One Hundred and One Dalmatians has a very distinct animation style which is almost jarringly different after the graceful artistic look of Sleeping Beauty. The very ragged and sketchy look of One Hundred and One Dalmatians has a simple charm and this, paired with delightful storytelling, makes for an instant Disney classic. And One Hundred and One Dalmatians introduces audiences to one of Disney’s most prominent villains of all time.
Premiered on: January 25, 1961
Directed by:
Wolfgang Reitherman
Hamilton Luske
Clyde Geronimi
Produced by: Walt Disney
Based on: The Hundred & One Dalmatians written by Dodie Smith
Sequels: 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure (2003)
Cast:
Rod Taylor – Pongo
Cate Bauer – Perdita
Betty Lou Gerson – Cruella de Vil / Mrs. Birdwell
Ben Wright – Roger Radcliffe (speaking)
Bill Lee – Roger Radcliffe (singing)
Lisa Davis – Anita Radcliffe
Martha Wentworth – Nanny / Queenie the Cow / Lucy the Goose
Frederick Warlock – Horace / Inspector Craven
J. Pat O’Malley – Jasper / The Colonel
Thurl Ravenscroft – Captain
David Frankham – Sergeant Tibbs
Tudor Owen – Towser
Barbara Luddy – Rover
Lucille Bliss – Commercial Singer
Paul Frees – Dirty Dawson
Directing Animators:
Milt Kahl
Marc Davis
Ollie Johnston
Frank Thomas
John Lounsbery
Eric Larson
Music By:
George Bruns
Mel Leven
Songs:
“Cruella de Vil”
“Kanine Krunchies”
“Dalmatian Plantation”
Academy Awards: none
The Story:
The film begins with black and white opening credits with a bunch of spots on the screen. The credits are all written in the spots and then the spots turn into Dalmatians. The music playing is a medley of the different songs and scores from the rest of the film. The credits turn into colour when the “Color Styling” page is shown. The credits change into scenes of London.
Pongo is narrating his story, which begins in his bachelor flat near Regent’s Park. He lives here with his pet, Roger. The scene zooms in on the flat where Roger is playing the piano and Pongo is looking out the window. Pongo does not like the bachelor life; he thinks that it is dull. He thinks that his pet needs someone in his life. It if were up to Roger, they would both be single forever and Roger would only be married to his work of composing. Pongo is determined to find Roger a mate, but he admits that he is a poor judge of human beauty.
Pongo watches out the window and spots many dogs that look like their humans. First comes along an Afghan hound and her owner. Both have very long noses and very long hair. Next, a very small and uptight pug with her lookalike owner walks by. Then strolls by a fancy French poodle with her fancy human. Then a pair that is too old and then a pair that is too young!
Pongo is losing hope when he suddenly sees Perdita, the most beautiful creature on four legs! And her human is nice too. He sees them head towards the park and he thinks that is a good place to meet.
Roger will not stop working until after 5 o’clock so Pongo pushes the hands on the clock forward with his nose. He barks with his leash in mouth and begs Roger to go out. The human falls for it and they get ready to go out to the park.
Pongo is very excited and in a hurry. He races throughout the park and sees all of the other dogs he saw earlier in the day. Suddenly he spots Perdita and Anita sitting nicely on a bench by the lake. Anita is too busy reading to spot them and Roger is only focused on his pipe. It is all up to Pongo.
Pongo struts by in an effort to get the ladies to notice them. Roger is still not paying any attention but Perdita and Anita both look up. Pongo still needs to do something extra in order to get their attention so he steals Roger’s hat and will not give it back. He sits the hat on the bench beside Anita. But as Roger grabs his hat and goes to catch Pongo, Anita and Perdita leave. But Pongo is still very determined and he wraps Roger and Anita around together with his leash. The two humans end up falling into the lake. At first they are very annoyed and embarrassed but then they see the humor in the situation and laugh about it.
The next scene is Roger and Anita’s wedding in a church. Pongo and Perdita have their own wedding outside the window.
The film skips ahead about six months or so and the two couples have moved to a small house by the park. It is a modest home but just perfect for starting their new lives together. The shot zooms in on the house and Pongo asks Perdita if she is alright. She says yes and that dogs have been having puppies long before their time. Pongo gets a big grin on his face at the mention of their puppies coming.
Nanny comes into the room with tea and Pongo narrates that she is a kind and gentle soul. Anita yells for Roger to come downstairs for tea but he is busy with his music. Pongo starts to bark at him and Nanny bangs on the ceiling. He finally comes downstairs humming a new song. He says that first comes the melody and then the lyrics.
Pongo and Perdita hear an angry honk coming from outside and Perdita exclaims that it is the devil woman coming! She runs off to hide. Roger says that it must be Anita’s old school mate, Cruella. He starts to sing “Cruella de Vil” lyrics to his new song. Cruella rings the doorbell and Anita tells Roger to be quiet. He goes upstairs and plays his new song very loudly and stomps on the floor. Nanny goes to let their guest in but Cruella bursts through the door and yells “Anita, darling!” Cruella keeps asking “where are they?” Anita asks what she is looking for and she says that she is looking for the puppies! Anita informs Cruella that the puppies will not be born for another three weeks. Meanwhile, Roger has started playing other instruments, such as the trumpet and trombone, even louder in order to be obnoxious to Cruella.
Anita asks Cruella if she has a new fur coat and Cruella just gushes over and over about how much she adores furs. Anita admits that she would not mind a fur coat someday but there are other prioities. Cruella makes fun of her for being so simple and modest. Anita is still very kind and offers her tea but Cruella says that she must run and makes Anita promise that she will let her know when the puppies have arrived.
Anita sighs and collapses on the sofa, like dealing with Cruella is absolutely draining. Roger comes downstairs and is still singing his Cruella song. He starts dancing with Anita and Pongo happily joins in by barking and jumping around. Pongo then goes to find Perdita, who is very frightened about Cruella wanting their puppies. Pongo tries to reassure her that nothing will happen but Perdita is so scared that she wishes they were not even having the puppies.
The next scene is a very dark and stormy night. The puppies arrived right on schedule in October. Pongo and Roger are anxiously waiting in the kitchen. Nanny comes to grab a towel but otherwise ignores them and goes back to Perdita. Suddenly, Nanny screams that the puppies are here! There are 8 of them! Roger and Pongo start to celebrate when Nanny yells that there are 10! Then 11! Then 13, 14, and 15! Pongo is so happy, but then Nanny comes out very sad. There are just 14 puppies because they lost one. She hands Roger the little bundle and he tries to comfort Pongo about the loss. Then Roger gets an idea and starts to rub the little puppy in the blanket. Suddenly a little nose pokes out and they have 15 puppies once again. Anita and Nanny come out and gather around the little puppy.
Suddenly there is a lightning strike and Cruella appears! She eagerly wants to see the puppies but freaks out when Nanny shows her one. The puppy has no spots! She is disgusted by this and makes a big deal out of the puppy not having any spots. Nanny and Anita explain that the puppies will get their spots as they grow in the next few weeks. Cruella then says that she will buy the whole litter. Anita informs her that they are not giving up the puppies as Perdita would be heartbroken. But Cruella just tries to convince the Radcliffes that they cannot afford to keep the puppies and she offers to pay twice what they are worth. She tries to write a cheque but the pen explodes, causing ink spots to cover Roger and Pongo. Roger finally speaks up to inform Cruella that the puppies are not for sale. He is intimidated by Cruella but he stands his ground. Finally Cruella leaves and tells Anita that they are through! She storms out and slams the door so hard that a window breaks. Nanny and Anita are very impressed with Roger’s bravery, standing up to Cruella de Vil like he did. Pongo then goes to see Perdita and tells her that Roger has told Cruella off for good and that they are keeping the puppies.
In the next scene, the puppies are older and have all gotten their spots. They are watching The Thunderbolt Adventure Hour on T.V. with their mom and dad. The puppies are really into the show and keep talking about how great Thunderbolt is. They encourage their hero throughout the show. During this scene we get to know some of the puppies’ names: Penny, Patch, Lucky, and Rolly. The show ends with a literal cliffhanger as Thunderbolt and bad guy Dirty Dawson plunge over a waterfall. Then there is an ad for Kanine Krunchies. Pongo and Perdita want to put the puppies to bed so they can go on a W.A.L.K. But spelling it out does not help, as the puppies want to go on the walk as well, but Pongo and Perdita still send them off to bed.
Roger, Anita, Pongo, and Perdita go out for their walk in the park. They stroll pass Cruella de Vil’s henchmen, Horace and Jasper, who are sitting in their truck. The pair are pretending to read newspapers but are actually watching the Radcliffes and talking about their plan to steal the puppies. Horace is hesitant but Jasper is clearly the leader. They drive the truck slowly in front of the house and Jasper comments that nobody is home except the little old cook, and he will handle her diplomatic like.
Nanny is tucking the puppies into their beds when the doorbell rings. She opens the door and Horace and Jasper pretend that they are there to inspect the switches because they are from the electric company. They hold up a briefcase that reads “Electric,” though the word has been misspelt. Nanny says that they did not call for any inspection and Jasper makes up some fake new law about needing to come over. Nanny still will not let them in with Roger and Anita away so she tries to shut the door but Jasper just pushes back. He and Horace barge in and despite Nanny’s best attempts to stop them, they lock her in the attic! Horace grabs the puppies in the briefcase and they leave. Nanny knows that they were thieves but she thinks that they took the best silver and races down into the kitchen. She notices that they actually took the puppies and she panics! Nanny runs out in the street calling for the police.
The next frame shows the front of a newspaper with the headline “Dognapping!” It shows a photo of poor Nanny with the empty dog beds. Another newspaper has the headline “15 Puppies Stolen!” Someone is reading the headlines out loud and says “Can you imagine such a thing? What darlings!” The shot shows that it is actually Cruella de Vil reading these papers in bed. Her hair is in a scary mess of curlers. She lets out an evil laugh and then her phone rings. It is Jasper and Cruella calls him an idiot for calling her there. Horace and Jasper are demanding their money since the story is in the papers and they want out. Cruella says that there will be no money until the entire job is done. Cruella hangs up the phone and then dials a different number.
Pongo is seen laying down on a pile of newspapers and is very worried. The phone rings and he races toward it with Roger, who thinks that it might be Scotland Yard. It is Cruella who asks for Anita and she feigns sympathy. Roger just blames Cruella but Anita does not think that it is her. A sad Pongo and Perdita think that it is all up to them. They will send out the Twilight Bark and they will send it tonight when their pets take them for a walk in the park.
The night, Pongo keeps barking loudly in the park. Perdita thinks that it might be too cold for anyone to respond but Pongo keeps trying. Finally there is a response! Roger tells Pongo to be quiet but Pongo does not listen and barks on. A Great Dane named Danny has picked up on the bark and sends the message along to a little terrier. The message is that 15 Dalmatian puppies have been stolen. The humans have tried everything to no avail so now it is up to the dogs to sound the alert. The message is then sent to a Scottish terrier who sends it to the Afghan hound from the beginning of the film, and here we find out her name is Prissy. She sends the message on to a nearby pet shop and those puppies pass the message on to the French Poodle from the beginning and so on. The shot zooms out on a busy London that is filled with dog barking and then the shot heads out to the countryside where dogs are still busy passing along the message. Lucy the goose asks Towser the hound what the message is and when he says that it is about puppies, she gets very worried. She tells Towser that he sound try and reach the Colonel and Towser is very honoured at the task.
At the farm down the road, Captain the horse hears the alert and wakes up Sergeant Tibbs the cat. He tells Tibbs to go get the Colonel. Tibbs finds the Colonel in a bundle of hay and the Colonel hears the alert. He barks back at Towser to try and receive the message. It takes the Colonel a little while to figure out the message, and in reality it is Tibbs who figures it out. They heard barking at the old de Vil place, Hell Hall, and now there is smoke coming from the chimney so they think that the puppies may be there.
The Colonel and Tibbs go to Hell Hall and are nervous that the place might be haunted. The Colonel makes Tibbs go up a tree to peer inside. The cat pushes open a window and drops in. He finds a hole in the wall and goes into the next room. Tibbs find two Dalmatian puppies and asks them if they are of the 15 stolen puppies. One puppy responds that they have not been stolen, that they were bought and there are 99 of them altogether. But the two puppies point out a few that have names and collars; they are the ones watching the T.V. Tibbs goes to count them but is warned about the bad guys. Horace and Jasper are drinking wine, eating sandwiches, and playing darts. Jasper picks up Tibbs, think that the cat is the wine bottle, and poor Tibbs screeches and runs away. Jasper starts throwing darts at Tibbs. The cat quickly finishes counting the 15 puppies and then hides.
Back in London, the dogs are all still barking and Pongo gets a message to meet with the Great Dane. Pongo and Perdita sneak out to meet up for their news. Their puppies have been located north of London in Suffolk. The Great Dane accompanies them to the edge of London and then gives them instructions to the de Vil place. Pongo and Perdita panic at the mention of the devil woman and they take off.
At sunrise the snow starts to fall and then it is a complete blizzard by the next night. Pongo and Perdita stop at nothing to reach their puppies, even crossing a freezing, rushing river.
At the farm, the Colonel thinks that the Dalmatian parents must have gotten lost because it is taking them so long to get there. Then Cruella drives by on her way to Hell Hall. Tibbs and the Colonel leave to go see what is up.
At Hell Hall, Cruella is pacing while Horace and Jasper watch television. Cruella wants the job done tonight. Tibbs overhears that they are planning on making coats out of the puppies! Cruella does not care how they kill the puppies but wants Horace and Jasper to do it right away. Cruella threatens to call the police on them if the job is not done by morning. Horace and Jasper decide to do it after their show, What’s My Crime, is over.
Tibbs sneaks in and tells the puppies to escape through a hole in the wall and he organizes them into a line. But Lucky is sitting right in front of the T.V. and is not paying attention to the other puppies. Tibbs gets the puppy’s attention and sends him through the hole. Rolly is the last dog to go through after a push from Tibbs. Horace and Jasper argue about who is going to pop the dogs on the head and who is going to do the skinning. Finally they notice that the puppies are gone and go out of the room to find them. They see the puppies going up the stairs and then chase them back down. Tibbs hides all of the puppies under the stairs but they are eventually caught. Tibbs starts to chase Horace and Jasper.
Pongo and Perdita think that they are lost and start to bark for help. The Colonel hears them and barks back. The three dogs meet up and the Colonel says that there is no time to explain, there is trouble! The Dalmatians take off and the Colonel tries to catch up but keeps slipping on the ice.
Just as Horace and Jasper corner Tibbs and the puppies, Pongo and Perdita burst through the window. They snarl at the henchmen and attack them. The puppies bark as well but are too scared to actually attack. In the diversion, Tibbs and the Colonel lead the puppies safely out of Hell Hall. The Dalmatian parents continue to fight until Horace and Jasper are under a pile of rubble from the decrepit building. Pongo and Perdita take off and the henchmen attempt to follow.
Pongo and Perdita are reunited with their puppies at the Colonel’s barn. For the first time the parents notice all of the other puppies and wonder what Cruella would have wanted with so many. One poor puppy says that Cruella was going to make coasts out of them. Sergeant Tibbs confirms this. Horace and Jasper approach in their truck. The Colonel makes a plan to attack them but Tibbs politely disagrees and Pongo suggests that they make a run for it instead. The Dalmatians all run out the back while the Colonel barks at the henchmen to distract them. Captain kicks Horace and Jasper with his hind legs and the pair land in the side of the barn. They notice the puppies escaping in the distance.
Horace and Jasper go to their truck to try and cut the puppies off. They stop on a bridge but can no longer find the Dalmatian’s tracks. Horace suggests that they dogs ran down the frozen creek to hide their tracks but Jasper thinks that Horace is an idiot for thinking that because dogs are not that smart. But that is exactly what the dogs have done and they are all currently hiding under that same bridge. Pongo then gives the all clear and they start to make their way down the slippery ice.
The next morning, Cruella races her car down the road and almost crashes into Horace and Jasper’s truck. She asks if there is any sign of the dogs but there is none. Horace and Jasper want to give up but Cruella will not let them. She then tells them to watch their driving so they do not get napped by the police. She then takes off like a crazy driver.
The next scene is of a heavy snow storm that the dogs are trying to brave. Perdita is leading the way and Pongo is counting to make sure all 99 puppies are there. Poor Lucky is behind and is freezing and hungry. Pongo then hears barking and a Collie runs up and recognizes them. He tells Pongo that they almost lost hope and that they have shelter for them at the dairy barn across the road. The dogs turn to follow the Collie and make their way to the barn.
They are all exhausted as they enter the barn. The cows talk about how darling the little puppies are. They tell Pongo and Perdita that they have all been so worried about them and have been trying to reach them for hours. Rolly complains that he is hungry and this begins a round of complaining from all the puppies that they are hungry. The cows offer them fresh warm milk and Perdita tells them to take turns. The Collie has a few scraps for Pongo and Perdita to feed on. He says that it should hold them until they meet a Labrador in Dinsford, whose pet is a grocer. The Collie says that he will be standing watch while the other dogs get some sleep and the cows are all very honoured to have been of service. The tired puppies start to drift off to sleep.
The next morning, Perdita ventures to the top of a hill to make sure it is safe. When she starts to head down, all 99 puppies follow behind. They cross a road a hear honking in the distance. Pongo hurries the puppies along and then sweeps away the pawprints with a branch to cover their tracks. Cruella goes zooming by but then backs up and notices that on either side of the road are Dalmatian tracks. She yells at Horace and Jasper to get over there and then tells them that the dogs are heading straight to the village.
In Dinsford, the Labrador barks at the Dalmatians and Pongo goes to meet up with him. The Labrador says that he has a ride home for all of them but they must hurry. They race inside an empty building and the Labrador points out a van down the street that will be heading to London as soon as the engine is repaired. Suddenly, Cruella’s car appears. She drives slowly around looking for the Dalmatians but does not find them. Then the dogs spy Horace and Jasper as well. Pongo and Perdita hear complaining and see that Patch and Lucky have covered themselves in soot. The two puppies are fighting about who pushed who into the fireplace first but this only gives Pongo an idea. He jumps into the soot and covers himself until he is completely black. He says that now he is a Labrador! And then he tells all of the puppies to jump in the soot as well. The puppies are very concerned that their father wants them to get so dirty and need some convincing to get going. Finally they do, and they enjoy themselves jumping in the fireplace. The dogs head over to the van in small groups in order to not draw attention to themselves. The Labrador takes the first bunch and Horace and Jasper see them. Horace thinks that maybe the Dalmatians have disguised themselves but Jasper just makes fun of Horace for thinking of such a thing.
Pongo tells Perdita to put on her makeup as he gets ready with the next group of puppies. Horace and Jasper almost find Perdita and the rest of the puppies but Cruella yells at her henchmen before the stumble upon the dogs. As Pongo takes the next group, the van starts to warm up and the dogs know that they are running out of time. Perdita comes with the next group and then Pongo and her go to get the rest. Cruella glances at the dogs but thinks nothing of the Labradors. As Pongo goes to get the last group, he finds Jasper and Horace noticing their pawprints and trying to get into the building where the puppies are. Pongo gets the puppies out in time, only to almost be hit by Cruella’s car! She stops and looks at them suspiciously but lets the puppies cross in front of her. Then the melting snow drips onto the puppies and starts to reveal their white fur underneath the soot.
The van takes off just as the adult dogs try to get the last puppies onboard. Cruella yells at Horace and Jasper to follow the van! Pongo and the last puppy race to catch up with the van and the Labrador attacks Horace and Jasper to give the Dalmatians more time. The van is delivering furniture and all of the puppies are hiding in the drawers of the furniture in the back. Cruella chases after them in her car and tries to drive the van off the road. The van driver thinks that she is a crazy lady and he has no idea about the puppies in the back. Cruella ends up driving herself off the road and she crashes into a snowbank. This doesn’t stop her though and she takes off again with her car in pieces. Horace and Jasper are in their truck and are catching up to the van. Cruella’s car crashes into the back of the van and is stuck onto it. Horace and Jasper’s truck loses control and they go crashing into Cruella’s car. The two vehicles go rolling down a hill and the van safely escapes. Cruella yells and cries and Horace and Jasper just tell her to shut up.
Back at the Radcliffe’s home, Roger is smoking his pipe and listening to his “Cruella de Vil” song on the radio. He is still very worried and he turns off the radio. Anita is decorating the Christmas tree and comments that the song is his first big hit and it has made them more money than they could ever dream of. But Roger doesn’t care and just can’t believe that Pongo and Perdita would run away. Nanny comes in with some tea and says that it is a little bit of Christmas cheer, not that there is anything to be cheerful about. Sometimes at night, she can still hear their dogs barking. Then there are actual dogs barking. Nanny opens up the front door and Labradors come racing in! Nanny realizes that they are the Dalmatians actually covered in soot and she starts to clean them off. Roger and Anita clean off the dogs as well and they count the puppies as the clean. They add them all together for one hundred and one Dalmatians! Roger and Anita question where they all came from and decide that they should keep them all. They will buy a big house in the country and they will have a Dalmatian Plantation! Roger sits down at the piano and starts to compose the song “Dalmatian Plantation.” Pongo, Perdita, and the puppies sing along. The shot zooms out of London as the city’s dogs start barking.
Trivia:
- Roger and Anita have the last name Dearly in the original story. Disney changed this name because of recent similar sounding character names: George and Mary Darling, and Jim Dear and Darling.
- Betty Lou Gerson, voice of Cruella de Vil, also voice the gentle narration at the beginning of Cinderella and also has a cameo of the scary, homeless lady the Banks children run into in Mary Poppins.
- Clarence Nash, most famous for providing the original voice of Donald Duck, did all of the barking for this film.
- The dogs were intentionally given deeper voices than the humans in order to draw more focus and power towards them as the main characters.
- The farm that Lucy and Towser live on is called Withermarsh.
- One Hundred and One Dalmatians is the first Disney animated film to make use of xerography. This is a form of photocopying that helped with production costs. It was used all the way up until The Little Mermaid but the earlier films have a very distinct sketchy look with thick outlines around objects and characters. This technique came in very handy with all those spots!
- The cartoon that the puppies are watching at Hell Hall is often mistakenly referred to as Flowers and Trees from 1932. It is actually a short called Springtime (1929). How can I tell? Flowers and Trees is in colour whereas Springtime is in black and white.
- Only six of the puppies are referenced by name: Penny, Lucky, Freckles, Patch, Rolly, and Pepper
- Allegedly, someone did count all the Dalmatian’s spots frame by frame, and the total is 6 469 952.
- The film takes place in 1952. This is known by a reference on the newspaper shown when the puppies vanish. The headline reads “Carlsen Speaks” and this is in reference to Captain Kurt Carlsen whose freighter, Flying Enterprise, sank in the Atlantic Ocean that year.
- The author, Dodie Smith, had a Dalmatian named Pongo. Pongo was a female and had puppies with one being a stillborn. Mrs. Smith’s husband revived the little dog.
- During the Twilight Bark, there are cameos by Lady, Tramp, Bulldog, Peg, and Jock from Lady and the Tramp.
Representation in the Disney Parks:
There is not very much representation of One Hundred and One Dalmatians at the Disney Parks. Cruella de Vil is a walk around character on Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland and at the American Waterfront at Tokyo DisneySea. She tends to also make appearances with the other villains during Halloween specials. There is a One Hundred and One Dalmatians section at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort.
Check out the other films of Disney’s Silver Age:
A true classic!