One Hundred and One Dalmatians Reviews

This film is beautiful, and superior to the 1996 live action version. The animation is just beautiful, and I delighted in seeing those puppies's tails wagging. Those puppies were very cute, and a lack of any voice overs in the 1996 version was sorely missed. The scenes like the Twilight Bark added a sense of poignancy to the well-written story.I also want to say, I absolutely love the book by Dodie Smith, and I am 16. Another high point was the villain Cruella DeVil(voiced to perfection by Betty Lou Gerson), who was truly diabolical in every sense. The dogs, Pongo and Perdy were very lovable, and their scenes with the puppies were often very touching. Supporting characters like Tibbs, Captain, Colonel, and of course Jasper and Horace were very well done. The songs, were not as memorable as the ones in the Jungle Book, but at least they were tuneful. In conclusion, a beautiful and entertaining animated film, that is underrated in my opinion. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Trapped in a state of flux after Sleeping Beauty’s failure nearly bankrupted the studio’s animation division, Walt Disney needed a hit, and he needed one badly. He also needed to find a cheaper, easier way to make a fully animated feature. In times of desperation, sometimes great things can be created, and 101 Dalmatians found the Disney studio creating back-to-back masterpieces.

 

Unlike the preceding Sleeping Beauty which trafficked heavily in some of the studio’s beloved practices, 101 Dalmatians feels more modern, sleek, and jazzier. Loose-limbed and more energetic than many of the previous films that studio had made, Dalmatians finally found the studio creating a more “modern” film. Granted, the Xerox process frequently caused various stray lines to emerge causing characters to occasionally look off-model or laying bare the animators’ pain-staking artistry.

 

More often than not, this actually improves the quality of the film. These line drawings are more spontaneous, adventurous even than the normal look of a Disney offering, which veered towards hyper-polished and glossy images that looked like they never saw a human touch in their life. Uncle Walt hated the look of the film at first, but eventually warmed up to it before his death in 1966. History has proven him wrong, as Dalmatians has become a cherished institution in the studio’s oeuvre.

 

If Dalmatians continues to endure and endear, much of that credit goes to Cruella De Vil, one of the more grotesque and ostentatious of the villains. Many of Disney’s films are dominated by their villains, and the tones appear to match, as if the studio knew that people came to see good versus evil, but they wanted evil to be far more enthralling before its inevitable defeat. With her continuous smoky haze hovering around her, too large fur coat, shock of two-toned hair, exaggerated angularity, and absolutely ridiculous vocal and bodily mannerisms, Cruella is a daring original. Her grand scheme is batty, but grand diva proclamations and her tour-de-force performance snatches the film away from the sexless Roger and Anita, adorable ensemble of puppies, and their heroic parents.

 

Strange to praise the performance of an animated character, but cinema is littered with memorable performances from animals, stop-motion puppets, special effects creations, and the like. Drawn by Marc Davis, voiced by Betty Lou Gerson (a decade after warmly narrating Cinderella, no less), based on Tallulah Bankhead, and acted out by Mary Wickes for animation reference, Cruella is so iconic and memorable a character that even the AFI couldn’t ignore her charisma. She came in as the 39^th greatest villain on their list “100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains.” Her brand of evil isn’t the default state of being that Maleficent finds herself in, nor the product of ego and vanity of  Snow White’s Evil Queen, or the product of enjoyment and mirth as with Ursula, no, Cruella is bad in a banal way. She wants to harm puppies for the fashion, dah-ling!

 

Cruella’s harsh graphics and severe contortions lay the groundwork for the rest of the film. In prior years, the backgrounds of Disney films were lush and densely created watercolor wonderlands, beautiful vistas to enjoy even if the dramatics playing out in front of them is less than stellar. Here, large splashes of color fill the background and finely inked details are drawn on top to fill in the gaps. So a tree is made up a splash of brown, a giant blob of different greens, and inked detail work laid over it all. This visual style is more engaging and sloppy, more energetic than, say, Lady and the Tramp’s warm Americana hues and textures.

 

Funnily enough, as a child I preferred the bland-but-pretty Lady and the Tramp to this grittier, sloppier cousin. The older I’ve gotten, the more appreciation I have for a variation of elements in 101 Dalmatians - a lack of songs, a drag queen-esque villain, frantic and distinct opening credits, a slightly different tone and story structure. Shame that this didn’t exactly point the way towards a new direction for the studio. No, the post-classical period would find the studio animators flaying about trying to keep its battered ship from capsizing. This, to me, feels like the true end of the Silver Era. 

It is a huge classic and I have seen it many times with my daughter (who will become 6 years old tomorrow by the way). Honestly, it is not one of my favorite Disney classics but it is still fairly enjoyable though. My favorite scene was the introduction when it was focusing on Pongo's thoughts. Eventually, I wish they had kept the same tone for the rest of the movie but, unfortunately, it then became a decent familly feature but not much more than that, I'm afraid. Of course, the other masterstroke was Cruella De Vil who would become one of the most emblematic vilains created by Disney. Arguably, she was the best bad guy those guys have invented and it is probably my favorite one. I mean, she looked awesome, her clothes looked great and even her car was badass. Unfortunately, on the other hand, I thought that all the dogs were rather underwhelming. I mean, sure, they were all cute and all but they definitely lacked some personality, especially when you compare them to the awesome Cruella. That's the big difference between the old Disney classics and the recent Pixar efforts. Even though the old Disneys are fine, they were definitely made for young children, whereas the Pixar stuff is enjoyable for the kids and grown-ups alike. Still, it remains a decent old classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

101 Dalmatians is an outstanding Disney Classic that I loved as a kid and still do now. This is one of the few Disney Classics that are based in Britain. Only others I can think of are Robin Hood and Peter Pan. This and The Lion King are probably the only Disney Classics that are thrillers. It was tense because we wanted to know what was going to happen especially after the puppies escaped and are trying to get back home. This film is one of the few Disney's too that isn't a fantasy film; well, it is and it isn't. It is because there aren't 101 Dalmatians living together in a house and dogs don't know their way all around London; like normal dogs would just get lost and go anywhere. It isn't a fantasy film because there aren't any imaginative or mythical creatures or atmospheres either. Oh... and this is another Disney Classic that isn't a musical. I mean, yeah there are songs in but they don't flow with the film and the events that are going on like Aladdin, The Lion King, Beauty And The Beast, Jungle Book etc.


Pongo is a Dalmatian that lives in a London bachelor flat with his owner Roger who is a songwriter. Because of this boring lifestyle Pongo feels, he decides to try and find a wife for Roger and a mate for himself. As Pongo was watching female dog and human pairs out of the window, he eventually finds the perfect couple: a young woman called Anita and her female Dalmatian Perdita. As he sees them rush to the park, he immediately gets Roger to take him for a walk into the park so they can meet. Their meeting isn't a pleasant one but when they make each other laugh, both pairs begin to fall in love with each other. Now that they're living all together, Perdita gives birth to 15 Dalmatian puppies and Cruella De Vil pays them a visit and offers to buy all 15 but Roger says they aren't selling any of them! This leads to Cruella hiring Horace and Jasper to steal the puppies so she can have her fur coat out of dog skin. Now that the humans can't do anything about it, its up to all of the dogs in England to help Pongo and Perdita find their puppies and find them. Will they be in time to save them?


101 Dalmatians was the first Disney film created by a single story man called Bill Peet. As done with other Disney films, Walt Disney hired an actress to perform live-action scenes as a reference for the animation process. Actress Helene Stanley performed the live-action reference for the character of Anita. She did the same kind of work for the characters of Cinderella and Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty. I couldn't help but notice dogs in one particular scene in this film that looked just like the dogs from Lady And The Tramp (Lady, Tramp and Jock). A sequel was released 42 years later called 101 Dalmatians: Patch's London Adventure. I mean, it is a much weaker sequel compared to the original classic but it is still good.


Overall, 101 Dalmatians is a brilliant animated classic that I could watch over and over again. It truly shows alongside Lady And The Tramp and The Aristocats the beauty of pet animals and how they can effect the lives of their owners.