure, and that's why he's acting the way he does. That is why he convinces the other dogs that being a familydog sucks and that they're better off alone, in the wild.

Now, don't you think this is a much better explanation than just "Tramp betrayed me by getting loved and now I'm bitter"? Sure, this is still a lovely addition to my backstory; even Buster's best friend, the dog who learned him how to be a streetdog, found happiness being part of a family, making Buster even more jealous and upset and insecure. Because if even the Tramp wants to be part of a family, is being a streetdog really better? That contradicts the lies Buster has told himself over and over again. In my opinion, this feels much more thought out and wholesome than the explanation given in the film.

So, what happens next? Read on and find out!

I present to you, Lady and the Tramp II: Buster's Story!