For whatever reason, and I mean no offense to her, but I think of Courtney Cox whenever I see Cruella Deville. I picture Courtney Cox as Cruella Deville. I'm surprised no one else has. She can play that type of mean, twisted-minded character.
I forgot how much I loved this film.
It looks great for 1961. Cruella De Vil has that great evil crazy eyes look. She must really love fashion. I still don't get how you can afford to keep 101 dalmatians though. Seems like a ton of work and money.
'One Hundred and One Dalmatians' is pretty great, certainly my favourite animated film from Disney up until the point of this release.
The animation is stunning, even with the minor details in and around the Radcliffe residence. The dalmatians themselves look excellent, while the premise keeps you locked in. It also features one of the studio's greatest villains in Cruella de Vil, who is incredibly wicked.
I like the voice cast here, also. Rod Taylor is very good as Pongo, with Ben Wright doing positive things as Roger. Horace and Jasper, voiced by Frederick Worlock and J. Pat O'Malley, are there to amuse too. Betty Lou Gerson is, of course, the star as Cruella.
I prefer the 1996 live-action production as it brings things to life better, but this is a fantastic effort from 1961 - one that is certainly worth your time viewing.
A mad mistress gathers spotted puppies, including a freshly-stolen litter of fifteen from a small metropolitan family, to harvest their pelts and produce a line of fur coats. When the lost pups' parents send out a distress call, half the hounds of London take the case and the great chase begins.
The theme and tone are fitting for a Disney picture, retaining some of the fantasy elements that first brought the studio to fame, while continuing the lean in a slightly darker direction that would continue throughout the next thirty years. Disney Animation had to cut some corners to make this one, after Sleeping Beauty underperformed at the box office, and many of those cost-saving measures show up in the finished product. Xeroxed and reused character animations are abundant, artwork often seems rushed and over-simplified, and the extensive use of rotoscoping is often distracting.
It's also a very short film, running just an hour and nineteen minutes with credits, and the story suffers for that brevity: villainess Cruella De Vil's great comeuppance seems short-lived and inconsequential, while the focal family's happy reunion comes off as narrow and happenstance. There's also very little music in the picture, surprisingly so considering the human father's occupation as an always-working composer, which makes for a less jolly, wholesome vibe than one might expect.
It isn't bad - the core characters are charming and they're aided by a full, well-rounded supporting cast - but it does seem terribly shallow and borderline incomplete. The beginning of a difficult transition away from the days when the studio was churning out classics every other year.
7 - Good
I've got to say, this movie is a good kids story about dogs. Good characters, great voice acting and overall something everyone should see in their lives.
The narration was very good in the beginning and film is okay, nothing super. It lags in a few parts, which is the only complaint I would have. It certainly is a nice story.
Shout by Shaun GriffinBlockedParent2021-12-21T01:25:09Z
I remember this classic movie from my childhood like it was yesterday! I made this a Christmas movie, I believe that's when I seen it first as a child.