Another good piece of Walt Disney-produced animation

Rating: 8/10 (11 February 2010)

This 1961 animated feature is one of the films that Walt Disney produced during the last decade of his life, and one of the Disney films I remember seeing in my childhood. I was born nearly twenty years after Walt's death, but saw many Disney movies as a kid, some of which were produced by him and others made by the company after he died. "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" was one of them, even though I didn't see this one as many times as I saw certain other Disney features during the 90's, and couldn't remember it as clearly. I watched it for the first time in probably over a decade in 2007, and again nearly three years later. I can usually expect these films to still impress me after all these years, including this one.
A Dalmatian dog named Pongo lives in a London flat with his single owner (or "pet," as he is referred to), Roger, who plays the piano and writes songs. Bored with single life, the dog sees a female Dalmatian named Perdita with her female owner, Anita, walking by the window, and thinks this is a perfect opportunity to get himself a mate and Roger a wife. He gets his owner to take him for a walk in the park so they can meet the pair, and as Pongo planned, they both find romance. Roger and Anita soon get married, as do Pongo and Perdita, and with the four of them now living together, it isn't too long before Perdita gives birth to a litter of puppies, fifteen in total. Cruella De Vil, an evil former schoolmate of Anita's, wants to buy all the puppies and make a coat out of them! After she is denied permission to buy any of them, she hires two men, Jasper and Horace, to kidnap the litter! After the police fail to find the kidnapped puppies, Pongo and Perdita must call upon other animals to help them try and find their missing young before it's too late!
The animation in this film is a little different from that of the previous Disney efforts. It was the first Disney flick to use the photocopying technique. This worked out well, as the animation here is very good, especially with the backgrounds, showing an animated version of London and memorable images of winter countryside. "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" also has basically everything that usually makes Disney animations entertaining for all ages. It's often funny, with scenes such as Pongo and Colonel (an old sheepdog) struggling to communicate via barks, and many gags involving Jasper and Horace and sometimes the way Cruella treats these two. Also, the characters are well crafted and the adventure gets very exciting at times. There are some weaker spots in the film, such as the overlong piano playing near the beginning and the rushed scene showing Nanny the housekeeper's reaction when she finds the puppies are gone, but there's no need to dwell on these petty flaws when the film as a whole is so entertaining. Overall, it's another good piece of animation for the whole family to watch.