101 Dalmatians

101 DALMATIANS

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Because of: mild crude humor, violence

Rated:

Based on the old cartoon more than the actual book, 101 Dalmatians is Disney's successful attempt to cash in on an old idea, a practice they've started doing with more enthusiasm by remaking The Parent Trap, Freaky Friday, and other Haley Mills films for a "new" generation. While this film is a great deal of fun to watch, it's also downright stupid in places. Realism leaves the script about three-fourths of the way through and is completed instead with standard fair slapstick violence of the Home Alone variety. Still the movie's high point remains Glenn Close, whose Cruella de Vil will send ice through your veins. It's a fun movie for kids eight and up (anyone younger will be terrified) and some adults might enjoy it as well, if only to see such a first-class group of actors having obviously a lot of fun, no matter how cheesy the script becomes.

Roger (Jeff Daniels) is a single guy trying to break into the video game market. His game includes an animated version of his dog Pongo, but lacks a good villain. Fast approaching the point where he may have to eat his dog's table scraps, Roger is desperate for change. It's about to be literally thrown into his life. Anita (Joely Richardson) is a fashion designer with the House of De Vil in London. The lavish fur-based industry is owned by the mysterious and sinister Cruella De Vil (Glenn Close), who has recently hired a taxidermist to raid the local zoo and kill one of the prized Siberian tigers to make her a fur coat. In her employment are two crooked simpletons Horace and Jasper (Mark Williams and Hugh Laurie). When Anita designs a coat based on her dog Perdy's fur pattern, Cruella schemes to have herself a Dalmatian coat. Her new favorite employee infuriates her by meeting, falling in love with, and marrying Roger.

When the dogs have fifteen puppies, Cruella arrives at the house to claim them for her own dark designs. But insulted by her manners and believing her up to something, Roger refuses to sell her the lot. She storms from the house... but isn't quite finished. Her cohorts will be sent to steal the puppies underneath the nose of Nanny (Joan Plowright), instigating an all-out dog hunt throughout London. The dogs must strike back to save the lives of the 99 puppies Cruella has stolen. Beginning strong and getting progressively less realistic as time goes by, 101 Dalmatians is not a bad movie. I still find it as enjoyable today as I did when I was a little girl. The acting is all stellar, the costume design stunning (one of Cruella's more fascinating outfits involves snakeskin and ostrich feathers) and most of the stunts are well-filmed. It's obvious some of the puppies and other animals are puppets, but the dog training is truly excellent.

As an Anglophile, I found two elements lacking. The first is Close not even attempting an accent, despite the fact the character is European and lives in London. The second is the lack of research the team did into investigating what kinds of animals live in the English countryside. Unless those raccoons were imported, I don't think they'd make an appearance. There are also subtle other touches suggestive in of themselves but not overly demeaning to the plot. The ending is justifiably bad. Content is mild but does involve a great deal of slapstick violence and innuendo. Cruella shows varying amounts of cleavage in several scenes. She insults Roger by making a crass comment about puppies and babies. Roger and Anita kiss as the camera fades up and the clothes hanging to dry over the fireplace grate burst into flames. Some reviewers have found this offensive since supposedly it implies premarital sex, but I don't consider it inappropriate or even suggestive.

The second half involves some crude humor and violence. Horace and Jasper are "beat up" trying to chase the dogs. They fall through floors, walls, windows, and into ponds. They're shot in the mouth with acorns and electrocute themselves trying to step over a hot-wire fence. Cruella is spattered with eggs, kicked into pig slop through a window, sat on by a pig, dumped into a vat of slime, and squirted in the face by a skunk. Her taxidermist is also bit in the backside (only implied) by a hound. The video game Roger designs involves bouncing a barrel of explosives into a moving car to explode the villain. Most of the film is fun and there are some good lines, such as when Cruella asks what kind of a "Sycophant"* her assistant is and he replies, "What kind of a Sycophant would you like me to be?" Her butler Alonzo is also a great deal of fun. It's a good film, worthy of family viewing as long as the children are not too young.

* A person who agrees with everything you say.