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One Hundred and One Dalmatians

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This article is about the 1961 animated film. For the 1996 live-action movie, see 101 Dalmatians. For the novel, see The Hundred and One Dalmatians.
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
Directed byClyde Geronimi
Hamilton Luske
Wolfgang Reitherman
Written byDodie Smith (novel "The One Hundred and One Dalmatians")
Bill Peet (story)
Produced byWalt Disney
StarringRod Taylor
Cate Bauer
Betty Lou Gerson
Ben Wright
Lisa Davis
Martha Wentworth
Music byGeorge Bruns
Mel Leven (songs)
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures
Release dates
January 25, 1961
Running time
79 min.
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4,000,000 USD (estimated)

One Hundred and One Dalmatians (often abbreviated as 101 Dalmatians) is the seventeenth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon. It was made and produced by Walt Disney, and it was originally released to theaters on January 25, 1961 by Buena Vista Distribution. It is based on the novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith.

The film features Rod Taylor as the voice of Pongo, the first of the Dalmatians, and Betty Lou Gerson as the voice of the villainous Cruella De Vil. The plot centers on the fate of the kidnapped puppies of Pongo and Perdita.

Premise

Pongo is a dalmatian who lives in a London bachelor flat with his owner ("pet" in Pongo's mind), Roger Radcliffe, a professional songwriter. Unlike Roger who spends his days writing music, Pongo is bored with bachelor life and decides to find a wife for his pet and a mate for himself. He sees a beautiful female dalmatian, Perdita, and her "pet", Anita heading to Regent's Park and later leads Roger to the park to meet up with them. After an awkward and unusual meeting that almost goes awry, Pongo's efforts pay off as Roger and Anita fall in love along with him and Perdita.

Once Roger and Anita (and Pongo and Perdita) get married, Perdita gives birth to 15 Dalmatian puppies. Cruella De Vil, an eccentric and wealthy social parasite known to Anita from their school years, offers the human couple a large sum of money in return for the puppies so that she can make a dog-skin coat out of them. The human couple refuses, but Cruella, who won't take no for an answer, hires Jasper and Horace Badun to kidnap the puppies. The humans try every effort to locate the stolen puppies but to no avail.

Heartbroken and desperate, Pongo and Perdita use the "Twilight Bark", a dog gossip chain, to alert the other dogs in England and locate their puppies. Once the puppies are located, it is up to Pongo and Perdita, along with the help of some animal friends they meet along the way, to rescue their 15 puppies. When the parents are reunited with their children, they discover 84 other puppies in Cruella's possession at the old De Vil mansion, Hell Hall, and soon learn of Cruella's diabolical scheme to skin them for a coat. Pongo and Perdita decide to bring the other puppies home with them, and raise them along with their own 15. However, Cruella and the Baduns are in hot pursuit of the dogs and will stop at nothing to catch them. With help from various animal friends, the dogs make their way back to London all the while trying to avoid their pursuers. In order to try and fool Cruella and the Baduns, the dalmatians smother their coats in black soot, covering up their spots making them appear like black labradors. They hitch a ride back to London in a moving van but not before Cruella and her partners see through the dog's disguises. Jasper and Horace in their truck and Cruella in her car race after the van with the dalmatians inside. Trying to cut the van off from two different directions, the villains' vehicles collide with one another and crash into a deep ravine while the dogs go to safety. Comically, the villains are shown alive and well, with Cruella berating the Baduns before starting to cry.

Roger and Anita, meanwhile have continued the search, using the money Roger has made from selling his catchy tune, "Cruella de Vil". The dalmatian clan make it back home, where Roger and Anita decide to raise the 84 other dogs along with their original seventeen, so making 101 Dalmatians. As the film closes, we see Roger working on his new song, "a Dalmatian Plantation."

Production

The production of the film signaled a change in the graphic style of Disney's animation. This occurred with the introduction of Xerography which eased graphic reproduction requirements, but at the price of being unable to deviate from a scratchy outline style because of the new (and time and money saving) technology's limitations, recognizable by its thick black lines. Since the line would not have fit the "round" Disney drawing style used until then (with the exception of Sleeping Beauty), a more graphic, angular style was chosen for this and subsequent films. Rotoscoping, a technique formerly used for tracing live action human characters into animated drawings, became less important.

Another reason for its look was that the animators themselves was used to produce drawings which were very sketchy, as the clean-up was taken care of by those who transferred the drawings to the cels. With the hand inkers gone, the animation ended up the way the animators drew them on paper. Later it became common to do clean-up on paper before the animation was xeroxed, and with time and more experience the process improved also in this area.

The technology change also happened when Disney cut its animation department after the economical failure of the very expensive Sleeping Beauty, resulting in a reduction of staff from well over 500 to less than 100 and fewer resources put into the movies. Walt Disney, who at this point had started to direct his attention more towards television and his Disneyland amusement park and less on his animated features, disliked this development. The "sketchy" graphic style would, however, remain the norm at Disney for years until the technology improved prior to the release of The Rescuers to allow a softer look. In later animated features the Xeroxed lines could be printed in different colors. Unlike many other Walt Disney animated features, One Hundred and One Dalmatians features very few songs, only three, with just one, "Cruella De Vil", playing a big part in the film (ironic, considering that Roger was a professional songwriter). Even this song isn't sung in one setting (a scene between Cruella and Anita splits it into two parts). The other two songs are Kanine Krunchies Jingle (sung by Lucille Bliss, who voiced Anastasia in Disney's 1950 film Cinderella), and Dalmatian Plantation, of which only two lines are sung as the film's closer. The MPAA was close to re-rating this movie due to the new criteria about smoking.

In the original book, Pongo was mated with "Missus", and Perdita was a lost female that was taken in to help wet-nurse the original 15 puppies. Perdita's mate was missing, but appeared up at the end. The four adult dogs were condensed into two in the film, and Disney made up for the missing adult dogs by adding two stolen puppies to Cruella's stash. In addition, Roger and Anita in the film are named "Mr. and Mrs. Dearly" in the book. This was the first animated Disney feature to take place in a contemporary setting.

Significance

One Hundred and One Dalmatians is an important film to Walt Disney for many reasons:

  • The film became a box office smash success hit in the 1960's of Walt Disney and following it's re-release in 1985 and 1991 that it totally gross average of the film was $153,000,000 [1]
  • The first film in the history to Disney feature animations to be set in the (then-) present time standard of the story. This would later had been accomplished by "The Rescuers", "Oliver and Company" and "The Aristocats".
  • The first film to introduce the use of xerography in the animations from Ken Anderson. When Walt first looked at the artwork, he didn't approve of it and didn't want to be part of the project, at the time he was doing The Jungle Book. But when the film became a terrific box office hit of the 1960's, Walt appreciated the change concept. The xerography style of the films would have continued until "The Rescuers soften up the drawing style of the film and the lastly used untill the 1989 classic The Little Mermaid.
  • The film that featured at least 6,469,952 spots in the film of each of the Dalmatian puppies and including on Pongo and Perdita in the film.
  • The last film to feature animator, Marc Davis. Whom, create the popular villian character of Cruella de Vil. Afterwords, he movied on to be a WED Enterprise to the company by designing Disneyland, The Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean.
  • The popular One Hundred and One Dalmatians film went on in 1962 to recieve a BAFTA Award (British Academy for Film and Television Arts Award).
  • The film that was inspired to create 2 live-action films based on the animated success, 101 Dalmatians and 102 Dalmatians, but both were more focused on the Dodie Smith's story besides the film most recently.

Characters

File:Movies cruella.jpg
Cruella DeVil takes out her anger on Jasper and Horace, her bumbling henchman. This image illustrates the exaggerated mannerisms and appearance of De Vil, key to her character's continued success among audiences and critics alike.
  • Pongo

Voiced by Rod Taylor, is the protagonist and the father of the Dalmatian puppies.

  • Perdita

Voiced by Cate Bauer and Lisa Daniels, is Pongo's mate and the mother of the Dalmatian puppies. She's quieter and more refined than her husband, yet like him is quick to act and fiercely defends her children (and foster children) when confronted with danger.

  • Roger Radcliffe

Voiced by Ben Wright, is Pongo's owner and a struggling songwriter; eventually becomes rich when creating a song about Cruella de Vil (whom he strongly dislikes).

  • Anita Radcliffe

Voiced by Lisa Davis, is Perdita's owner and Roger's wife. She is something of an artist. She doesn't defend or dislike Cruella, but finds her overwhelming and politely brushes her off as "eccentric".

  • Cruella de Vil
Main article: Cruella de Vil

Voiced by Betty Lou Gerson (who also narrated Disney's 1950 film Cinderella), is the villainess of the film; an eccentric rich woman who has the 15 puppies kidnapped in order to turn them into a fur coat. She is a social parasite; she visits her ex-classmate Anita, keeping pretence of friendship, while trying to take advantage of her. She has an obsession for pelts but in fact is only shown wearing a single, voluminous white coat. Beneath this, she wears a black dress on her very bony body. Cruella smokes constantly and has no scruples with either committing blackmail or driving maniacally. She drives a long red car that appears to be a Bugatti Type 57, and is known for operating it recklessly.

  • Jasper and Horace Badun

Voiced by J. Pat O'Malley and Frederick Worlock respectively, are Cruella's comic relief henchmen who carry out the kidnapping. Jasper is tall and thin, while Horace is short and fat. They argue often. Although they appear to be stupid, Horace appears to be the more intelligent of the two, but is absolutely intimidated by his brother, who has the more ready tongue. Jasper has a closed mind to the possibility of sapience in dogs-- as well as the equal possibility of cleverness in his brother. He drinks alcohol, whereas Horace eats sandwiches. Both enjoy watching a weekly television program called "What's My Crime?" (a delightful parody of What's My Line?, wherein the misdeeds of lawbreakers are guessed by a panel of contestants. One of the guest stars of this program, Percival "Meathead" Fauncewater, is an acquaintance of theirs. Any contestant whose crime is not guessed within 10 questions receives a two-week all-expenses-paid vacation at a seaside resort, however, they can only take the vacation after their release from prison. Fauncewater's game is interrupted by the time buzzer, and was to be continued the next week - he was returned to jail in the meantime. All we know of his crime is that it does not involve larceny, homicide, or violation of a city ordinance, though he is normally a burglar.

  • Nanny Cook

Voiced by Martha Wentworth, is Roger and Anita's maid. Very maternal and fussy. Detests Cruella, has no patience for teasing, and is very attached to the puppies. It is she who gives the alarm that the puppies have been stolen.

  • Danny

A Great Dane who is a friend of Pongo. He is the first to respond to Pongo and Perdita's call in the Twilight Bark, and also is the one who tells them where to find the puppies as well as informing them that Cruella is the one responsible.

  • The Colonel, the Captain, and Sergeant Tibs: An Old English Sheepdog, a horse, and a cat who help mastermind a rescue mission to save the puppies from Cruella at Hell Hall.

Puppies

  • Lucky
Main article: Lucky (Dalmatian)

Voiced by Mimi Gibson, is the runt puppy from Pongo and Perdita who nearly dies immediately after being born. He is given the name "Lucky" because of being revived by Roger, who thawed him out by means of friction. He loves watching T.V. Lucky is usually played as a troublemaker, and often left behind because he never pays attention. Observant viewers will notice his dalmatian spots on his back form a "lucky" horseshoe.

  • Rolly
Main article: Rolly (Dalmatian)

Voiced by Barbara Baird, is one of Pongo and Perdita's puppies; always hungry, and shown as pudgier than the rest of the young puppies. His collar is usually shown tight around his neck with his fat bunched up around it. He is also the narrator in the Vinyl LP release The Story and Songs of 101 Dalmatians.

  • Patch

Voiced by Mickey Maga, is another of Pongo and Perdita's puppies. He loves Thunderbolt and has a spot on his right eye. Patch is normally very aggressive, barking and growling, but is not quite as feisty when faced with real life villains, and in the end shows signs of being afraid of Cruella De Vil.

  • Penny

Voiced by Sandra Abbott, Is the only dog that doesn't have a specific name after her appearance or habbits like her other siblings. She's often seen alongside her brother, Patch. Penny greatly admires her father Pongo tends to agree to anything the other puppies decide.

  • Fidget

Voiced by Paul Wexler ,is anthor 15 puppy of Pongo and Perdita. He tends to fidget alot with his collar or scatch himself which is why he most likey got the name Fidget.

  • Freckles

Voiced by Mary Wickes, is another puppy of Pongo and Perdita's; has a pattern of spots over the bridge of the nose resembling freckles on a human child. Freckles is generally shown very tired, or asking many questions.

  • Pepper

Voiced by Helene Stanley , unusually wrinkles her nose, resulting in her name.

  • Dipstick

Voiced by Dal McKennon,is anthor 15 puppy of Pongo and Perdita.Tends to hang out with Two-Tone, Whizzer more than the rest of his brothers and sister.He also appears in the 1996 live action 101 Dalmatians, look as he has partial black ears and tail,

  • Cadpig

Voiced by Jean Burns, Cadpig was one of Pongo and Perdita original 15 puppies. She was the smallest girl pup and shared a close bond with Patch.she most hang around her mother. She first appeared as a puppy of Pongo in 101 Dalmatians.

  • Whizzer

Voiced by Basil Ruysdael,is another puppy of Pongo Perdita, case of incontinence of the bladder, He always has a hard time in holding in his bladder,Whizzer also hangs Dipstick, and Two-Tone.

Cast

Directing animators

Releases

This film was the highest grossing film of 1961 and one of the studio's most popular films of the decade and was re-issued in 1969, 1979, 1985, and 1991, the last re-issue being one of the top 20 films of the year at the box office [2].

101 Dalmatians Theatrical Release History

Worldwide Release Dates

Home Video Releases

This film was released on VHS in 1992 with a trailer of Aladdin (as part of the Walt Disney Classics video series), March 9, 1999 (as part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection),and on DVD December 19, 1999 as part of Disney's Limited Issue series. A Platinum Edition DVD release was originally scheduled for March 2007, but it was unexpectedly replaced by Peter Pan, as revealed from the Platinum Edition DVD of The Little Mermaid. [3] It is confirmed to be released on March 4, 2008. The trailer for the new Platinum Edition DVD can be found on the High School Musical 2: Extended Edition DVD.

Sequels and spin-offs

In the years since the original release of the movie, Disney has taken the property in various directions. The most widely known, as well as the earliest of these endeavors was the live-action remake, 101 Dalmatians. Starring Glenn Close as Cruella De Vil, none of the animals talked in this 1996 edition. This version's success in theatres led to 102 Dalmatians, released on November 22, 2000.

After the first live-action version of the movie, a cartoon called "101 Dalmatians: The Series" was launched. The designs of the characters were stylized further, to allow for economic animation, and appeal to the contemporary trends.

Most recently, 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure was released direct-to-video, as a sequel to their 1961 animated film. Released on January 21, 2003, it returns closer to the style of the movie, but still slightly simplifying the imagery. The movie took a musical-like approach, with almost double the amount of songs compared to the original, some of which were in the original film as well.

Author Dodie Smith released her own sequel to the book, The Starlight Barking, which has never been adapted by any film company.

Pongo, Perdita and some of their puppies were featured as guests in House of Mouse, and Cruella De Vil was one of the villains featured in Mickey's House of Villains.

In Kingdom Hearts, Pongo and Perdita, living in Tranverse Town, have lost their puppies when the Heartless destroyed their world. One of the side missions is to collect the 99 puppies.

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