One Hundred and One Dalmatians
Year: 1961
Directed by: Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske & Wolfgang Reitherman
Starring: Cate Bauer, Betty Lou Gerson & Rod Taylor
Runtime: 79 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 12/04/21
Directed by: Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske & Wolfgang Reitherman
Starring: Cate Bauer, Betty Lou Gerson & Rod Taylor
Runtime: 79 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 12/04/21
Disney Animation Studios had been making the ‘Animated Classics’ films for over twenty years by the time they got around to One Hundred and One Dalmatians, but oddly it is this seventeenth entry to the long running film series that really mixed up the formula for how Disney films looked. I mentioned in my Sleeping Beauty review that it too looked different to what had come before, but whilst that film still relied on the same visual tropes we had become accustomed to in Disney’s Classics, the fresh animation style didn’t hit quite as hard as it could have done. But One Hundred and One Dalmatians makes its mark as not only a film that is markedly visually distinct from its many predecessors, but also narratively distinct.
Pongo (Rod Taylor), a dalmatian, lives with his pet human Roger (Ben Wright), a musician, near Regents Park in London. Once a firm believer in the bachelor lifestyle, Pongo has since come to realise that finding a mate for Roger and himself is of the utmost importance to bring some kind of excitement to their uneventful lives. Pongo spies a gorgeous female dalmatian, Perdita (Cate Bauer), and her owner Anita (Lisa Davis) seems like a good fit for Roger, so he sets the two up to fall in love.
Pongo is successful and some time later Roger & Anita marry, and he & Perdita have sixteen puppies. But this bring about the attention of Anita’s former schoolmate, the fur obsessed Cruella de Vil (Betty Lou Gerson). Cruella wants the puppies for her own so that she can skin them and make a dalmatian fur coat, refused her request Cruella seeks the help of two burglars to steal the puppies. Becoming the subject of a national manhunt, Cruella and the burglars must hide the puppies from the law, all while Pongo and Perdita enlist the aid of dogs all over the country to help look for their stolen puppies.
Pongo (Rod Taylor), a dalmatian, lives with his pet human Roger (Ben Wright), a musician, near Regents Park in London. Once a firm believer in the bachelor lifestyle, Pongo has since come to realise that finding a mate for Roger and himself is of the utmost importance to bring some kind of excitement to their uneventful lives. Pongo spies a gorgeous female dalmatian, Perdita (Cate Bauer), and her owner Anita (Lisa Davis) seems like a good fit for Roger, so he sets the two up to fall in love.
Pongo is successful and some time later Roger & Anita marry, and he & Perdita have sixteen puppies. But this bring about the attention of Anita’s former schoolmate, the fur obsessed Cruella de Vil (Betty Lou Gerson). Cruella wants the puppies for her own so that she can skin them and make a dalmatian fur coat, refused her request Cruella seeks the help of two burglars to steal the puppies. Becoming the subject of a national manhunt, Cruella and the burglars must hide the puppies from the law, all while Pongo and Perdita enlist the aid of dogs all over the country to help look for their stolen puppies.
The story of One Hundred and One Dalmatians makes itself distinct from what has come before because it is so strikingly modern, at least for the sixties anyway. Roger and Anita are average people with modern sensibilities, vastly different to most attitudes held by adults in many Disney Classics who are all royals obsessed with tradition or if they are normal they’re stuck in a pre-WWI mindset. They’re on a more equal footing with each other, Roger is not the lord commander of the house and Anita’s life. They are financially well to do, judging by the fact that they can afford a house in London, pay a housekeeper, and feed eighteen dogs, but they are common folk nonetheless. Pongo and Perdita are likewise more balanced in their roles of family duties, though obviously not human in appearance, they exude this modern life sensibility of women not being slaves within their own homes.
On top of this the villain, Cruella, is just a woman. She has no magic powers or curses; she just loves fur and wants a dalmatian coat and will break the law and ruin livelihoods to do it. Likewise, the burglars are just people. It’s this grounding in reality, a modern reality at that, that really sets One Hundred and One Dalmatians apart from the Disney Classics that precede it.
The story is quite good for the first half or so, following Pongo’s attempts to get Roger and Anita close, and the early days of him being a father. The second half though does drag a little, once the puppies are stolen and the story becomes about finding them, it feels as though the film does whatever it can to stall for time before getting to the finale. Whilst the second half does have some good sequences such as the puppies escape from Hell Hall, there’s a whole lot of time spent with a cat, dog, and horse who aren’t particularly interesting characters and whose usefulness in the story does not equate to the screen time they are given. The quartet of Pongo, Perdita, Roger, and Anita are the heart and soul of the film and whenever they are not directly involved it all begins to feel rather tiresome. Overall, it’s still enjoyable, but considering around a third of the film doesn’t have those characters in the film, it can feel like the pacing has crawled to a halt.
On top of this the villain, Cruella, is just a woman. She has no magic powers or curses; she just loves fur and wants a dalmatian coat and will break the law and ruin livelihoods to do it. Likewise, the burglars are just people. It’s this grounding in reality, a modern reality at that, that really sets One Hundred and One Dalmatians apart from the Disney Classics that precede it.
The story is quite good for the first half or so, following Pongo’s attempts to get Roger and Anita close, and the early days of him being a father. The second half though does drag a little, once the puppies are stolen and the story becomes about finding them, it feels as though the film does whatever it can to stall for time before getting to the finale. Whilst the second half does have some good sequences such as the puppies escape from Hell Hall, there’s a whole lot of time spent with a cat, dog, and horse who aren’t particularly interesting characters and whose usefulness in the story does not equate to the screen time they are given. The quartet of Pongo, Perdita, Roger, and Anita are the heart and soul of the film and whenever they are not directly involved it all begins to feel rather tiresome. Overall, it’s still enjoyable, but considering around a third of the film doesn’t have those characters in the film, it can feel like the pacing has crawled to a halt.
Back to the real star of the show though, the animation. One Hundred and One Dalmatians signals the beginning of the period where Disney used an animation technique known as xerography. Xerography was much cheaper to produce than the studios traditional animation style, and with it came a distinct visual flair that is often referred to as ‘scratch animation’ because of the rough edges objects tend to have, and the texture the colours appear to hold.
Personally, it’s my favourite style that Disney employ and reminds me a lot of cartoons like The Flintstones. I like the thick black lines that accentuate everything, and I love the angular style everything has. For some it is exactly the opposite of what they enjoy about Disney films because it does feel slightly less colourful and childlike, but at the same time I don’t feel like it loses those qualities.
One Hundred and One Dalmatians is a marmite film. You’ll either love the story, or like me you’ll find it tediously drawn out and a bit boring. And you’ll either love the new animation style Disney were going for, or you’ll hate that it’s so angular and rough looking. Or like me you’ll find that you love one aspect but aren’t too keen on the other. But either way I’m sure everyone will find something to love in One Hundred and One Dalmatians, even if it comes at the cost of something else.
Personally, it’s my favourite style that Disney employ and reminds me a lot of cartoons like The Flintstones. I like the thick black lines that accentuate everything, and I love the angular style everything has. For some it is exactly the opposite of what they enjoy about Disney films because it does feel slightly less colourful and childlike, but at the same time I don’t feel like it loses those qualities.
One Hundred and One Dalmatians is a marmite film. You’ll either love the story, or like me you’ll find it tediously drawn out and a bit boring. And you’ll either love the new animation style Disney were going for, or you’ll hate that it’s so angular and rough looking. Or like me you’ll find that you love one aspect but aren’t too keen on the other. But either way I’m sure everyone will find something to love in One Hundred and One Dalmatians, even if it comes at the cost of something else.