101 Dalmatians (1996 film)

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101 Dalmatians
One hundred and one dalmatians ver2.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byStephen Herek
Screenplay byJohn Hughes
Based onThe Hundred and One Dalmatians
by Dodie Smith
Produced by
  • John Hughes
  • Ricardo Mestres
Starring
CinematographyAdrian Biddle
Edited byTrudy Ship
Music byMichael Kamen
Production
companies
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution[1]
Release date
  • November 27, 1996 (1996-11-27) (United States)
Running time
103 minutes[3]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$67 million[4]
Box office$320.7 million[3]

101 Dalmatians is a 1996 American/British adventure comedy film[1] and is a live-action adaptation of Walt Disney’s 1961 animated film of almost the same name, itself an adaptation of Dodie Smith's 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians. Directed by Stephen Herek and co-produced by John Hughes and Ricardo Mestres, it starred Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels, Joely Richardson, Joan Plowright, Hugh Laurie, Mark Williams and Tim McInnerny. Unlike the 1961 film, none of the animals have speaking voices in this remake. 101 Dalmatians was released on November 27, 1996. It grossed $320.7 million in theaters against a $67 million budget, making it the sixth highest-grossing film of 1996. Close was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for her role of Cruella de Vil,[5] while the film was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Makeup and Hair. A sequel, 102 Dalmatians, was released on November 22, 2000, with Close and McInnerny reprising their roles while a reboot, Cruella, directed by Craig Gillespie and starring Emma Stone, was released on May 28, 2021.

Plot[]

Glenn Close at a costume fitting for her role as Cruella de Vil

American video game designer Roger Dearly (Daniels) lives with his pet Dalmatian Pongo in London. One day, while waiting for Roger to come out of a business meeting with Herbert, a video game prodigy, Pongo sets his eyes on a female Dalmatian named Perdy. After a frantic chase through the streets of London that ends in St. James's Park, Roger discovers that Pongo likes Perdy. Her owner, House of De Vil fashion designer Anita Campbell-Green (Richardson), falls in love with Roger when they meet and fall into the pond as a result of their dogs chasing each other, but they return to Roger's home and Anita accepts his proposal. They get married along with Perdy and Pongo. Anita's boss, the pampered and very glamorous Cruella de Vil (Close), has a deep passion for fur, going so far as to have a taxidermist, Mr. Skinner (John Shrapnel), skin Soo-Ling, a three-year-old white tiger at the London Zoo, to make into a rug. Anita, inspired by her Dalmatian, designs a coat made with spotted fur. Cruella is intrigued by the idea of making garments out of actual Dalmatians and finds it amusing that it would seem as if she was wearing Anita's dog. Anita soon discovers that Perdy is pregnant and is then informed by Nanny (Joan Plowright) that she (Anita) is too, much to her shock-- so much so, she faints. Sometime later, Cruella visits their home and expresses contempt upon meeting Roger. Her initial disgust at them having a baby turns to excitement when Roger informs her that Perdy is expecting too. Several weeks later, she returns when a litter of 15 puppies are born and offers Roger and Anita £7,500 for them, but they refuse. Enraged, Cruella dismisses Anita and vows revenge against her, Roger and Nanny. One winter evening while Roger and Anita are out walking in the park, she has her henchmen, Horace (Williams) and Jasper (Laurie), break into their home, lock Nanny in the cupboard when she puts up a fight and steal the puppies. Along with 84 other Dalmatians that were previously stolen from other households, they deliver them to her ancient country estate, De Vil Mansion. Cruella also asks Skinner to kill and skin them to create her coat. With the family devastated at the loss of their puppies, Pongo uses the twilight bark to carry the message via the dogs and other animals of Great Britain, while Roger and Anita notify the Metropolitan Police. A dog who had witnessed the stolen puppies follows Horace and Jasper to the mansion and finds all of them inside, before helping them escape under the duo's oblivious noses. They make their way to a nearby farm, where they are later joined by Pongo and Perdy. Cruella arrives at the mansion and soon discovers what has happened. Angry with the thieves' failure, she decides to carry out the job herself, while Horace and Jasper attempt to search for them also. After several mishaps, Horace and Jasper discover nearby police on the hunt for Cruella and turn themselves in, joining Skinner who was attacked earlier while trying to kill Lucky (one of the 15 puppies), who had been left behind. Meanwhile, Cruella tracks the puppies to the farm where they are hiding and tries to retrieve them. However, the animals outwit her, causing her to fall into a bale of hay and a vat of molasses before getting thrown through a window into a pigpen. Shortly afterwards, the fleeing dalmatians (including Lucky) are found and sent home via the Suffolk Constabulary, while the cops finally arrest Cruella. In the police van, she berates Horace, Jasper and Skinner for their incompetence before they are all sprayed by a skunk which she had mistaken for her purse. Pongo, Perdy and their puppies are reunited with Roger and Anita. After being informed that the remaining 84 puppies have no home to go to, as they have not yet been claimed by their original owners, they decide to adopt them, bringing the total to 101. Roger designs a successful video game featuring dalmatian puppies as the protagonists and Cruella as the villain and they move to the countryside with their millions. Roger and Anita have a baby daughter and a year later, the puppies have grown up with puppies of their own.

Cast[]

Production[]

The animatronic creatures used in the film are provided by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.[6] Producer Edward S. Feldman guaranteed the adoption of every puppy used on the film. Over 300 Dalmatian puppies were used over the course of filming, because "we could only use them when they were 5-6 weeks old and at their cutest."[4] Filming took place at London's Shepperton Studios. Sigourney Weaver was offered the role of Cruella de Vil, while Cathy Moriarty did a screen test for the role but was later deemed too frightening for a children's film.[7] John Hughes, who wrote the film's screenplay, approached Close for the role, but she initially turned it down. However, Anthony Powell, the film's production designer who previously worked with Close on Broadway's Sunset Boulevard, convinced her to take the role.[4] Minster Court was used as the exterior of House of De Vil,[8] while Sarum Chase was used as the exterior of her home.[8] Cruella's car is a modified 1974 Panther De Ville.[9]

Release[]

Box office[]

101 Dalmatians was released on November 27, 1996. The UK premiere of the film was held on December 4, 1996 at London's Royal Albert Hall, the exterior of which was lit with dalmatian spots. It grossed $136.2 million in North America and $320.7 million worldwide.[10][3]

Home media[]

101 Dalmatians was released on VHS for the first time on April 15, 1997,[11] Laserdisc in early 1997 and on DVD on April 21, 1998.[12] It was re-released on September 16, 2008. It also will be released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment in honor of its 25th Anniversary Edition on Ultra HD Blu-ray[13] and Blu-ray[14] on September 21, 2021, along with Cruella.

Video game[]

A video game based on the film entitled 101 Dalmatians: Escape from DeVil Manor was released in May 1997 by Disney Interactive.

Reception[]

On Rotten Tomatoes, 101 Dalmatians has an approval rating of 41% and an average rating of 5.32/10, based on 37 reviews. The site's critic consensus reads: "Neat performance from Glenn Close aside, 101 Dalmatians is a bland, pointless remake."[15] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[16] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[17]

Controversy[]

Animal rights organizations protested the film's release, saying that Dalmatian sales shot up after the premiere, fueled by impulsive purchases of puppies by parents for their children. Being ill-prepared to care for a relatively difficult breed of dog past puppy-hood, many of these new owners eventually surrendered their animals to pounds, where many dogs ended up being euthanized.[18]

Sequel and reboot[]

Main articles: 102 Dalmatians and Cruella (film)

A sequel, 102 Dalmatians, was released on November 22, 2000.[19] Close and McInnerny were the only actors from 101 Dalmatians to reprise their respective roles of Cruella and Alonzo. The film's early working title was 101 Dalmatians Returns. Disney planned a live-action Cruella de Vil reboot film on the title character's origins titled Cruella. Close acted as an executive producer.[20] Emma Stone played the eponymous role.[21] The film was released on May 28, 2021.[22]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "101 Dalmatians". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Archived from the original on September 17, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  2. ^ "101 Dalmatians (1996)". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c "101 Dalmatians (1996)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on July 14, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Hollywood Flashback: Glenn Close First Brought Cruella de Vil to Life in 1996". The Hollywood Reporter. May 28, 2021. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  5. ^ "Golden Globes". Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  6. ^ http://www.creatureshop.com/productions_film.php Archived August 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "The DisInsider on Twitter: "Sigourney Weaver was offered the role of Cruella De Vil; Cathy Moriarty screen tested for the role but was deemed too scary for a children's film". The DisInsider. August 3, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b "101 Dalmatians filming locations". Movie-Locations.com. Archived from the original on April 9, 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  9. ^ "Panther DeVille in "101 Dalmatians"". IMCDb.org. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  10. ^ Puig, Claudia (December 2, 1996). "'101 Dalmatians' Nabs Top Spot". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
  11. ^ "Dalmatians with car rental". Ad Age. March 27, 1997. Archived from the original on March 27, 1997. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  12. ^ 101 Dalmatians. ISBN 1558908374.
  13. ^ "101 Dalmatians (Live-Action) 4K Blu-ray.jpg". Google Docs. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  14. ^ "101 Dalmatians (Live-Action) Blu-ray.jpg". Google Docs. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  15. ^ "101 Dalmatians (1996)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on February 1, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
  16. ^ "Movie Details & Credits". metacritic.com.
  17. ^ 101 DALMATIANS (1996) A Archived February 6, 2018, at the Wayback Machine CinemaScore
  18. ^ "Activists Protest Disney Dalmations". Cinema.com. August 30, 2000. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  19. ^ Scott, A. O. (22 November 2000). "FILM REVIEW; Woof! A Cruella De Vil Who Changes Her Spots (Published 2000)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  20. ^ Kit, Borys (2011-11-17). "Disney Preps Live-Action Cruella de Vil Film (Exclusive)". Hollywoodreporter.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-02.
  21. ^ Takeda, Allison (April 26, 2016). "Emma Stone as Cruella de Vil and More Live-Action Fairy-Tale News From Disney". Us Magazine. Archived from the original on June 8, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  22. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 20, 2019). "Amy Adams 'Woman In The Window' Will Now Open In Early Summer, 'Cruella' Moves To 2021". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.

External links[]

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