101 Dalmatians (1961)

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.

Directors:

Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske (as Hamilton S. Luske)

Writers:

Bill Peet (story), Dodie Smith (novel)

Stars:

Rod Taylor, Betty Lou Gerson, J. Pat O'Malley

Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)

Storyline

Pongo and Perdita have a litter of 15 puppies. Cruella De Vil takes a fancy to the pups, and wants to get hold of them, as well as more pups, to make herself a lovely dalmatian skin coat... Cruella hires some thugs to kidnap the pups and hold them at her mansion. Will Pongo and Perdita find them in time ?

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Plot Keywords:

puppy | dalmatian | dog | bark | rescue | 

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Taglines:

The Canine Caper of the Century [1979 re-release]

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 January 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

101 Dalmatians

Filming Locations:

Walt Disney Studios, 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,389,226, 22 December 1985

Gross USA:

$144,880,014

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$215,880,014

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene when Horace and Jasper are watching television, the TV show they're watching "What's My Crime" is loosely based off of a current TV show called What's My Line? (1950). What's My Crime consists of a panel asking several questions to guess what crime the guest has committed, while in What's My Line? (1950) is the same but the panel tries to guess who the mystery guest is while blindfolded.

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Goofs

(at around 36 mins) During the Twilight Bark, there is a scene showing St Paul's Cathedral across the other side of the River Thames. This means that the view must be facing north. However there is a full Moon near the horizon in the background, which would not be seen in a north-facing view.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

There are no end credits for this feature film. However, the credits are at the beginning.

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Alternate Versions

On the 1992 VHS release of the film, the 1990 Walt Disney Pictures logo takes the place of the Buena Vista title card, so, the Buena Vista title card is placed after the film's ending instead. The Buena Vista title card fades to these 2 bumpers, "Coming to Home Video" and "Coming on Videocassette this Summer" which these 2 bumpers have the text "Walt Disney" from the 1986 Walt Disney Home Video logo.

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Connections

Referenced in The Sword in the Stone (1963)

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Soundtracks

Dalmatian Plantation
Written by Mel Leven
Performed by Bill Lee

User Reviews

Beautiful animation Disney!

This film is beautiful, and superior to the 1996 live action version. The animation is just beautiful, and I delighted in seeing those puppies's tails wagging. Those puppies were very cute, and a lack of any voice overs in the 1996 version was sorely missed. The scenes like the Twilight Bark added a sense of poignancy to the well-written story.I also want to say, I absolutely love the book by Dodie Smith, and I am 16. Another high point was the villain Cruella DeVil(voiced to perfection by Betty Lou Gerson), who was truly diabolical in every sense. The dogs, Pongo and Perdy were very lovable, and their scenes with the puppies were often very touching. Supporting characters like Tibbs, Captain, Colonel, and of course Jasper and Horace were very well done. The songs, were not as memorable as the ones in the Jungle Book, but at least they were tuneful. In conclusion, a beautiful and entertaining animated film, that is underrated in my opinion. 9/10 Bethany Cox