101 Dalmatians
In 101 Dalmatians Anita and Roger, a young couple, have two Dalmatians named Perdita and Pongo. Anita’s boss Cruella De Vil kidnaps Perdita and Pongo puppies to make a fur coat out of them. Perdita and Pongo set out to rescue their children from their fearsome captors Jasper and Horace, who work for Cruella De Vil. With the help of the animal kingdom Pongo and Perdita are able to save their offspring comprising of ninety-nine Dalmatian puppies.
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A light-hearted Disney production directed by Stephen Herek in 1996 based on the book “The One Hundred and One Dalmatians” by Dodie Smith, this movie brought to life the canine capers which thwarted the evil machinations of Cruella De Vil. Anyone who has watched the “101 Dalmatians” cartoon would be able to follow the story and be surprised that a live-action remake can be this good.
It began light and easy with computer game programmer bachelor, Roger, and his bachelor Dalmatian, Pongo, going for a walk in the park. Pongo saw Perdita, a lady Dalmatian, and immediately went after her, dragging Roger along. The chase ended up in the pond. Twice. Which led to Perdita’s mistress, fashion designer, Anita, and Roger warming up before a cosy fire. One thing led to another and they got married. Pongo got married to Perdita, too, of course. Soon, there was a population explosion in the Anita-Roger household with the arrival of Dalmatian puppies. Fifteen of them altogether.
Cruella DeVil, Anita’s boss, was a fur lover and she wanted to add the puppies’ skins to her collection. She offered to buy them all for what she thought was an irresistible sum of money. She was devastated when she found out that her money was not good enough for Roger and Anita who refused to sell the puppies. So, Cruella De Vil ordered her henchmen, Jasper and Horace, to kidnap the puppies. They succeeded. However, their dastardly deed did not go unnoticed by the animal community, which set into motion Operation Puppies Rescue.
Now the movie 101 Dalmatians went into over-drive. Various animals, including rabbits, sheep and skunks, joined together with a number of dogs to save the puppies. Said puppies by this time had increased in quantity to 99, as a result of Jasper and Horace’s dognapping activities at the orders of their fur-enamoured boss. The action was fast and furious with the animals keeping one step ahead of their human pursuers.
Finally, all the puppies were safe and sound in the Anita-Roger home and the villains were properly packed away. To top it all, Roger finally wrote a winning computer game featuring Dalmatians and Cruella De Vil, as the villain, of course. The movie closed with a zoom-out shot of the Anita-Roger mansion with Dalmatians all over the place. This movie was outstanding in that it made the story so realistic.
Glenn Close played Cruella De Vil to perfection. At no time did she seem to be a caricature of a cartoon. The Dalmatians in the movie played their parts very well, too. Pongo and Perdita did not speak a word but their facial expressions conveyed their thoughts clearly. So did the puppies and all the other animals. Dalmatians are dogs bred to be companions, especially for children. They have a gentle disposition and each of them have got distinct markings making them very easy to identitify.
Dog lovers, especially those who have got Dalmatians, will find the movie 101 Dalmatians very entertaining. The anti-fur lobby could also use this movie to promote their cause. Dare we hope for a live-action remake of Garfield?
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