One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)

Directors:

Clyde Geronimi
Hamilton Luske

Writers:

Bill Peet (story)
Dodie Smith (novel)

Release Date:

25 January 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Thriller

Tagline:

Walt Disney's new all-cartoon feature

Plot:

When a litter of dalmatian puppies are abducted by the minions of Cruella De Vil, the parents must find them before she uses them for a diabolical fashion statement.

Plot Keywords:

Dalmatian | Puppy | Dog | Cat | Composer

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Rod Taylor	...	Pongo (voice)
J. Pat O'Malley	...	Colonel / Jasper (voice)
Betty Lou Gerson	...	Cruella De Vil / Miss Birdwell (voice)
Martha Wentworth	...	Nanny / Queenie / Lucy (voice)
Ben Wright	...	Roger (voice)
Cate Bauer	...	Perdita (voice)
David Frankham	...	Sgt. Tibs (voice) (as Dave Frankham)
Frederick Worlock	...	Horace / Inspector Craven (voice) (as Fred Worlock)
Lisa Davis	...	Anita (voice)
Tom Conway	...	Quizmaster / Collie (voice)
Tudor Owen	...	Towser (voice)
George Pelling	...	Danny (voice)
Ramsay Hill	...	Television Announcer / Labrador (voice)
Sylvia Marriott	...	(voice)
Queenie Leonard	...	Princess (voice)

Also Known As:

101 Dalmatians (USA) (alternative spelling)
Walt Disney's 101 Dalmatians (USA) (alternative title)

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Iceland:L | West Germany:o.Al. | South Korea:All | New Zealand:G | Peru:PT | Australia:G | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Portugal:M/6 | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G (re-rating) (1969)

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

The author of the book on which the film is based, Dodie Smith, was a successful playwright and novelist who had nine Dalmatians of her own. She got the idea for the book when a friend who was at her house saw all the dogs together and remarked, "Those dogs would make a lovely fur coat."

Goofs:

Continuity: When the dogs are moving up the frozen Creek, Lucky's ears change from white to black.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Pongo: My story begins in London, not so very long ago. And yet so much has happened since then, that it seems more like an eternity.

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes & Villains (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Cruella De Vil

A new look

A large part of Disney's triumph cannot be detected by the naked eye. His last animated film had been `Sleeping Beauty', which was the most extravagant and spectacular animated film of all time (excluding `Fantasia'). It wasn't a financial success. `101 Dalmatians', much less extravagant, was. In the two years between `Sleeping Beauty' and its successor there had been a revolution. The entire army of inkers who had carefully translated animators' pencil drawings into smooth, flowing lines were replaced by a machine that simply photocopied. This changed the character of animation so much that `Dalmatians' is almost the precise opposite of `Beauty'. Outlines are rough and black; the entire film looks decidedly drawn rather than painted, even the bits that are in fact painted; and the rich variety of colour of Disney's earlier films has been replaced with the stark white-with-black-spots coat of a dalmatian, with the occasional splash of startling red. The art directors were as determined to get the most out of the new technology as they had been to get the most out of the old technology.

And it has its own quiet extravagance. A title promising over one hundred spotted dogs was (probably still is) the kind of thing liable to make animators feel faint. It couldn't have been done without the photocopier; and even so, getting spots to stay in the right place on a featureless white background is a huge headache. None of this leaps out an audience. We simply see a hundred adorable dogs.

The story is simple, clean, civilised, and warm. It moves slowly but this doesn't matter. Preventing the film from becoming lethargic is Cruella de Vil. She can drive like a maniac through the snow, smoke a cigarette through a holder the length of a sword, wave her arms like a windmill ... yet she handles quiet determination and gritted teeth equally well. Character animation doesn't get any better than this.