101 Dalmatians
Reviewed by: Brett Willis
STAFF WRITER
| Moral Rating: | Better than Average |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Family |
| Genre: | Animation |
| Length: | 1 hr. 19 min. |
| Year of Release: | 1961 |
| USA Release: |
January 25, 1961 (wide) |
About DOGS in the Bible
| Featuring | voices of Cate Bauer, Barbara Beaird, Tom Conway, Lisa Davis, Betty Lou Gerson, Martha Wentworth |
| Director |
Clyde Geronimi Hamilton Luske Wolfgang Reithermann |
| Producer | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
| Distributor |
This Disney film, which uses the same drawing style as “Lady and the Tramp”, belongs somewhere in the all-time animated favorites although it has some questionable material.
Pongo the Dalmatian and his bachelor master Roger manage to “accidentally” meet Perdita and her mistress Anita in a London park, resulting in a “double wedding.” When 15 puppies are born, Anita’s old school friend Cruella deVil wants to buy them as soon as they get their spots, but Roger and Anita aren’t selling. So, Cruella’s henchmen Jasper and Horace simply steal the puppies instead. She’s also bought many other Dalmatian puppies, intending to make them into fur coats when they’re big enough. Even Scotland Yard can’t solve this one, so the animals must rescue the puppies themselves.
The story line itself requires a certain amount of depicted or implied violence, and to that is added a lot of general meanness and gratuitous slapstick. And while there’s no profane language in the usual sense, Cruella constantly calls people “fools,” “idiots,” etc. (see what Jesus says in Matthew 5:21-22 about calling people hateful names). Cruella and her two lackeys could almost be the Three Stooges. Also, there’s a TV show called “What’s My Crime?” in the background.
The positives, of course, include the Dalmatian parents doing whatever is necessary to rescue their children, and other humanized animals helping them all along their journey back home.
(I made it clear to my young daughter that if she began to imitate the way Cruella talks, I’d have to put this and some other tapes away for awhile. So far, I’ve had no problem.)
To create the actual animated figures, Disney artists simply painted transparent cells, thus they didn’t need to draw a background over and over again. As Disney endeavors progressed, “Lady and the Tramp” came out with a semi-realistic background. Personally, I think the still backgrounds and animations in “101 Dalmatians” are different than the ones in “Lady and the Tramp”—the animations in particular.
Disney artists started using a style of quickly sketching their characters instead of taking the time to draw them. The background also became significantly abstractly drawn. “101 Dalmatians” really marks the turning point, as it was the first real modern style animation, that stopped at “The Sword and the Stone”. This new animation also relates to its jazzy soundtrack.
In terms of objectionable content, I think the reviewer did do a good job of pointing at the many instances of put-downs that Cruella made throughout the film. I doubt that anyone will find this objectionable, but beware, my younger brother started calling us idiots and imbeciles (we soon quelled that bout of namecalling as soon as it started).
Nevertheless, it is good to be cautious. Anyway, if you haven’t seen this film, you are missing out. Although it is geared toward younger kids, I’m giving my $0.02 worth for adults who might want to get this movie for their kids. Rent it first and see if you like. If you don’t, don’t buy it. If you do, well, that’s your decision. It IS a good addition to your video collection. [3½/4]