One Hundred and One Dalmatians

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This article is about the animated film. See The Hundred and One Dalmatians for the original novel. For the 1996 live-action film, see 101 Dalmatians.

One Hundred and One Dalmatians

Directed by	Clyde Geronimi Hamilton Luske Wolfgang Reitherman
Produced by	Walt Disney
Written by	Dodie Smith (novel "The One Hundred and One Dalmatians") Bill Peet (story)
Starring	Rod Taylor Cate Bauer Betty Lou Gerson Ben Wright Lisa Davis Martha Wentworth Frederick Worlock J. Pat O'Malley Tudor Owen Tom Conway George Pelling Thurl Ravenscroft David Frankham Ramsay Hill Queenie Leonard Marjorie Bennett Barbara Baird Mickey Maga Sandra Abbott Mimi Gibson Barbara Luddy Paul Frees
Music by	George Bruns Mel Leven (songs)
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Release date(s)	January 25, 1961
Running time	78 min.
Language	English
Budget	$4,000,000 USD (estimated)
Preceded by	Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Followed by	The Sword in the Stone (1963)
IMDb profile

One Hundred and One Dalmatians (often abbreviated as 101 Dalmatians) is the seventeenth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon. It was made and produced by Walt Disney Productions, and it was originally released to theaters on January 25, 1961 by Buena Vista Distribution. It is based on the novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith. It also appeared in 1961 as a Walt Disney comic book based on the animated film.

The film features Rod Taylor as the voice of Pongo, the first of the Dalmatians, and Betty Lou Gerson as the voice of the villainous Cruella De Vil. The plot centers on the fate of the kidnapped puppies of Pongo and Perdita.

1 History
2 Characters
3 Voice cast
4 Directing Animators
5 Plot
6 Sequels and Spinoffs
7 Title in different languages
8 Trivia
9 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Production

The production of the film signaled a change in the graphic style of Disney's animation. This occurred with the introduction of Xerography which eased graphic reproduction requirements, but at the price of being unable to deviate from a scratchy outline style because of the new (and time and money saving) technology's limitations, recognizable by its thick black lines. Since the line would not have fit the "round" Disney drawing style used until then, a more graphic, angular style was chosen for this, and subsequent film. Rotoscoping, a technique formerly used for tracing live action human characters into animated drawings, became less important.

The technology change also happened when Disney cut its animation department after the economical failure of the very expensive Sleeping Beauty, resulting in a reduction of staff from well over 500 to less than 100 and fewer resources put into the movies. Walt Disney, who at this point had started to direct his attention more towards television and his amusement park and less on his animated features, disliked this development. The current look of animation would therefore be the norm for years until the technology improved prior to the release of The Rescuers to allow a softer look. In later animated features the Xeroxed lines could be printed in many different colors.

[edit] Re-release schedule and home video

The film was the highest grossing film of 1961 and one of the studio's most popular films of the decade and was re-issued in 1969, 1979, 1985, and 1991, the last re-issue being one of the top 10 films of the year at the box office in a year when the studio had few hits. The film was released on video in 1992 (using 1988 Classics logo; it was also the first movie to have a new "Feature Presentation" graphic, with a lilac blue gradient background and white handwriting) and March 9, 1999 (using 1993 WDHV logo), and on DVD on November 9, 1999 as part of Disney's Limited Issue series. A Platinum Edition DVD release was originally scheduled for March 2007, but it was unexpectedly replaced by Peter Pan, as revealed from the Platinum Edition DVD of The Little Mermaid. [1] It is most likely postponed to March 2008, as the October 2007 time slot has been occupied by The Jungle Book.

[edit] 101 Dalmatians theatrical release history

[edit] Worldwide release dates

[edit] Characters

Pongo: The protagonist and the father of the Dalmatian puppies
Perdita: Pongo's mate and the mother of the Dalmatian puppies
Roger: Pongo's owner and a struggling songwriter; eventually becomes rich when creating a song about Cruella de Vil, who is Anita's social parasite.
Anita: Perdita's owner and Roger's wife. She is something of an artist and rather fond of Roger.
Cruella De Vil: The villain of the film; an eccentric rich woman who has the puppies kidnapped in order to turn them into fur coats. She is a social parasite; she visits her ex-classmates, keeping a pretence of friendship, while taking advantage of their fears. She has an obsession for pelts, but in fact is only shown wearing a single, voluminous white coat. Beneath this, she wears a skintight swimming suit. Cruella smokes constantly and has no scruples to either commit blackmail or bad driving. She drives a long red car and is known for operating it recklessly.
Jasper and Horace Badun: Cruella's henchmen who carry out the kidnapping. Jasper is tall and thin, while Horace is short and fat; otherwise, they are obviously twin brothers. They argue often. Horace is the more intelligent of the two, but is absolutely intimidated by Jasper, who has the more ready tongue. Jasper has a closed mind to the possibility of sapience in dogs-- as well as the equal possibility of cleverness in his brother. He drinks alcohol, whereas Horace eats sandwiches. Both enjoy watching a weekly television programme called "What's My Crime?", wherein the misdeeds of lawbreakers are guessed by a panel of contestants. One of the guest stars of this programme, Percival "Meathead" Faunsquater, is an acquaintance of theirs.
Nanny: Roger and Anita's maid. Very maternal and fussy. Detests Cruella, has no patience for teasing, and is very attached to the puppies. Worthless in a crisis except to give the alarm.
Patch and Lucky: Two of the 99 Dalmatian puppies. Patch has a black eye; Lucky is obsessed with TV. Their favorite television serial features a police dog named Thunderbolt, who while quite alone fights and captures a fat thief known as Dirty Dawson.
Cadpig: In the book and TV series, she is the runt dalmatian who nearly dies immediately after being born. In the film, however, Cadpig's role is played by Lucky. He is given the name "Lucky" because of being revived by Roger, who thawed him out by means of friction.
Rolly: Another puppy; always hungry.
Freckles: Another puppy; very cute
The Colonel, the Captain, and Sergeant Tibbs: A dog, a horse, and a cat who help mastermind a rescue mission to save the puppies from Cruella

[edit] Voice cast

Cruella DeVil, Jasper, and Horace.

Rod Taylor - Pongo
Cate Bauer - Perdita
Betty Lou Gerson - Cruella De Vil; Miss Birdwell
Lisa Daniels
Ben Wright - Roger Radcliffe
Lisa Davis - Anita Radcliffe
Martha Wentworth - Nanny
Frederick Worlock - Horace Badun; Inspector Craven
J. Pat O'Malley - Jasper Badun; Colonel
Tudor Owen - Towser
Tom Conway - Quizmaster; Collie
George Pelling - Danny
Thurl Ravenscroft - Captain
David Frankham - Sgt. Tibs
Ramsay Hill - TV Announcer; Labrador
Queenie Leonard - Princess
Marjorie Bennett - Duchess
Barbara Baird - Rolly
Mickey Maga - Patch
Sandra Abbott - Penny
Mimi Gibson - Lucky
Barbara Luddy - Rover
Paul Frees - Dirty Dawson; TV Announcer
Lucille Bliss - TV Commercial Singer
Rickie Sorenson - Spotty
Bob Stevens
Max Smith
Sylvia Marriott
Dallas McKennon
Basil Ruysdael
Don Barclay
Jean Burns
Bill Lee - Roger (singing)
Helene Stanley
Paul Wexler
Mary Wickes

[edit] Directing Animators

Milt Kahl
Frank Thomas
Ollie Johnston
Marc Davis (Cruella DeVil)
John Lounsbery
Eric Larson

[edit] Plot

After Roger and Anita (and Pongo and Perdita) get married, Perdita gives birth to 15 Dalmatian puppies. Cruella De Vil, who is known to Anita from their school years, offers the human couple a large sum of money in return for the puppies so that she can make dog-skin coats out of them. The human couple refuses, but Cruella, who won't take no for an answer, hires Jasper and Horace Badun to kidnap the puppies. Once the puppies are kidnapped, it is up to Pongo and Perdita, along with the help of some animal friends they meet along the way, to rescue them along with the 84 other puppies in Cruella's possession.

[edit] Sequels and Spinoffs

1999 DVD cover of 101 Dalmatians.

101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure is a sequel to the original 1961 film, released on January 21, 2003.

One Hundred and One Dalmatians was remade in 1996 as 101 Dalmatians, a live-action film starring Glenn Close as Cruella De Vil. None of the animals talked in this version.

102 Dalmatians is a live-action sequel to 101 Dalmatians was released on November 22, 2000.

101 Dalmatians: The Series is a cartoon television show series based on the original 101 Dalmatians film.

The Starlight Barking is the sequel written by author Dodie Smith.

[edit] Title in different languages

Bosnian: 101 dalmatinac/101 dalmatiner
Bulgarian : 101 Далматинци
Catalan : 101 dalmates
Chinese - Mandarin : 101忠狗 (Literal meaning: "101 loyal dogs")
Chinese - Cantonese : 101斑點狗
Croatian : 101 dalmatinac/101 dalmatiner
Czech : 101 dalmatinů
Danish : 101 dalmatinere - Hund og hund mellem
Dutch : 101 dalmatiërs
Esperanto : 101 Dalmatoj
Estonian : 101 dalmaatsi koera
Finnish : Lupsakkaat luppakorvat (also known as "101 dalmatialaista")
French : Les 101 dalmatiens
German : 101 Dalmatiner (also known as "Pongo und Perdita")
Greek : 101 Σκυλιά της
Hebrew : על כלבים וגנבים
Hungarian : 101 kiskutya (Literal meaning: "101 little puppies")
Icelandic : Hundalif
Italian : La carica dei 101
Japanese : 101匹わんちゃん (Hyaku-ippiki Wan-chan)
Korean (South Korea) : 101마리 강아지 (literally 101 puppies
Norwegian : En Sjarmor i pels (also known as 101 Dalmatinere: En sjarmor i pels)
Polish : 101 dalmatyńczykow
Portuguese : Os 101 dalmatas (also known as A Guerra dos palmatas in Portugal)
Romanian: 101 dalmaţieni
Russian: 101 далматинца
Serbian: 101 dalmatinac
Slovak (Slovakia): 101 dalmatinů
Slovenian (Slovenia): 101 Dalmatinů
Spanish: 101 dálmatas (Spain); 101 dálmatas: La noche de las narices frías (Latin America)
Swedish: Pongo och de 101 dalmatinerna (also known as Pongo och valptjuvarna)
Thai: 101 ดัลเมเชียนส์
Turkish: 101 dalmacyalı
Vietnamese: 101 Con Chó Đốm

[edit] Trivia

Much as clownfish were later popularized in Finding Nemo, One Hundred and One Dalmatians popularized the Dalmatian breed. Many families sought Dalmatians, although Dalmatians are not known for being particularly good with children (they are very high-energy and require a lot of exercise), many were returned or abandoned. [2] The breed also suffered due to backyard breeders looking to profit from the trend. [3]

Cruella's car in this film was not a Panther De Ville Convertible. Although they look similar, the car was not produced until 12 years after the film's release.

Cruella De Vil's name is a play on words to sound like her personality: Cruel Devil.

When the Baduns are talking on the phone to Cruella, they are holding a newspaper. The only headline on the front page (minus the dognapping) is CARLSEN SPEAKS and a picture of a capsized ship. This headline helps us to date the story: since the Carlsen in question is Henrik Kurt Carlsen, captain of the freighter Flying Enterprise that sank after a prolonged struggle in the Atlantic. The sinking of the freighter was the media event of the year in January 1952.

Cruella's design was a manic take-off on the flamboyant actress Tallulah Bankhead that included some of her personality quirks.

When Pongo and Perdita arrive to rescue the puppies, the puppies can be seen watching What's My Crime?, a parody version of What's My Line? on television.

Two of the local yokels of Westport from the Disney short The Saga of Windwagon Smith, which was released the same year as this film, resemble the Baduns.

Unlike many other Walt Disney animated features, One Hundred and One Dalmatians only features one song in it, "Cruella De Vil." But even this song isn't sung to its entirety. The only other one that comes close is Dalmatian Plantation, which only contains two lines and is sung as a closer.

In the Squaresoft game Kingdom Hearts, the Dalmatians' world has been destroyed; consequently, Pongo and Perdita are, at first, the only residents in the mansion where they stay in Traverse Town. The puppies are trapped inside treasure chest scattered throughout the worlds. Every time a player rescues a bunch of puppies, Pongo and Perdita give rewards to the player.

The scene where the puppies watching TV inspired The Simpsons creator Matt Groening to have his cartoons watch television, an idea which led to TV Shows-within-a-TV show such as The Itchy and Scratchy Show, The Krusty the Klown Show and Springfield News with Kent Brockman. The basic plot of 101 Dalmatians was also used in the episode Two Dozen and One Greyhounds where Mr. Burns wanted to have a fur coat similar to Cruella.