One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
Time: 1h 19mins
Directors: Wolfgang Reitherman, Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske
Quick Summary: When a litter of Dalmatian puppies are abducted by the minions of Cruella De Vil, the owners must find them before she uses them for a diabolical fashion statement.
Imagine being their neighbour
There is something so charming about watching a film simply about dogs. It's much less extravagant than its previous film, Sleeping Beauty, but it's still so much fun to watch.
The linework is definitely different, instead of bold black lines, it seems like they used pencil all the way through, which gives us a more rougher look. This is more drawn than painted and it changes the whole feel of the film. The opening actually takes us through the whole process, and to this day it's one of my favourite Disney openings, as we get to see the rough sketches, go to lineart, to colour, to animation as various spots and dogs are thrown on screen.
Storywise, it's simple and easy to follow. We still have a villain to it, though she did feel a little weak. I certainly knew a lot of people who reminded me of her when I was a kid, but as an adult, I needed more from her. She is an erratic person, racing through the snow like a madwoman in her car, storming around while waving her arms around, and her clothes are very eccentric. But I wish we got more of her with the puppies and not her lackeys who were mostly there for the return of slapstick.
I'm not actually complaining about it, for a film targeted towards kids again, the slapstick was pretty good. I'm glad it wasn't overbearing, as I usually get sick of constant barrages of people falling over things or hurting themselves/ others in various ways. This had a charm to it instead, each moment was perfectly timed to move the plot forward.
The beginning of this is surprising a narrative, as we follow Pongo (The father of the puppies) and his delightful way of talking about humans. It's such a fun thought to think of dogs thinking we're their pets and they need to help us. Pongo has a very British sense of humour, which was funny to me of course, and a lot of scenes with him and the puppies were really touching too.
I was also pretty glad this has a short runtime, but I will say because of that the story felt rushed. The pacing raced through things, which was fine during some of the more tense escape scenes, but in others, we didn't really get too much time. As soon as the setup of the two humans meeting happens, it feels like it's almost over already.
While I love this because of how charming it is, It has a few faults. Perfect for a simple watch, or for young kids.
9/10
"Cruella De Vil: Anita, darling!
Anita: How are you?
Cruella De Vil: Miserable, darling, as usual, perfectly wretched."
The themed food me and my partner made for this film:
Baloney and other meat sandwiches and bone biscuits
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