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Picture
A litter of Dalmatian puppies are kidnapped by an evil
​woman who plans to skin them and make them into coats.
​FAMILY

One Hundred and
​One Dalmatians
 
(1961)

Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, Wolfgang Reitherman

Written by Bill Peet

Starring Rod Taylor, Cate Bauer, Ben Wright, Lisa Davis,
Betty Lou Gerson, J. Pat O'Malley, Martha Wentworth,
Frederick Worlock, David Frankham

​Based on the novel by Dodie Smith

Connor Eyzaguirre
May 26, 2021
7/10
With the impending release of Cruella this Friday, I wanted to finally watch the original 1961 Disney classic One Hundred and One Dalmatians, as well as the 1996 live-action version with Glenn Close. All I knew about Cruella De Vil was the name, so I felt context would be essential to getting the best experience out of the new movie. One Hundred and One Dalmatians is a entertaining film that's definitely made for kids, but has a few silly moments for grown ups too. Overall, I just don't think I'm the right audience for it, and I accept that. This is one of the rare cases where I felt the film might've been more entertaining as a musical, which was Disney's go-to back in the day.

Roger (Wright) and Anita (Davis) meet and fall in love, as do their respective Dalmatians Pongo (Taylor) and Perdita (Bauer). Pongo and Perdita have a littler of 15 puppies, which attract the idea of local fashionista Cruella de Vil (Gerson), who demands that Roger and Anita sell her the puppies. When they refuse, Cruella sends her minions Horace (Worlock) and Jasper (O'Malley) to abduct the pups and bring them to Hell Hall, where she's harboring nearly a hundred other stolen Dalmatian puppies. She plans to skin them and make fur coats from their skins, which is pretty damn dark for Disney even then. Pongo and Perdita call on a secret network of helpful dogs, who track the pups down. It's actually a lot duller than I expected, and definitely needed a bit more pep in the step.

One Hundred and One Dalmatians lacks the same youthful exuberance that other Disney films of the time had, like The Jungle Book, Robin Hood, or The Sword in the Stone. It's a bit by-the-numbers, not at all whimsical, and is fairly forgettable apart from the infectious "Cruella de Vil" song. But I think that's time and age more than anything else, and that can hardly be the film's fault.

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Filmgazm is made by movie lovers for movie lovers. We believe in the magic of film and we aim celebrate films of all genres and throughout cinema history, regardless of who's behind the camera or who financed it. We at Filmgazm believe that every film deserves to be reviewed on its own merits and that's what we are here to do. Enjoy the show!
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  • Reviews
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