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One Hundred and One Dalmatians

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Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox film One Hundred and One Dalmatians (also known as 101 Dalmatians) is a 1961 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions with distribution by Buena Vista Distribution. Adapted from Dodie Smith's 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians, the film was directed by Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, and Wolfgang Reitherman in his feature-length directorial debut, from a script by Bill Peet.Template:Efn It features the voice talents of Rod Taylor, J. Pat O'Malley, Betty Lou Gerson, Martha Wentworth, Ben Wright, Cate Bauer, Dave Frankham, and Fred Worlock. The film's plot follows Pongo and Perdita, two British Dalmatians who give birth to a litter of fifteen puppies, who are later kidnapped by the obsessive socialite Cruella de Vil, wanting to make their fur into coats. Pongo and Perdita set out on a cross-country rescue mission to save the litter from the maniacal Cruella. They rescue 84 additional Dalmatians in the process, bringing the total to 101.

One Hundred and One Dalmatians was released in theaters on January 25, 1961, to positive reviews from critics and was a box-office success, grossing $14 million domestically in its original theatrical run. It became the first animated feature to earn over $10 million during its initial release, and became the eighth-highest-grossing film of the year in the North American box office and the highest-grossing animated film when reissues of films are not counted. Aside from its box-office revenue, the employment of inexpensive animation techniques, such as using xerography during the process of inking and painting traditional animation cels, kept production costs down. Counting reissues, the film grossed $303 million worldwide, and when adjusted for inflation, is the twelfth-highest-grossing film in the North American box office and the second-highest-grossing animated film globally.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is also the traditionally animated film that had the most ticket admissions at an estimate of over 199,800,000 sold tickets.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The success of the film made Disney expand it into a media franchise, with a live-action remake released in 1996, followed by a sequel in 2000. A direct-to-video animated sequel to the 1961 film, 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure, was released in 2003. Two animated television series based on the franchise were also produced, with 101 Dalmatians: The Series in 1997 and 101 Dalmatian Street in 2019. A live-action reboot, Cruella, was released in 2021.

Plot

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In 1957, aspiring songwriter Roger Radcliffe lives in a bachelor flat near Regent's Park in London with his pet Dalmatian, Pongo. Deciding both of them need a "mate", Pongo watches women and their dogs in the street. Noticing a young woman named Anita and her Dalmatian Perdita, he drags Roger to the park to arrange a meeting. Roger and Anita fall in love, and soon marry, with Pongo and Perdita attending.

The Radcliffes hire a nanny and move into a small townhouse near Regent's Park. After Perdita becomes pregnant with a litter of 15 puppies, Anita's fur-obsessed former schoolmate, Cruella de Vil, arrives and demands to know when the puppies will arrive. Roger responds by writing a jazzy song mocking her. A frightened Perdita confesses to Pongo that she now regrets the idea of having puppies due to Cruella wanting them. When the puppies are born, Cruella returns demanding to buy them. Roger firmly denies her offer and Cruella, refusing to take no for an answer, swears revenge as she storms out.

Several weeks later, Cruella makes good on her threat; secretly hiring Jasper and Horace Badun, two burglar brothers, to steal the puppies. With Scotland Yard unable to find the puppies or prove Cruella was involved, Pongo and Perdita use the "Twilight Bark", a canine gossip line, to solicit help from the other dogs in London, and eventually all of England.

On the farm of a retired cavalry officer, the Colonel, a military-like Old English Sheepdog, along with his feline compatriot Sergeant Tibbs, investigate nearby Hell Hall, the "Old De Vil Place", where puppies had been heard barking two nights earlier. Tibbs finds the puppies in the old mansion and learns that Cruella intends to make them into dog-skin fur coats. After the Colonel sends word back to London, Pongo and Perdita leave through a back window and begin a long cross-country journey, crossing an icy river and running through the snow toward Suffolk.

Meanwhile, Tibbs overhears Cruella ordering the Baduns to kill the puppies that night out of fear the police will soon find them. In response, Tibbs helps the puppies escape through a hole in the wall, but the Baduns notice and give chase. Pongo and Perdita break into the house and confront the Baduns just as they are about to attack the cornered Tibbs and the puppies. While they fight the two men, the Colonel and Tibbs guide the puppies from the house. Following a happy reunion with their own puppies, Pongo and Perdita discover there are 84 more puppies with them. Shocked at Cruella's evil plans, they decide to adopt all the puppies, certain that Roger and Anita would never reject them.

The Dalmatians start their homeward trek, pursued by Cruella and the Baduns. They take shelter from a blizzard in a dairy farm with a friendly collie and four cows, then make their way to Dinsford, where they meet a Black Labrador waiting for them in a blacksmith's shop. Cruella and the Baduns arrive, prompting Pongo to have his entire family roll in a sooty fireplace to disguise themselves as other Labradors. The Labrador helps them board a moving van bound for London, but melting snow falls on Lucky and clears the soot off of him, blowing the dogs' cover. Enraged, Cruella pursues the van in her car and tries to ram it off the road, but the Baduns, attempting to do the same with their lorry, end up colliding with her. Both vehicles crash into a ditch, and Cruella yells at the two in frustration for ruining everything before weeping over the loss of both her car and her beautiful dream coat as the van drives away.

In London, a depressed Nanny and the Radcliffes try to enjoy Christmas and the wealth they have acquired from the song about Cruella de Vil, which has become a big radio hit. The soot-covered Dalmatians suddenly flood the house. Upon removing the soot and counting the massive family of dogs, Roger chooses to use his songwriting royalties to buy a big house in the country so they can keep all 101 Dalmatians.

Voice cast

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Additionally, the film features Mickey Maga, Barbara Beaird, Mimi Gibson, and Sandra Abbott as Patch, Rolly, Lucky, and Penny,Template:Sfn Dalmatian puppies from Pongo and Perdita's litter.<ref name="DalmatiansCharacterHistory" /> Max Smith, Bob Stevens, Clarence Nash, and Dal McKennon provided the sounds of dog barks.Template:Sfn Thurl Ravenscroft voiced Captain,<ref name="5FantasticThings" /> a gray horse and aide of Colonel and Sergeant Tibbs.Template:Sfn Barbara Luddy and Rickie Sorensen voiced RoverTemplate:Sfn and Spotty,Template:Sfn two of the eighty-four Dalmatian puppies that were bought by Cruella.Template:Sfn Jeanne Gayle (the wife of the film's composer George Bruns) performed the radio version of "Cruella De Vil" song in the film's final scene.<ref name="101ForTheFan" /> Paul Frees voiced Dirty Dawson,Template:Sfn the villain in the Thunderbolt TV show.<ref name="HitByFullThunderbolt">Template:Cite news</ref> Lucille Bliss performed the "Kanine Krunchies" jingle in a TV commercial.Template:Sfn

Production

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Story development

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The children's novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith had been published on November 19, 1956,Template:Sfn to an immediate success.Template:Sfn By February 1957, screenwriter Charles Brackett brought it to the attention of Walt Disney,Template:Sfn who acquired the film rights to the novel on November 26 of that year<ref name="AFICatalog">Template:Cite web</ref> (after lengthy negotiations)<ref name="SincerelyYours">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> for $25,000.Template:Sfn The project was set to be Disney's next animated feature after Sleeping Beauty (which was still in production at the time)<ref name="SincerelyYours" /> and was originally expected to be finished within two years.<ref name="AFICatalog" /> Story artist Bill Peet was assigned to single-handedly develop the story,Template:Sfn marking the first time a Disney animated film was written by one person.Template:Sfn Disney also tasked Peet to write a detailed screenplay first before storyboarding; since Peet never learned to use a typewriter, he wrote the initial draft by hand on legal paper.Template:Sfn The manuscript was completed and typed up within two months, after which, having received Disney's approval, Peet began storyboarding and was charged with recording the voice-over process.Template:Sfn This was the first time that a complete screenplay was approved for a Disney feature animated film before storyboarding began, but it was "a short-lived experiment" and that particular approach would not be used again at Disney Animation until The Great Mouse Detective (1986).Template:Sfn

Peet closely followed the plot of Smith's novel, but condensed some of its characters, which included Cruella's husband and cat,Template:Sfn as well as Cadpig, the female runt of Pongo and Missis' puppies, whose traits were transferred to Lucky in the final film.<ref name="101ForTheFamily" />Template:Efn He also merged two Dalmatian mothers, birth mother Missis and adopted mother Perdita, into one,Template:Sfn naming her after the latter;Template:Sfn likewise, Nanny Cook and Nanny Butler from the novel were amalgamated into one character, simply named Nanny.<ref name="101ForTheFamily" /> The Colonel's cat assistant was re-gendered from the female Pussy Willow into the male Sergeant Tibbs, and Horace Badun was renamed from Saul.Template:Sfn Among other things, Peet retained a scene from the original book in which Pongo and Perdita exchange wedding vows in unison with their owners, who were also renamed from Mr. and Mrs. Dearly to Roger and Anita Radcliffe.<ref name="101ForTheFamily" /> However, after the censor board warned that it might offend certain religious audiences if the animals repeated the exact words of a solemn religious ceremony, it was reworked to be less religious, down to having Roger and Anita dressed in formal clothes.Template:Sfn Also, the film's original ending involved the newly rich Roger selling his song about Cruella and buying the Hell Hall to turn it into a Dalmatian Plantation, with Pongo and Perdita expecting another litter of puppies. It was ultimately cut short and rewritten to have Dalmatians reunite with their owners after they escape from Cruella.Template:Sfn

Although Disney had not been as involved in the production of the animated films as frequently as in previous years, he was always present at story meetings.<ref name="Redefining the Line">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> When Peet sent Dodie Smith some drawings of the characters, she wrote back saying that he had improved her story and that the designs looked better than the illustrations in the book.

Casting

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The filmmakers deliberately cast actors with deeper voices for the roles of dogs, so they would have more power than those of the human characters.Template:Sfn Rod Taylor, who had extensive radio experience, was one of the first actors cast in the film;<ref name="101ForTheFan">Template:Cite AV media</ref> he got the role of Pongo.<ref name="VoicesForDalmatians">Template:Cite news</ref> Lisa Daniels was originally cast as Perdita and recorded about the third of her lines but then got married and moved to New York;<ref name="101ForTheFan" /> Cate Bauer replaced her for the rest of the film.<ref name="VoicesForDalmatians" /> J. Pat O'Malley, who was a regular voice actor for the studio and one of Disney's personal favorites,<ref name="101ForTheFan" /> got the roles of Jasper and Colonel,Template:Sfn and also voiced several minor characters in the film.<ref name="VoicesForDalmatians" /> David Frankham was cast as Sergeant Tibbs in the spring of 1959 and finished his recording within three sessions from May 1959 to January 1960;Template:Sfn he was also asked to record the part of Scottie, the Skye Terrier who appears early in the "Twilight Bark" sequence.Template:Sfn

Disney originally had Lisa Davis read for the role of Cruella De Vil, but she did not think that she was right for the part, and wanted to try reading the role of Anita instead.<ref name="LuckyDogs">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> Disney agreed, and, after they read the script for a second time, she landed the part.<ref name="DavisTalks101Dalmatians" /> Davis also provided live-action reference for the character.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Betty Lou Gerson, who was previously the narrator for Cinderella (1950), auditioned for the role of Cruella De Vil in front of Marc Davis, the character's supervising animator, and sequence director Wolfgang Reitherman, and immediately landed it.<ref name="FirstNameInNasty">Template:Cite news</ref> While searching for the right accent of the character, she landed on a "phony theatrical voice, someone who's set sail from New York but hasn't quite reached England."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> During the recording process, Gerson was thought to be imitating Tallulah Bankhead,<ref name="CruellaDeVilVillainsHistory" /> but she later disputed that she "didn't intentionally imitate her ... We both had phony English accents on top of our Southern accents and a great deal of flair. So our voices came out that way."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Gerson finished her recording sessions in fourteen days.<ref name="FirstNameInNasty"/>

Animation

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Art direction

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After Sleeping Beauty (1959) disappointed at the box office, Disney was losing money and there were discussions about closing down the animation department.<ref name="Redefining the Line"/> During the film's production, Disney told animator Eric Larson: "I don't think we can continue; it's too expensive."Template:Sfn Despite this, he still had deep feelings towards animation because he had built the company upon it.<ref name="Redefining the Line"/>

Ub Iwerks, in charge of special processes at the studio, had been experimenting with Xerox photography to aid in animation. By 1959, he used a Xerox camera to transfer drawings by animators directly to animation cels, eliminating the inking process, thus saving time and money while preserving the spontaneity of the penciled elements.Template:Sfn However, because of its limitations, the camera was unable to deviate from a black scratchy outline and lacked the fine lavish quality of hand inking.Template:Sfn Disney would first use the Xerox process for a thorn forest in Sleeping Beauty,Template:Sfn and the first production to make full use of the process was Goliath II (1960).Template:Sfn For One Hundred and One Dalmatians, one of the benefits of the process was that it was a great help towards animating the spotted dogs. According to Chuck Jones, Disney was able to complete the film for about half of what it would have cost if they had had to animate all the dogs and spots.<ref>Template:Cite interview</ref>

Meanwhile, Ken Anderson, the studio's art director, learned a television production studio—Hurrell Productions—was using Xerography to produce television commercials featuring Disney characters.Template:Sfn Inspired by the aesthetic, Anderson experimented with a Xerox copier to directly transfer the animators' drawings onto transparent cels, thereby eliminating the inking process. Anderson screened an animation test to Disney and the animators; although Disney expressed concern at the graphic style, he gave his approval stating: "Ah, yeah, yeah, you can fool around all you want to."Template:Sfn For the stylized art direction, Anderson took inspiration from British cartoonist Ronald Searle,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> who once advised him to use a Mont Blanc pen and India ink for his artwork.Template:Sfn

In addition to the character animation, Anderson also sought to use Xerography on "the background painting because I was going to apply the same technique to the whole picture."Template:Sfn Along with color stylist Walt Peregoy, the two had the line drawings be printed on a separate animation cel before being laid over the background, which gave the appearance similar to the Xeroxed animation.<ref name="Redefining the Line"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Disney disliked the artistic look of the film and felt he was losing the "fantasy" element of his animated films.<ref name="Redefining the Line"/> In a meeting with the animation staff concerning future films, Disney angrily said, "We're never gonna have one of those goddamned things", referring to the film's art direction; he also stated, "Ken's never going to be an art director again."Template:Sfn

Anderson took this to heart, but Disney eventually forgave him on his final trip to the studio in late 1966. As Anderson recalled in an interview:

He looked very sick. I said, "Gee, it's great to see you, Walt," and he said, "You know that thing you did on Dalmatians." He didn't say anything else, but he just gave me this look, and I knew that all was forgiven and in his opinion, maybe what I did on Dalmatians wasn't so bad. That was the last time I ever saw him. Then, a few weeks later, I learned he was gone.<ref name="Redefining the Line"/>

Character animation

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Marc Davis was the sole animator on Cruella De Vil. During production, Davis claimed her character was partly inspired by Bette Davis (no relation), Rosalind Russell, and Tallulah Bankhead. He took further influence from her voice actress, Betty Lou Gerson, whose cheekbones he added to the character. He later complimented, "[t]hat [her] voice was the greatest thing I've ever had a chance to work with. A voice like Betty Lou's gives you something to do. You get a performance going there, and if you don't take advantage of it, you're off your rocker".<ref name="Maupin_ChicagoTribune" /> While her hair coloring originated from the illustrations in the novel, Davis found its disheveled style by looking "through old magazines for hairdos from 1940 till now". Her coat was exaggerated to match her oversized personality, and the lining was red because "there's a devil image involved".Template:Sfn

As with the previous Disney films, the actors provided live-action reference as an aid to the animators before the animation process begun.Template:Sfn By January 1959,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Mary Wickes, who had played the maid Katie in The Mickey Mouse Club serial Annette,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> was hired as a model for Cruella De Vil.<ref name="DrawnToBeBad" /> The live-action reference for Nanny was provided by both Don Barclay and Barbara Luddy, who had voiced Lady in Lady and the Tramp (1955) and Merryweather in Sleeping Beauty (1959).<ref name="101ForTheFan" /> Helene StanleyTemplate:Sndwho had been a model for the titular character in Cinderella (1950) and Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty (1959)Template:Sndperformed the live-action reference for Anita.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Music

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Template:Main One Hundred and One Dalmatians was the first Disney animated feature film to be a non-musical. To have music involved in the narrative, Peet used an old theater trick by which the protagonist is a down-and-out songwriter. However, unlike the previous animated Disney films at the time, the songs were not composed by a team, but by Mel Leven who composed both lyrics and music.Template:Sfn Previously, Leven had composed songs for the UPA animation studio in which animators, who transferred to work at the Disney studios, had recommended him to Walt Disney.<ref>Template:Cite interview</ref> His first assignment was to compose "Cruella De Vil," of which Leven composed three versions. The final version used in the film was composed as a "bluesy number" before a meeting with Walt in forty-five minutes.Template:Sfn

The other two songs included in the film are "Kanine Krunchies Jingle" (sung by Lucille Bliss, who voiced Anastasia Tremaine in Disney's 1950 film Cinderella), and "Dalmatian Plantation" in which Roger sings only two lines at its closure. Leven had also written additional songs that were not included in the film. The first song, "Don't Buy a Parrot from a Sailor," a cockney chant, was meant to be sung by Jasper and Horace at the De Vil Mansion. A second song, "Cheerio, Good-Bye, Toodle-oo, Hip Hip!" was to be sung by the dalmatian puppies as they make their way into London.Template:Sfn A third song titled "March of the One Hundred and One" was meant for the dogs to sing after escaping Cruella by van. Different, longer versions of "Kanine Krunchies Jingle" and "Dalmatian Plantation" appear on the Disneyland Records read-along album based on the film.<ref name="ehrbar">Template:Cite web</ref>

The Sherman Brothers wrote a title song, "One Hundred and One Dalmatians", but it was not used in the film.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The song has been released on other Disney recordings, however.<ref name="ehrbar"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Release

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Original theatrical run

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One Hundred and One Dalmatians premiered and was released in theaters on January 25, 1961,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> accompanied by the documentary The Horse with the Flying Tail (1960).<ref name="AFICatalog" /> To promote the film, an updated version of the 1957 Disneyland episode "The Best Doggoned Dog in the World" was aired on ABC on February 12, 1961,<ref name="Approximately101Reasons" /> featuring the footage from One Hundred and One Dalmatians instead of scenes from Old Yeller (1957).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

During its initial theatrical run, the film grossed $14 million in the United States and Canada,<ref name="TheMakingAndImpact">Template:Cite web</ref> which generated $6.2 million in distributor rentals.Template:Sfn It was the first animated feature to earn more than $10 million on its initial release,<ref name="DidYouKnow">Template:Cite web</ref> as well as the most popular film of the year in France,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with admissions of 14.7 million ranking tenth on their all-time list.<ref name="FranceAdm">Template:Cite web</ref> The box-office success of One Hundred and One Dalmatians allowed to pull the studio's animation department out of the financial slump caused by the underperformance of Sleeping Beauty two years prior;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> despite this, it did nothing to rekindle Disney's fading interest in animation,Template:Sfn with him being more focused on working on Disneyland and producing live-action films by then.Template:Sfn

Re-releases

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One Hundred and One Dalmatians was re-released theatrically in the United States in 1969, 1979, 1985, and 1991.<ref name="ASupriseHit">Template:Cite news</ref> During its first re-release in 1969, it earned $15 million.<ref name="AtTheMovies">Template:Cite news</ref> In 1979, it grossed $19 million while playing on a double bill with another Disney film The Last Flight of Noah's Ark, and in its 1985 theatrical re-release, the film earned $32 million.<ref name="AtTheMovies" /> During its fourth re-release in 1991, it grossed $60.8 million,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> becoming the 17th highest-grossing film of the year in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1980, the film earned rentals of $8 million in France, Belgium and Switzerland.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> By 1995, the film had grossed $86 million internationally,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and in the same year it grossed $71 million overseas, bringing its international total to $157 million.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The film's total domestic lifetime gross is $145 million,<ref name="GoingToTheDogs">Template:Cite news</ref> and its total worldwide gross is $303 million.<ref name="CartoonCoffers" /> Adjusted for inflation, and incorporating subsequent releases, the film has a lifetime gross of $936.2 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Home media

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One Hundred and One Dalmatians was first released on VHS on April 10, 1992, as part of the Walt Disney Classics video series;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 11.1 million copies had been sold by June of that year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the time of its release, it was the sixth best-selling video of all time.<ref name="GoingToTheDogs" /> The film was re-released on VHS and LaserDisc on March 9, 1999, as part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection<ref name="DogDays">Template:Cite magazine</ref> for a limited 101-day time period.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The DVD edition was originally scheduled for release in the spring of that year,<ref name="DogDays" /> but was delayed until November 11; it was released as a Walt Disney Limited Issue for a limited 60-day time period before going into moratorium.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

By 2007, One Hundred and One Dalmatians underwent a digital restoration<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> and was released as a two-disc Platinum Edition DVD on March 4, 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The set included a behind-the-scenes documentary Redefining the Line: The Making of One Hundred and One Dalmatians, two additional featurettesTemplate:SndCruella de Vil: Drawn to Be Bad (dedicated to the talents behind the creation of the eponymous character) and Sincerely Yours, Walt Disney (covering Disney's correspondence with Dodie Smith), deleted songs, a virtual gallery of concept art and other production photos, theatrical trailers, radio and TV spots.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It returned to the Disney Vault on January 30, 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

One Hundred and One Dalmatians was released for the first time on Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on September 3, 2012.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In North America, it was released on Diamond Edition Blu-ray and Digital HD on February 10, 2015,<ref name="DiamondEdition">Template:Cite web</ref> featuring a new making-of featurette Lucky Dogs,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the animated short The Further Adventures of Thunderbolt (based on the Thunderbolt TV show in the film),<ref name="HitByFullThunderbolt" /> a 1961 version of the Disneyland episode "The Best Doggoned Dog in the World", and several bonus features from the previous DVD release.<ref name="DiamondEdition" /> The set was re-released as a limited Blu-ray/DVD combo pack for the Disney Movie Club on November 6, 2018.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On September 24, 2019, One Hundred and One Dalmatians was re-released for HD digital download and on Blu-ray as part of the Walt Disney Signature Collection.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Reception

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Critical response

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In its initial release, One Hundred and One Dalmatians received acclaim from critics, many of whom hailed it as the studio's best release since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and the closest to a real "Disney" film in many years.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Howard Thompson of The New York Times wrote, "While the story moves steadily toward a stark, melodramatic "chase" climax, it remains enclosed in a typical Disney frame of warm family love, human and canine." However, he later opined that the "[s]ongs are scarce, too. A few more would have braced the final starkness."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Variety claimed that "While not as indelibly enchanting or inspired as some of the studio's most unforgettable animated endeavors, this is nonetheless a painstaking creative effort."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> A review in Time magazine praised the film as "the wittiest, most charming, least pretentious cartoon feature Walt Disney has ever made."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Harrison's Reports felt all children and adults will be "highly entertained by Walt Disney's latest, a semi-sophisticated, laugh-provoking, all cartoon, feature-lengther in Technicolor."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Dodie Smith also enjoyed the film where she particularly praised the animation and backgrounds of the film.<ref name="SincerelyYours"/> Phil Thomas of Empire Magazine gave the film 5 stars out of 5, and said "One of Disney's finest, most underrated moments."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Contemporary reviews have remained positive. Reviewing the film during its 1991 re-release, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, while giving the film three stars out of four, asserted that "it's an uneven film, with moments of inspiration in a fairly conventional tale of kidnapping and rescue. This is not one of the great Disney classics - it's not in the same league with Snow White or Pinocchio - but it's passable fun, and will entertain its target family audiences."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Chicago Tribune film critic Gene Siskel, in his 1991 review, also gave the film three stars out of four.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ralph Novak of People wrote "What it lacks in romantic extravagance and plush spectacle, this 1961 Disney film makes up for in quiet charm and subtlety. In fact, if any movie with dogs, cats, and horses who talk can be said to belong in the realm of realistic drama, this is it."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> However, in 2011, Craig Berman of MSNBC ranked it and its 1996 remake as two of the worst children's films of all time, saying that, "The plot itself is a bit nutty. Making a coat out of dogs? Who does that? But worse than Cruella de Vil's fashion sense is the fact that your children will definitely start asking for a Dalmatian of their own for their next birthday."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of Template:RT data based on Template:RT data reviews, with an average score of Template:RT data. The website's critics consensus reads, "With plenty of pooches and a memorable villain (Cruella De Vil), this is one of Disney's most enduring, entertaining animated films."<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:RT data</ref> Template:Metacritic film prose

Cruella De Vil ranked 39th on AFI's list of "100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Legacy

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Template:Main

File:Cruella de Vil.jpg
Cruella De Vil regularly appears as a meetable character at the Disney Parks and Resorts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Since the original release of One Hundred and One Dalmatians in 1961, Disney has taken the property in various directions.

Television series

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In 1996, it was announced that an animated television series based on the film would be created through a partnership between Disney and Kellogg’s.<ref name="GoingToTheDogs" /> Co-produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and Jumbo Pictures, 101 Dalmatians: The Series aired in syndication and on ABC from 1997 to 1998.<ref name="PlusOneIncredibleVillain">Template:Cite web</ref>

101 Dalmatian Street is the second TV series with a plot in the 21st century, with a new art style and a concept loosely based on the source material. Set 60 years after the original film, the show mostly focuses on a completely new family of Dalmatians, (who are descendants of Pongo and Perdita) who all live without a human in Camden Town.

Sequel

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A direct-to-video sequel to the original animated film, 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> was released in 2003.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The main focus of the sequel is Patch, the loneliest of puppies, feeling "lost in a sea of spots". After he gets left behind during the Radcliffe's moving day, he encounters his TV hero, Thunderbolt, who enlists him on a publicity campaign.

Live-action adaptations

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A live-action remake of the 1961 film, 101 Dalmatians, was released in 1996;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> unlike the animated film, none of the animals had speaking voices in this version.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was followed by a sequel, 102 Dalmatians, in 2000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A live-action version of Cruella De Vil is featured as one of the main antagonists in the fourth season of the fantasy television series, Once Upon a Time (produced by Disney-owned ABC Studios).<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Cruella is one of the four main villains in the 2015 television film Descendants,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> which follows the teenage children of Disney's iconic heroes and villains (including Cruella's son, Carlos).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A 2021 live-action reboot, Cruella,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> focuses on the origin of the eponymous character.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A sequel to this film is currently in development.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Other media

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The characters from One Hundred and One Dalmatians make cameo appearances in the television series House of Mouse, with Cruella De Vil featured as one of the main villains in the stand-alone feature Mickey's House of Villains (2002).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Like other Walt Disney Animation Studios characters, the film's characters have cameo appearances in the short film Once Upon a Studio (2023).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the first Kingdom Hearts game, a side quest consists of Sora tracking down the 99 puppies whose world has been destroyed and returning them to Pongo and Perdita, who have been given shelter in Traverse Town by Squall Leonhart.

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Notes

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References

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