The superior version, but Glenn Close's Cruella was better

Rating: Null/10 (13 January 2003)

Pongo is a bachelor living in a London apartment whose pet Roger needs a woman. He searches for just the right mate for Roger, and after several tries discovers a woman with a Dalmatian like Pongo. Did I mention that Pongo is a dog? Pongo schemes to bring Roger and Anita together and eventually finds success. When the two humans get married, it appears the dogs do too. Several months later, Anita's old friend Cruella De Vil, a nasty rich woman with strange hair, comes to visit because she has heard Pongo's mate Perdita is having puppies. It is not yet time, but Cruella insists on being informed when the time comes. She shows off her beautiful fur coat and comments on how beautiful the dogs are. Several weeks pass and, at last, the big moment arrives. Nanny the quirky housekeeper comes out to announce to Roger that the puppies have arrived. He asks how many and she replies eight. That's a lot, but Nanny keeps coming out to announce there are more puppies. The eventual total: fifteen. How can this family keep so many dogs? They'll find a way. Cruella comes just in time, offering money for the puppies, figuring the couple cannot afford to care for them all, but it is too soon to take them from their mother. Anyway, Roger does not feel at all comfortable about making any promises to this woman. When the puppies are older, two strange men come to the door insisting the law requires them to inspect the house's wiring. When they leave, the puppies are gone. We later find out Cruella knew these men, and when human attempts to find the puppies fail, Pongo and Perdita communicate with the other dogs in the city. While all of London must put up with the excessive barking (some of which cbmes from dogs we saw earlier when Pongo rejected their owners) the message finally reaches the countryside, where a horse, a duck, and a cat join in the search. The cat remembers hearing puppies at Cruella's rundown old mansion in the country (the name of which sounded very un-Disneylike) and goes there to investigate. The men are there, along with 99 puppies. The question now is how to rescue the puppies before they become fur coats?
Overall, this movie was better than the live-action version, but not by that much. I recall the villains being more cartoonish and not as well-acted. On the other hand, I thought Glenn Close's deliciously over-the-top performance was the better one of Cruella, partly because she made Cruella more human and less of a cartoon. I also liked the physical comedy in this version but recall there being more of it in the other movie. All of the acting performances in this version were good, and it sounded like children doing the puppy voices, which was very effective. Naturally, this version focused more on the animals. The animation was quite good but maybe not as detailed as in some early Disney films. I felt like the degree of detail came up short in at least one outdoor scene where we saw the dogs from a distance. Pongo talked most of the time, but it sure sounded like Lassie when he barked (not a problem really; Lassie was a very good actor). Possible concerns for parents: I'm not sure what word I heard one of the puppies say, but the mother chastised such language, and Pongo looked ashamed when Perdita wondered where the puppy could have heard such a word. I mentioned Cruella's old mansion. And a possible SPOILER: as in life, one of the puppies didn't make it, and Nanny had the sad task of bringing in that puppy to Roger. Or DID that puppy make it?
Overall, a wonderful job.