One Hundred and One Dalmatians was launched 65 years in the past, and regardless of the a long time which have handed and the way considerably not solely Disney but in addition animation expertise and even storytelling have modified, the film stays a traditional worthy of a rewatch. One Hundred and One Dalmatians debuted on January twenty fifth, 1961, making it one of many final Disney films launched earlier than Walt Disney’s loss of life on December fifteenth, 1966.
Since then, quite a few One Hundred and One Dalmatians spinoffs have come out, together with the 1996 live-action remake 101 Dalmatians and its sequel, 102 Dalmatians, and the 2021 film Cruella, all of which cemented the film’s legacy. Whereas One Hundred and One Dalmatians is reflective of the interval by which it was written in some methods, the film is nonetheless a Disney icon, with one of many franchise’s most compelling villains and a narrative from earlier than Disney felt formulaic.
A Timeless Traditional That is Earned Its Spot As One Of Disney’s All-Time Greats
Maybe the shining star of One Hundred and One Dalmatians is Cruella De Vil, who’s so downright evil that her fur coats go one step additional than common, displaying off a number of animal tails. In reality, this can be the very best a part of Cruella as a villain on this film particularly: she is actually evil, and he or she has no redeeming qualities. Put frankly, Cruella appears like a Disney villain that simply could not be made at the moment.
Maybe the shining star of One Hundred and One Dalmatians is Cruella De Vil.
Along with her open love of donning the skins of lifeless animals, Cruella orchestrates the kidnapping of almost 100 little puppies, and he or she instructs her two goons, Jasper and Horace, to kill them by any means, together with drowning them or bashing their heads in. Positive, Disney has some scary villains today, however they’re usually removed from blatantly plotting the skinning of cute little animals, and, too typically, there’s some twist or full-fledged sequel displaying that there is extra humanity to their story.
Against this, no actual clarification for Cruella’s actions is ever given in One Hundred and One Dalmatians, neither is there something near a forgiveness arc for the character—though, many a long time later, Cruella would certainly give the character a extra nuanced backstory. There’s additionally simply no beating Cruella’s villain music, which has its debut on this film.
The film likewise appears like a shining instance of what Disney as soon as was. Whereas, at the moment, many Disney films really feel redundant or aligned with a specific components (Anna in Frozen, Moana in Moana, and Rapunzel in Tangled all share the identical quirky lady character, for instance), One Hundred and One Dalmatians introduces this new sadistic villain together with an uncommon narrative.
With a runtime of slightly over an hour, One Hundred and One Dalmatians manages to introduce a Dalmatian named Pongo because the narrator (in a manner that feels candy moderately than goofy); have Pongo and his human, Roger, stumble upon and get along with Dalmatian Perdita and human Anita; place Cruella because the villain; and present Perdita and Pongo’s 15 puppies get dog-napped and must combat to outlive whereas their mother and father sprint to save lots of them.
Equally stunning, the stakes truly really feel fairly excessive at sure factors, at the same time as this can be a children’ film about canine. When Cruella’s creepy, sputtering automotive comes across the nook simply as Pongo is dashing to cowl up his puppies’ tracks, for instance, it appears like an actual hold-your-breath second.
The animation additionally holds up, though it is satirically a method that Walt Disney himself was not keen on. In keeping with The Walt Disney Household Museum, Disney took problem with traces displaying in animation, which, on this film, they definitely do. Nevertheless, the artwork model used for One Hundred and One Dalmatians, which blended hand-drawn animation and a brand new (for the time) Xerox course of, is now seen as some of the iconic, profitable components of the film.
This model and course of additionally got here to outline Disney for years, with films like Robin Hood, The Jungle Guide, The Aristocats, and others using this strategy. In reality, it wasn’t till The Little Mermaid in 1989, when computer systems took over the trade, that Disney dropped the animation model that was used for One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
But, there are nonetheless components of One Hundred and One Dalmatians that make it really feel dated, together with one scene by which a person is on the street, driving alongside a reckless Cruella De Vil, and yells at her for being a “loopy girl driver,” implying that girls cannot drive. By way of a film that got here out within the early Nineteen Sixties, nevertheless, this misogynistic second is not all that stunning, neither is it essentially so pronounced that it detracts from the entire film.
All in all, One Hundred and One Dalmatians continues to be seen as a legacy title among the many many, many Disney films which have come out within the a long time since for a cause, and its dedication to a darkish, surprising narrative and really sinister villain ought to be applauded (and, arguably, used as a reference level for inspiration on this new period).
- Launch Date
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January 25, 1961
- Runtime
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79 minutes
- Director
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Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske
- Producers
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Walt Disney
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J. Pat O’Malley
Colonel / Jasper (voice)
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Betty Lou Gerson
Cruella De Vil / Miss Birdwell (voice)
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Martha Wentworth
Nanny / Queenie / Lucy (voice)