I'm not sure if I'd seen One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) all the way through before, but I had seen the live action version several times as a child, so the story was familiar.
The Disney look changes with this movie through the use of a xeroxing technique. Instead of crisp lines, everything looks sketchy, but rather than looking cheap or unfinished, it kind of fits with the the jazzy music and film noir-style voiceover at the beginning.
The story of Pongo, Perdita, and their respective humans (Roger and Anita) becoming a family is quickly achieved before moving on to the real story of the anorexic-looking, chain-smoking Cruella de Vil--whose name I used to think was de Ville, as in "of the city" because she's so urbane--and her plight to skin 101 puppies to make a coat. I have a hard time believing sweet, savvy Anita and brash, heartless Cruella were ever school friends, but that's the story we're given.
What ensues is a delightful adventure as our family's pups, a brave cat who deserves way more credit than his canine companions give him, and a gang of helpful dogs urged on by Pongo and Perdita outsmart and outmaneuver Cruella and her bumbling sidekicks.
In fact, if not for constantly being slowed down by the food-obsessed puppy "Rolly," the whole rescue mission would be about ten times easier. Instead, they have to escape dangers such as Cruella's 30-foot car and THE WORST DRIVING IN THE HISTORY OF DRIVING. We're talking way worse than Mr. Bean. If skinning puppies didn't clue you in that Cruella is insane, her driving certainly will.
Despite the horrific thought of skinned puppies (which, SPOILER, does not come to be) this movie is very cute. The idea of a secret dog (and cat and horse) organization is silly, but adorable. Within the world of the movie, despite being largely based in realism, it somehow works--perhaps because this unbelievable force of good balances out Cruella as an unbelievable force of evil.
Unusual among Disney animated features, One Hundred and One Dalmatians features only one real song, "Cruella de Ville," which is also unusual in that it is acknowledged within the story as a song being performed (without being a lullaby), making the feature not a musical in my books.
I enjoyed this movie even with it's different musical and artistic styles. Child-friendly but enjoyable for all ages, One Hundred and One Dalmatians is yet another Disney classic.
