Hello, everyone!  I hope those of you whose countries celebrate Labor Day had a nice day!  (I had a wonderful visit to the dog park with my two Australian Shepherd dogs - a beautiful, mild sunny day!)

This is the second fan news specifically for Lady and the Tramp Source, and what a difficult thing it is to follow up on the heels of a clever writer like Draco!  =P  For this edition of the fan news, I would like to tell you an interesting little historical snippet about Marceline, Missouri--the boyhood home of Walt Disney!

It was this small midwestern town which, during Walt Disney's boyhood, gave him so much inspiration for later master works of his, including the settings of some of his classic movies, the Main Street character of Disneyland (which opened barely a month after the release of Lady and the Tramp, by the way), etc.  Disney spent long hours laying up in the branches of a huge cottonwood tree, which he called "the dream tree".  And he also had a fascination for trains and railroads.  There is a railroad yard in Marceline (and there was back when Disney lived there).  It is said that, among other things about the unnamed town in Lady and the Tramp (and, later, Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure), that it was inspired by Marceline, and resembles it in many ways.  Here, believe it or not, is a recent photo:

Does that remind you of anything in particular?  Hm?  =D  How about a certain rail yard in a certain "old New England town"?  Heh heh...let me refresh your memory:

Not an exact match, maybe.  But I think you can see how Walt Disney's direct involvement in this particular movie, based upon his own boyhood experiences in Marceline, resulted in some curious similarities.  And if you check out the Marceline link above, and expand your search further, you can find some wonderful photos of the town which reinforce this!  (I'd like to thank Juuchan17 for helping me with the screen capture from Lady and the Tramp shown above...as it isn't online anywhere!)

Now to our site in particular.  Lady and the Tramp Source has been steadily growing, and it has been good to see occasional activity in the shoutbox here, as well as gradually-increasing activity in the forum board for the site!  Of course, it's just a beginning, but every "source" has to start somewhere.  And it's promising! 

To mention nothing of the fan contributions to the site to date!  Draco went over some impressive ones in her last fan news, and in great detail.  I have less to review than she did, but I am sure that will change in future editions of the fan news.  There are still no contributions to the Music, Gamebooks, or Projects sections of the site.  However, here's what I would like to bring to your attention for now:

• wolf-prince has written a short and interesting little "donut-hole" fan fiction (the same kind of story structure used in Disney's Bambi II; it's a story within a story), which is worth a look-see.  Grammatically it's fairly well constructed, and the story isn't really half bad.  A bit short, perhaps, but a good concept!  Check it out!

• Noteworthy fan artist Sofiel has created a really amazing fan image that's earned well its position in the Selection of the Week!

• Ibanez-angel has brought a new must-see character to the Characters section, and one with a most interesting history and a clever little name.  Check it out!

• Calico Wolf has a contest running which is about to end (on September 14th), and you might want to consider getting your entry in!  Help her design Scamp and Angel's litter!

That's it for now!  Your comments are most welcome.  Please stay tuned for the next fan news.  And please make sure to have a look around Lady and the Tramp Source - there's plenty to see and enjoy!

--JerseyCaptain