Over the past few years, I’ve spent a lot of time discussing
Disney’s recent line of live-action remakes of their iconic animated films.
However, what some Disney fans might not realize is that while 2010’s Alice
in Wonderland is generally considered to be the film that started this
current trend for the studio, it technically wasn’t the first time that a
live-action Disney remake was made. Instead, that honor goes to 1994’s Rudyard
Kipling’s The Jungle Book, which was released 22 years before Jon Favreau’s
big-budget reimagining of Disney’s 1967 animated classic in 2016. However, for
the purpose of today’s retrospective, we’ll be focusing on the other major live-action
Disney remake that was made in the ’90s, 101 Dalmatians. It all began,
of course, with Disney’s 1961 adaptation of author Dodie Smith’s The Hundred
and One Dalmatians. Upon its release, the film proved to be the much-needed
hit that the studio needed after 1959’s Sleeping Beauty ended up being a
bit of a commercial dud for them. Part of the reason why was due to One
Hundred and One Dalmatians sporting a much smaller budget by comparison thanks
in large part to a new animation process known as xerography. Developed by Walt
Disney’s long-time collaborator Ub Iwerks, this system allowed for the direct
transfer of the animators’ drawings to animation cels, thus avoiding the inking
step of the classic ink-and-paint process, and while this method did result in
the film’s animation not being as polished as other Disney films, it was
exactly what the studio needed to keep production costs down. And with an
overall lifetime gross of around $303 million worldwide (a total that
skyrockets up to over $936 million when adjusted for inflation) and strong
reviews from critics, One Hundred and One Dalmatians still stands as one
of Disney Animation’s most highly acclaimed films.
But for many people, one of the biggest reasons for the
film’s success was its legendary main antagonist, Cruella de Vil, a sinister
heiress who kidnaps all but two of the titular 101 Dalmatians so that she can
use their fur for coats. Since then, Cruella has easily been one of Disney’s
most iconic villains, and sure enough, when it comes to the original film’s
live-action remake, many would agree that the best thing about it is Cruella
herself, portrayed by the legendary Glenn Close. In fact, I think it’s safe to
say that for an entire generation or two, Glenn Close’s take on Cruella de Vil
is generally regarded as the definitive interpretation of the character. But this
week, we have ourselves a new spin on the iconic villainess as Emma Stone takes
on the role in Disney’s latest live-action reimagining, Cruella, a
prequel-style story that delves into the events that made Cruella de Vil… well,
Cruella de Vil. Glenn Close will still be involved, however, as an executive producer,
and so, in honor of the new film’s release, today we’ll be looking at the two
films that gave us just one of the numerous iconic performances in Close’s
career; the 1996 live-action remake of 101 Dalmatians and its 2000
sequel, 102 Dalmatians. Now, as per usual with these franchise-based retrospectives
that I do, we’ll only be focusing on theatrically released films, which means
that we won’t be covering any other installments of the 101 Dalmatians franchise.
This includes both of its animated TV shows (the 90’s series created by Doug
creator Jim Jinkins and the newer 101 Dalmatian Street), the direct-to-video
sequel 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure, or Cruella’s appearances
in shows like Once Upon a Time and the first Descendants film. And
so, without further ado, it’s time to start playing Roger Radcliffe’s classic
song that reminds us that “if she doesn’t scare you, no evil thing will” as we
look at one of Disney’s initial attempts at making a live-action remake out of
their animated filmography.
But first, just for
fun, let’s go over the original…
ONE HUNDRED AND
ONE DALMATIANS (ANIMATED – 1961)
As longtime visitors of this site will no doubt recall, I
covered this film back in 2016 in the 1960s/1970s installment of my Disney
Retrospective series. Back then, I noted that I found the film to be
solidly entertaining even though I admittedly found its second half, when Pongo
and Perdita head out to rescue their puppies, to be better than its first half.
And when I ranked all 55 of the then-currently released films made by Walt
Disney Animation Studios (this was right before the release of Moana,
for the record), I ended up placing it right around the middle of the list at
#34. Upon my most recent re-watch of the film for the purposes of this retrospective,
I found that my thoughts on it hadn’t changed too much. That said, though,
while I still think that the film’s best moments come in its second half since
that’s where many of the best humorous bits occur thanks in large part to
Cruella and her bumbling henchmen Horace and Jasper, I’m a lot more positive about
the first half of the film than I was a few years ago. At the very least, it does
have its moments and it does a nice job of setting everything up (the relationships
of both Roger and Anita and their dogs Pongo and Perdita, building up Cruella
and her evil plans, etc.). And despite the whole thing about the xerography
method of animation producing much less refined visuals compared to other Disney
films, I think that this film’s animation is still quite good, for the most
part, as it helps give it a charmingly old-fashioned look that fits in nicely
with the story’s London setting. With all this in mind, it’s easy to see why
the original Hundred and One Dalmatians is still widely considered to be
one of Disney’s most beloved films. While it may not be one of my ‘top’ favorite
Disney films, there’s no denying that it’s a delightful comedic romp headlined
by an unforgettable villain and that indisputable Disney charm.
Rating: 4/5
101 DALMATIANS
(LIVE-ACTION – 1996)
Looking at this film in 2021 after all the other live-action
Disney remakes that have been made since then, one of the first things that
comes to mind is how relatively modest it is as a remake. Basically, just like
what the remakes of Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin did, this
one presents a straightforward retelling of the original where the biggest
changes are cosmetic in nature, such as Roger being a video game designer
instead of a musician and Cruella being Anita’s boss rather than her old
schoolmate. And unlike nowadays where it’s more common to see filmmakers using
CGI animals to avoid getting into any situations that could put real animals in
harm’s way, this film utilized as many real dogs as it could with only a few
instances of CGI and some animatronics from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Really,
it’s sort of more interesting to note some of the folks who worked on this film
behind the scenes such as director Stephen Herek, who made the first Bill and
Ted film and had become a regular director at Disney at that point with
films like The Mighty Ducks and Mr. Holland’s Opus, and
writer/producer John Hughes. Yes, this was one of many projects that Hughes
worked on in the ’90s, although admittedly, this was at a point where many
critics felt that his work was starting to delve into more juvenile territory
given the overly slapsticky nature of most of them. And yet, while this film
certainly has some of those moments, I don’t think they’re as apparent as they
are in some of his other 90’s films. In short, the live-action 101 Dalmatians
is a lot like its animated counterpart. The second half is better than the
first, Cruella is still a delightfully over-the-top villainess, and Jasper and
Horace (played here by Hugh Laurie and Mark Williams, respectively) are just as
hilariously bumbling as ever. Overall, I consider this to be one of the weaker
live-action Disney remakes because it doesn’t do as much as some of the others
to truly differentiate itself from the original, but it’s still a solid watch,
especially if you’re amongst the crowd that grew up with it in the late ’90s.
Rating: 3.5/5
102 DALMATIANS
(2000)
Despite its mixed reception, the live-action remake of 101
Dalmatians was a major success at the box office, grossing over $320.7
million worldwide. Thus, a sequel was put into development soon after with most
of the primary production crew returning save for John Hughes since the studio that
he formed with Disney, Great Oaks Entertainment, ended up shutting down in
1997. It also saw a notable change in director since, just like Stephen Herek, Kevin
Lima is another filmmaker who’s done quite a lot of films with Disney over the
years. This is, after all, the same director who made one of the biggest cult
classics of the ’90s, A Goofy Movie, co-directed the final ‘Disney Renaissance’
film, Tarzan, with Frozen’s Chris Buck, and helmed 2007’s live-action/animated smash hit Enchanted. And yet, while John Hughes may not
have been involved with this film, 102 Dalmatians is, ironically, the much
sillier of the two, thus tying into the whole thing that I mentioned earlier
about Hughes’ work taking on a campier tone in the ’90s. Simply put, a film
that includes, among other things, a talking bird named Waddlesworth (voiced by
Eric Idle) that believes he’s a dog can get incredibly damn goofy at times. But
while this does mean that the film is basically geared more towards younger
audiences, it’s still a decently entertaining family flick that has its charming
moments. Plus, whereas the first film’s strict structural adherence to the plot
of the original animated film meant that Glenn Close had a more limited screen-time
than those who haven’t seen it might expect, this one gives Cruella a more
prominent role in the story, thus giving us more of Close’s delightfully over-the-top
antics.
But to me, one of the most unique aspects of this film… is
the fact that I have more of a history with it than I do with its predecessor. A
few years back when I did a retrospective on Disney’s Honey, I Shrunk the
Kids franchise, I noted that I technically had more experience with that
franchise’s direct-to-video sequel Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves than I did
the original Honey I Shrunk the Kids since the former frequently aired
on Disney Channel. As for the original, my first proper viewing of it… was when
I watched it for that retrospective. And yes, folks, we have an eerily similar situation
with these live-action Dalmatians films. While I do believe that there’s
a strong possibility that I did watch the first film when I was younger (even
though I honestly can’t remember at this point), I watched 102 Dalmatians quite
a lot back then. Granted, I don’t exactly recall seeing it in theaters (again,
maybe I did, I don’t know…) but it was one of the first films that I distinctly
remember owning on DVD along with its video game tie-in for the Game Boy Color,
102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue. So, with that in mind, I’ll admit
that there may be some nostalgia-based bias when it comes to my thoughts on
this film given everything that I just talked about, but overall, I think that 102
Dalmatians is a genuinely harmless follow-up that’s largely on par with its
predecessor. Like I said before, though, this is also one of those instances
where younger audiences will most likely get more enjoyment out of it than
adults.
Rating: 3.5/5
And that concludes
Rhode Island Movie Corner’s retrospective on the live-action 101 Dalmatians films
(plus a quick reappraisal of the 1961 animated classic). Admittedly, it will be
a little while before I publish my review of Cruella given the current
backlog of posts that I’m working on, but I promise that it will come
eventually. Until then, thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in
the comments below with your own personal memories of these films.
TODAY'S RETROSPECTIVE HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO YOU BY KANINE KRUNCHIES!
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