101 Dalmatiner (1961)

101 Dalmatiner: Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, Wolfgang Reitherman. With Rod Taylor, J. Pat O’Malley, Betty Lou Gerson, Martha Wentworth. 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.

“One Hundred and One Dalmatians is a classic Disney film from the companyu0026#39;s brilliant late 50u0026#39;s and early 60u0026#39;s period. The film has a number of Disney high points including fantastic supporting characters, great suspense and a heavy atmosphere. The film can be considered another excellent feature for the legendary company.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe story sees Dalmatian Pongo and his u0026#39;petu0026#39; Roger find love with two of their kind in Perdita and Anita. When Perdita gives birth to 15 puppies the cruel Cruella De Vil wishes to buy them but is turned away. With the help of her bumbling henchmen she kidnaps the puppies in order to make fur coats of them. Its then up to Pongo and Perdita, with the help of a collection of animals, to find the puppies and return to London. The story is simplistic but wonderfully executed. It has so many great elements that make it such an engaging movie, from the way dogs view their owners to the many escape attempts. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe characters are superb. Rod Taylor is perfect as the very likable Pongo who we see as brave and caring as the film goes on. The relationship between him and Perdita is better than most as they do care for each other. Cruella is one of Disneyu0026#39;s stronger villains, itu0026#39;s the way she is so crazed and manic but always trying to be stylish that makes her so entertaining. Jasper and Horace are brilliant henchmen, supplying lots of fun comic relief. Their so inept and clumsy that thereu0026#39;s never a dull moment with them. The team of the Colonel, Tibbs and the Captain are brilliant. The Colonel is lovingly silly and Tibbs is so likable due to his never say die attitude. Roger and Anita are good as they are presented as a normal pleasant couple. The other dogs that help out like Danny the Great Dane and Towser are nice, solid supporting characters.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThough the rougher animation isnu0026#39;t to everyoneu0026#39;s taste it does fit in really well here. The way it looks fits in with the gritty darkness of London and the wilds of the countryside, itu0026#39;s a nice change from the angular style of the films preceding it. When you consider the amount of puppies they had to animate itu0026#39;s an impressive feat. It is certainly one of the Disneyu0026#39;s most suspense filled and exciting films. Itu0026#39;s not very often that a Disney climax has a car chase and itu0026#39;s an outstanding sequence. The whole search for the puppies has a brilliantly tense feel and watching Cruella search for them has some really well made strong moments. This leads on to another highlight which is the atmosphere the film has. The whole u0026#39;twilight barku0026#39; is a great piece and the scenes where Tibbs and the Colonel investigate the matter have a really effective dark feel. These are underlined by the superb visuals of a gloomy London and the demonic looking u0026#39;hell hallu0026#39;. The music is also very memorable as it contains the usual solid score Disney does, as well as the fantastic songs u0026#39;u0026#39;Cruella De Vilu0026#39;u0026#39; and u0026#39;u0026#39;Dalmatian Plantationu0026#39;u0026#39;. The other effective scenes include a humorous look at how dog owners are similar to their pets and the whatu0026#39;s my crime TV show thatu0026#39;s funny. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is one of Disneyu0026#39;s most entertaining movies filled with many great elements.”