One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)

This is How Movies Should Be Made

Really Surprised!

Excellent, a Must See

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how timeless Disney animations are. 1961 and still better than the average modern animation, what more could one want? Dalmatian Pongo decides to find a wife for his master and a mate for himself, which eventually results in fifteen puppies being born. Old school friend Cruella De Vil wants the spotted fur of these puppies so she can make a new coat, to do this she hires henchmen to kidnap them and eighty four other puppies. What sets this film apart from the other classics in Disney's canon is just how small the story is. It's not a grandiose fairytale with fantastical magic, it's a crime chase set in both urban and rural London. Removing princesses, fairies and living puppets from the equation resulted in a more relatable plot that still conveyed the excitement and charm that Disney is famed for. The bachelor life in the first act, the portrayal of the "Twilight Bark" in the second act and the climatic car chase of the final act. Each segment exhumes delightfulness for both the human and canine characters that come together to create an enthralling story about family. The animation style was delicately crafted, from the cute bumbling puppies to the metropolitan streets of London, that unsurprisingly has stood the test of time. The human characters ooze essential British quirks that represent a flourishing love for their canine companions. Some of the puppies have the opportunity to push their own personality forward, such as Lucky, preventing them from being just a plot device. However, the main star is the maniacal fur speed demon herself, Cruella. An antagonist so deluded and crazed that she ranks in the top echelon of Disney villains, not an easy feat to accomplish. The outbursts, perfectly voiced by Gerson, were enough to put kids on edge! I just wished there was more closure for the character, especially after a nail biting chase sequence. Some of the supporting animal characters were not memorable enough, however everything else was spot on...*cough*!

This is what Glenn close said was a great Bible to go by in order to play Cruella DeVil in the 1996 live action update of 101 Dalmatians. This movie was a true childhood obsession for me. I loved the character Cruella so much! I think she may be the best Disney villain of the classic animations. She is for sure the most delicious. Everything about her is so over the top and volcanic. She of course wears her signature black dress with a white fur coat all throughout the movie. Then always smoking a cigarette with a red holder, green smoke bellowing from it constantly. Her design and look to her is so detailed and correct for her kind of character. And then Of course, we have her car, her red classic Cadillac that she drives crazily everywhere. Her driving is so much of who Cruella is lol, I remember loving that as a kid, that's really where most of the action in the film stems from. On to the other characters. Anita and Rodger are great innocent characters that have good romantic chemistry, pongo and perdita are really Rodger and Anita just in animal version. The plot is darker than most current animated films, but kids can handle it, they'll certainly have loads of fun watching these animals try desperately to escape Cruella's clutches. And it's complete with a fun theme song and top notch animation. 9/10 for 101 Dalmatians (1961).

I haven't read the book so I can't compare it to that though, frankly, that makes it easier to review and possibly more entertaining. But enough of this introduction, let's get on with the review!I want to start off by expressing the great ideas this film comes up with. I love that they have the dogs consider the humans as their pets. And the way they go about explaining it is really good. If it were to be made now they'd probably just have a dog saying "Hi I'm a dog! You may think that this human I'm with is my owner but no! He's actually my pet!". I actually cringed typing that. My point is that they treat you with respect and don't ever talk about it as if we were supposed to think they were pets. That's good writing. However the two main characters, Roger and Anita are only brought together because Roger's dog sees them and thinks that they should get together. Despite this they don't lack any good chemistry and are one of Disney's best couples.Now the animation! I've already said that I really like this modern sketchy style, it gives the movie it's own feel and almost even some grit to it. Doug Walker said something along the lines of that he personally doesn't like it and that it doesn't look like the final product, I disagree though understand where he's coming from. Though I also feel it helps with some of the character designs, the dog called colonel looks really cool, due to the sketchy style but I think you can tell that I'm just building up to talking about Cruella De Vil.This bony little old woman under a massive fur coat is really unique idea is one of, if not the best Disney villain designs. She's one of the best Disney villains and has such an iconic presence and voice. Her entrance is amazing. She bursts in the door, with her own theme tune playing from up stairs. The opera length cigarette holder, that puffs out green smoke is also a really noticeable element about the character.As I mentioned before Cruella has her own theme tune and unlike other Disney movies where people just break into song for no apparent reason, here it makes sense. Roger is a songwriter and is working on a melody, once Cruella shows up at the house he applies lyrics to do with her to the song. They even add to this idea more when we hear is song being played on the radio and his wife refers to it as "his first big hit". This, sadly, is the only song in the movie.Now onto the pups. The puppies are the most important part of the movie, if they didn't exist this movie really wouldn't have it's plot. So how do they turn out? The puppies are probably the worst part about the movie because since there's so many of them, the writers couldn't have gave them all distinct personalities. Thankfully they never come across as annoying or stereotypical and that's good enough. It would probably take too much time to flesh all of them out anyway.Something surprising about this movie is it's vast amount of suspense. Through a lot of it I was very worried for these characters and as critics would say "on the edge of my seat". The characters go through so much that when you do get to the final happy ending, you've worked for it and in this movie that's done better than in any other film I've seen, in my opinion. However once you do get to that happy ending you kind of feel underwhelmed, or at least I did. I feel they could have went that bit more happy but what I got I'm happy with. This film is definitely worth giving a watch and, despite what some critics lead you to believe, has a lot of harsh elements. If I had to pick something that disappointed me, that I haven't already mentioned, is that it was too short and I didn't get enough. Though I suppose that's more of a compliment.Thank you for reading and goodbye.

If there's any classic Disney movie that's less likely to be forgotten because of the modern Disney movies, this would be one of them. Part of the reason may be the live action version and its upcoming sequel. Skip those remakes and watch the real deal. The other part of the reason is because this movie is just so charming. Cruella De Vil is one of the more memorable Disney villains ever made. Romance abounds in this movie, and don't forget those adorable puppies. This may not have the animation or the big fancy songs of the moderns, but all that fanciness usually distracts from the story. Classic Disney always rocks, and this is no exception. I liked this film mainly for its drawings. It was a departure from previous Disney animated films in that it had harder-edged drawings instead of the soft pastels. I found the detailed sketches of the building to be fascinating. I could actually watch this film with the sound off and just enjoy the artwork.